live bait tank

[RyanG45]

hey

ive decided to make a live bait tank ive made one before but it wasnt very good and was just wanting some simple ideas on how to make one instead of buying one. ive gota 25l esky, airator and a 12 volt battery what else would i need to make one, and if you have any pics of your home made ones please put them up so i can get an idea on how to make one

cheers ryan

[faulked]

i use a plastic 44gal "thanks malcom" cut in half and a bilge pump hooked up to a home made spray bar .this will keep heaps of bait of all sizes alive for days i love it

[neal82]

i'm pretty interested in seeing how this turns out, i was thinking of doing the same thing.

i've already got the esky and a 12V 7 amp hour battery. just need to decide on a pump and how i'm going to do it.

I was thinking of also adding the capacity to recharge off the motor while we are under power, through the ciggy lighter plug on the dash.

put up some phots as you're going along and i'll do the same. i'm probably not going to get mine started until early september though

[RyanG45]

ok i probs wont start till the hollies when i get some more free time

cheers ryan

[Travis]

go with something round instead of something with corners like an esky where the fish swim into the corners... if its round they stay alive longer

[Nitris]

go with something round instead of something with corners like an esky where the fish swim into the corners... if its round they stay alive longer

I never knew this... very interesting

[neal82]

didn't know this either, i might just use big white bucket, although my esky has rounded corners!

[Joycey67]

Hi lads. I've just installed a live bait tank into my boat and found this is a million dollar question. So rather then others wonder "how to" do this thought I'd post my setup. Obviously not the only way nor probably the best way to do this, but it works for me. I went all out in the end and plumbed one in as a permanent fixture. I have posted a few pictures from off of my iphone but will take some more pics of the actual mechanics of it if anyones is interested when I get the chance. But here is a general run down as to what i did. Firstly I purchased a 75L fibre glass tank on ebay with hinged lid. Basically I added a padded seat to the top of the lid so that it doubles as my driver seat for my centre console to avoid taking up any unessesary room. Firtly I intalled a water sccop to the rear of the boat (this basically catches water while underway and feeds water in the tank) conected to this I ran 1/2 inch high pressure flex pipe under the floor up into the bottom of the tank, to this pipe (just after It enters the boat) I added a valve to enable me to close it off when Im not live bait fishing and dont want the tank to fill, an inline pump so that when stationary I can continue to pump fresh water into the tank rigged to my battery with its own switch, and a 1 way valve so that water only enters the tank and dosen't exit (regardless of if im not underway or running the pump). This takes care of getting new water constantly into the tank now to stop it overflowing? I installed another 3/4 inch flex pipe from the bottom of the tank (again underfloor) to a skin fitting out the side of the boat (exactly the same as my bilge) and a piece of 3/4 inch solid pipe inside the tank which stands as tall as I would like the water level to rise inside the tank. You need to ensure that the skin fitting (outlet) is at a lower level then the top of the pipe inside the tank to allow it to drain naturally. Basically while Im underway (or using the pump if stationary) the tank will fill untill it reaches the top of the stiff pipe inside the tank then drain out the side constantly providing the tank with freshly circulated water. This has now taken care of water in, and water out, now how to drain completely empty at the end of the day. I then installed a waste & plug into the bottom of the tank connected to some 1 inch flex pipe which again runs under the floor and out to where my bungs are for easy draining of the entire tank at the end of the day. All in all 3 pipes / holes into the tank. Water in (1/2 inch pipe) overflow out (3/4 inch pipe) and drain (1 inch pipe). Took it out last week for it's first run. Work a treat and I reckon all up cost me $350-$400. More photo's will follow on request. Cheers, Joycey.

[RyanG45]

mate thats pretty nice setup there, im just purchasing all the stuff i need

cheers ryan

[Travis]

my tank has corners too alot of serious blokes have oval shapes stainless tanks