Last year I tried to pump water for a shrimp pen.Pump kept messing up.Today I will try something new.Just fill up the pen with salt water and run air stones.Plenty of air should work?? I will dump out old water and bucket in new water maybe once a week??? Will make a minnow and fingers pen this week.
Wish i was younger.Hard to make old fingers work LOL
Stonoman
Air stones with biweekly water changes will probably work for now. When it gets hot, youâre probably going to need to go back to the flow through system. If it gets too hot, youâre either going to bake them or deprive them of oxygen. Not sure how you had it set up before, but make sure you have a good screen on the intake thatâs also easy to get to and clean from time to time. Should save your pump some trouble.
Put your pump in a 5 gal.(or bigger if you can find one)bucket with the lid and holes drilled throughout the bucket.You can hang that from your dock and not worry about trash clogging the pump.Just make sure you have enough holes to keep waterflow in the same as waterflow out.We did this when irrigating out of ponds only we used 55 gal drums.Works very well.
Bait pen is working and i have about 300 fat minnows in it.Next pen will hold fingers.
Stonoman
Hopefully I will get to check it out soon
Bragging may not bring happiness,
but no man having caught a large fish,
goes home through the alley.
-Anonymous
what time does the bait stand open??
how much per dozen???
Free to friends.
Stonoman
Lots of dead minnows this morning.Air stone wont do it.Lost about 50.Changed water.I did drop some dead shrimp in for food.bad choice.
Stonoman
quote:
Originally posted by stonomanLots of dead minnows this morning.Air stone wont do it.Lost about 50.Changed water.I did drop some dead shrimp in for food.bad choice.
Stonoman
I tried to use a koi pond set up for mud minnows at the house. I had the same problem. You are going to have to keep a good pump there at your dock like a giant recirc live well. You could also try to make a giant ass bait bucket out of a drum and hook a small winch to it to pull it up when you want to gain access. If I remember correctly you had a few feet of water there even at low tide.
2000 McKee Scoundrel 160, Honda 75hp
Cleaned the tub out and will move it to the float.I will set up another pump and see what happens.
Stonoman
top looks like thisâŚ
Do not put holes in bottom of can, or on bottom 6 inches of sides. Keeps water in can after being pulled onto deck/dock, baits wonât descale themselves and stressâŚ
stick with Brute, lid is easier to operate.
Newman
www.gtownkingfisher.com
Looking at all options right now.30 gal plastic can of some sort looks good right now.Mounted to the float.Problem is I only have 2 feet or less of water on a low tide. Barnacles form over night on anything I put in the water.LOL
Stonoman
I used a 30 gallon trash can from Lowes to do the same thing and got a friend to weld up a stainless steel hoop from some left over scrap, sort of like a basketball hoop bolted to the dock, that the can sits in. Works fine. Will try to get a pic after work.
Like the hoop idea.Thanks maybe Ed can fix me an alum hoop.
Stonoman
I guess we know where to go get bait now
âThose who have the ability to make a difference have the responsibility to do so.â Thomas Jefferson
A marine aquarium setup will work for keeping mudminnows and mullet. You will need a hardware cloth screen for the top if you keep mullet or you will find all the mullet on the floor shortly after you put them in the tank. We used the âInstant Oceanâ saltwater mix that you can get at most aquarium shops (Tideline is best). You will want to use a powerhead and at least an undergravel filter covered with crushed coral sand. This really works folks. Just donât put large chuncks of shrimp or fish in it to feed them. This will cause a spike in the nitrites and will kill a few fish. Feed them with regular saltwater fish food and they will eat. Feed sparingly at first until they get accustomed to the tank. It is difficult to keep the temperature from getting too warm in the summer if you keep the tank in a garage unless it is well ventilated. You can keep several dozen baits in a 20-30 gallon tank and the mudminnows will actually produce more if you keep them long enough. Before adding fish to this type of tank, put them in a plastic bag or plastic container in the water they came from and let them float on the surface of the tank until the water temp in the container nearly matches the water temp in the tank. This will take only about 15 minutes and will keep them from stressing out when they hit the new water. Donât use much of the original water in the tank. They are fun to just look at when you are not fishing if you add a light to the setup. Make sure to keep it out of direct sunlight or the algae will take over. The only thing you have to do to begin with is cycle the tank with some âthrowaway fishâ because they will probably die. This is to get the âgoodâ bacteria growing in the coral sand and takes about 39-45 days. Any good aquarium shop can tell you how to do this and will usually give you some âseedâ gravel to get you started. It is really pretty easy to do. Good luck.
PioneerLouie
Pioneer Venture 175, Johnson 90
Summerville, SC
I use an Automatic Bilge pump to pump fresh water in the tank with the tide change. I use one of the Rule all in one Automatic sensing 500 gal pumps. I attached the pump to a 3/4" garden hose and dangle the pump of the dock. The pump needs to be attached to a 12 volt battery and you need to attach a battery charger to the battery. The wire connections need to be water proofed because they will corode quickly or keep the connecting above the high water mark. When the tide gets to a certain level fresh water is pumped in. I have a drain also at they top of the tank to allow the old water to drain out. This eliminates the build up of toxins and also keep the water cooler in the summer. I also get to use natural Charleston salt water. If low tide is mid day it may get a little warm for a few hours but I rarly loose much bait. I have an air pump that runs all the time. I live on a tidal creek that is completly dry at very low tide. If you put the pump down to low it will run too much and burn up. I usually have to buy a new pump each year if it runs mid tide thur mid tide, but it is only $70. Itâs worth it to have fresh bait at my convinence. Haddrells doesnât sell live mullet. Mullet will last up to 2 wks if they donât die from a fishing hook.