Live Bait Tank

[chocofallon]

Hi All,

I've read some great info on the DIY section on live bait tanks and thought I would throw a quick question out to see if any one has any input. I am finally getting a live bait tank soughted out for my boat. Planning on a similar setup as some of the guys have done in the DIY section with a stainless steel pickup attached to a external (non though hull) pump running by hose to a flow switch to a plastic round container as has been suggested as a good way of circulating water to keep livies in good condition.

Now I have looked at some other peoples setups with sixty litre tanks that look the ducks guts but I will find it difficult with a tank this size sitting and attaching it to the transom. So after searching the internet for round plastic style barrels with screw on lids with limited success I had a brain storm. My home brew kit I used Twice and probably will not use again seems perfect it is about thirty litres round screw on lid has a tap hole for drainage at the bottom so seems a perfect option.

However it only holds thirty litres and probably 27 litres where I'll install the outlets etc. Is this going to be too small for a 500gal pump such as johnson or Rule which seems to be the common ones for Live bait tanks? Also ideally how do these pumps perform to keep squid alive when they decide to have a squirt of ink will my size talk be like a gas chamber to the other live squid etc.

Any advice will be most appreciated. for me and the live bait

Cheers,

Joe

[jim77]

G'day Joe

I would reckon that the tank size will be no problem. I use one of those big round eskys (i think it is 35 or 40 litres?) with a few modifications. As long as the water is circulating ie either the pump is on or you are moving fast enough for your pick up to be forcing water into the tank it won't matter at all if a squid inks in the tank as the water should be cleared pretty quickly.

I have had 25+ Yakkas and 5 or 6 squid in the same tank all day and there were no problems. You probably wouldn;t be able to hold that many in your homebrew barrel but it would certainly be big enough to hold a good supply of bait.

One piece of advice - make sure you make your outlet hole as high up/close to the top of the barrel as you can get it. Also don't make it too big otherwise you will find that small yakkas or squid will get stuck in it and cause your tank to overflow!

cheers

Jim

[framedtrash]

Gday chocofallon

i use a home brew fermenter as my live tank and it works GREAT

i have a metal water scoop that has a mount for my rule 360 bilge pump

so when im drving around i dont need to have the bilge pump on the presssure from driving around is enough to fill my live tank

the bilge for the tank is run off switches so i have total control of when its on and when its off

i have the hose running from the pickup scoop up the side of my boat which then connects to a valve

coz if i have the bilge pump off and im not moving the water will drain back out the bilge so a valve is needed to stop this

at the top of the fermenter i have 2 drainage pipes that drain out the back of my boat

this works great the water level NEVER goes above the drains regardless how fast u drive

but dont use less then 2 drainage pipes otherwise you will start to get over flows

a 500 gal pump is way too much for a tank of this size a 360 will be perfect

another great feature of using a fermenter is that most of them come with clear lids so you can keep the lid on and still see how many baits u got left

i bought every thing new for my tank and i think it worked out costing me around $90-100

livies love it they will swim around in there all day long

prob a good idea to buy a little bait net as it can be funny to watch some one try to catch them with there hands

its espically hard in a tank with no corners there slippery little things

when i get home ill post some pics of my tank

Edited June 24, 2009 by Framedtrash

[chocofallon]

Thanks guys some great info there. I'll definitely take it on board when setting it up.

Cheers,

Joe.

[framedtrash]

here is some pics of my setup

sorry for the bad photos i shot them as i was running out the door

when the tank is full it doesnt move a inch from the back seat

i put the drainage pipes where they are as i didnt want the water level to be too high as the bait could easily jump out

[chocofallon]

Excellent mate thanks for the pics.

Cheers,

Joe

[chocofallon]

Well finished my DIY Livie tank and tested it this arvo and it works a treat (no livies yet) But water flow was great so bring on summer.

A big thanks to Framedtrash and Jim77 for their advice it came in handy.

Now to sneek in my down rigger under the wifes raidar

\

Here is a pic of the end result.

[Jewdreamer]

Grreat looking set up mate, but where do you put the burley chomper????

[squid hunter]

some awesome set ups there guys

regards

Squid Hunter

[Basil D]

top stuff guys, and a big thank you, I will set mine up this way, will save plenty of $$$ and will be able to remove it when I need to

[Dusky]

looks good I will have see if I can make one too - thanks