Home Made Live Bait Tank!

[Floating_Medic]

Here is the live bait tank i discussed previously! Ended up being about $200 to make all up, but none the less its cheaper than most store bought ones and works really well.

The esky is a 44litre jobby i got from bunnings. I bought it for 2 reasons, the first being it is unsulated and the second being the lid, its got the hatch access opening which will be good to have.

The two outlets you can see here are 1 and a quarter inch, i put 2 in cause on first testing, the single one couldnt empty quick enough. They are closer together so the water can circulate a bit around the tank before being flushed out. One empty's into the splash well, the other directly out the back of the boat.

The straps are to keep it from falling forward or sliding sideways and to hold it down onto the crate.

Here you can see why i chose the esky. The hatch is awesome!!!

Here is the pump and pickup. I did away with most of the metal in the pick-up for fear of it catching something and ripping away from the transom. The hose is very stiff and should work quite well, and its cut at about 45 degrees as hinted to me in my other post.

Here is the pump setup on the back. My mate (Thanks Tait) is a Army electrician so he did the wiring for me, and what a top job he did!!!

And here is a shot looking into the tank, you can see the inlet at the bottom left at the back and the two outlets top right. The pump flows up to a one way valve just before the tank to stop losing water when the pump is stopped and im stationary.

Anyway, let me know what you think and anything i could have done better.

Cheers, Alan.

P.s, yes i know my transom looks messy, but its tough as nails and is only short time away from being re-painted and made to look "nice"...lol

[Anroco]

Top job!! Looks great! Ought to hold a few livies!!!

Its given me a couple of ideas on how to set up mine now!

CHeeRS

Antun

P.S. Where did you get the LBT stand from ?? Have been looking for something like that for ages

[Floating_Medic]

The stands come from a very elusive creature, known to grace the day only in the early dark hours of the morning. If spooked, they will run and usually leave behind a trail of what looks to be like milk. Back in the day they would bring gifts to your home before you even woke. Nowadays, you can only get their products in stores.

Or you can look around alley's and dark hidey holes at night and you just might come across one or 2. LOL

[Breambucket]

look good mate

The only thing i can think of is that the overflow or outlet should of been lower. you might find under power or turning that the water will splash up and leak out of the sides

Otherwise top job

[Hooked-Up]

nice one

[cflife]

Looks the goods mate.

Hers one i made recently out of poly chopping boards for the poly craft , works a treat

[chocofallon]

looks good mate..

Have you tested it yet? How does it go when it is full and you go over waves etc. Now all you need to do is pack it full of livies.

Joe

[prawn*]

i have same live bait tank in my tinny but different plubing from the picture it looks like u have plumbed the inlet water to tank at the bottom? if so u will need a stop valve because it will flow back out when pump is off, i actually put the inlet into the top of the lid and had a overflow 3/4 up the tank cause they do leak when nearly full splash out the sides ect and if u dont have a bilge to pump it out u will have a nice puddle to fish in at the back of your boat, also a hint to with the outlets use a mesh to your livies dont get sucked in and block the overflow cause u will have water overflowing

im nearly finished making a larger live bait tank for my bigger boat ive found the best live bait tanks are round and with a constant flow of water circulating like a wirlpool will help prevent live bait to get stuck in corner's = dying quiker ive also added a waterproof led light so i can see the liveies at night just need to add a disco ball and they would feel at home. haha

PS make sure u silicone the fittings as ive found being a esky its hard to tighten the fittings without it leaking as it is soft..

here's a pic of mine in my tinny

Edited April 18, 2010 by mc fishn

[Floating_Medic]

The lid creates a seal around the top edge of the esky. So im guessing water will only splash around within the unit when it is all closed up.

[Floating_Medic]

i have same live bait tank in my tinny but different plubing from the picture it looks like u have plumbed the inlet water to tank at the bottom? if so u will need a stop valve because it will flow back out when pump is off, i actually put the inlet into the top of the lid and had a overflow 3/4 up the tank cause they do leak when nearly full splash out the sides ect and if u dont have a bilge to pump it out u will have a nice puddle to fish in at the back of your boat, also a hint to with the outlets use a mesh to your livies dont get sucked in and block the overflow cause u will have water overflowing

im nearly finished making a larger live bait tank for my bigger boat ive found the best live bait tanks are round and with a constant flow of water circulating like a wirlpool will help prevent live bait to get stuck in corner's = dying quiker ive also added a waterproof led light so i can see the liveies at night just need to add a disco ball and they would feel at home. haha

here's a pic of mine in my tinny

Ive got a stop valve installed mate. And ive sealed the top edges of the lid so as not to have water splash out when im bouncing around the place.

[steze]

looks awesome mate! I used to have something called an air raider or something. It looks like a big circle flat plastic bucket with a battery operated pump. Does the job for me as im mainly landbased.

[mikeh191]

Hi Alan, one thing im suprised no one has mentioned is your burley bucket being so close to your bilge pump.Im sure you will have problems down the track with burley getting sucked in to the bilge and stoping it, also if undetected could burn out the bilge pumps motor.See how it go's but I think you might be better moving your bilge to the other side.Hope it works good for you.

Cheers Mike

[Floating_Medic]

Yeah that did come to mind Mike, but i think it would be easier to move the burley bucket as i dont want to have to re-do all the wiring and piping for the pump!

Cheers, Alan.