does anybody know of of an add on system i can hook up to my bait tank that is mounted in my boat–tank is stainless steel and holds 20 gal–have a good oxygenation system in it but want a way to filter the water for healthier bait–thought about adding a live well aereator pump like the ones that mount thru hull to circulate water thru a big aquairium filter system but was concerned about scales clogging up the pump–any suggestions would be appreciated–im usually pretty good at figuring out problems like this but cant get this one figured so i can be sure it will work and i wont be wasting money or drilling a new hole in my tank for nothing–looking for a used vest tank in the 20-30 range but would really jus like to keep the one i have if i can get a filtration system for it
Come see Dan Derrick at a Midlands Striper club meeting for any aeration or filtration questions you may have. I would reccomend the Vest tank over all (but have upgraded mine with Dan’s Venturi system)Here is a link to his product. Maybe put a post on the Midlands Striper Club forum that you are looking for a used bait spa set up for your built-in livewell… I remember someone in the club having one for sale recently, Big John Sites I think…
Check the striperboard.com. Scroll down to 8/11/12 under the topic Keep Alive tank issues. There’s a guy there that built a filtration unit using an inline pump made by Rule and built a filter box out of pvc. Bubba is his alias there and he might be able to help you out.
…Politicians aren’t the “Oldest Profession”, but the results are still the same!!!
poboy, when you say, “have a good oxygenation system in it”, do you mean you are just using O2? If so, what are you using for a difuser. Thats’ all I hve used for about 6 years now and I use balsa wood difusers and they work well putting out pretty tiny bubbles, but was wondering if there may be some other options that will do the same.
striperskiff–ive got a rule 500 with the keepalive oxygenation mount and tube to draw in outdoor air–no compressed air–have had no problems with the o–my problem lies in trying to keep bait in the tank all day when the lake water temp is high and not really that good to change out with my tank water-my water gets pretty nasty on warm days even with a ice pack and the simple "filter’ arond the pump only keeps the scales out of it -doesnt remove them from the tank–think i’ve come up with a system made from 4"pvc with the polyfill and activated carbon–kinda put everything i’ve read and seen into a simple package i can mount under my console outside my tank–problem is accessibility–if it works i’m gonna have to cut a "door’in the front of the console above the tank to get to the filter–kinda like the setup i looked at on a buddys vest tank with the pump at the bottom drawing water into top to drain thru filter media–if this works it will also get my pump outta my tank to free up a little more room–only prob i can foresee with this is making sure i get the level of the inlet right so it will draw water out of the bottom of my tank into the top of the filter–might be prone to getting an airlock–im still open to any suggestions and wish i knew how to post pics so yall could see what ive got to work with–beleive the only cost i will have in this is the inlet strainer some pipe fittings and the flex hoses to hook it all up–gonna try to make a rough prototype of this idea i got - hook it up to the side of a 5 gal bucket and work out any kinks before i go to drilling holes in my tank
ceramic diffusers are best… I could run my oxygen through my venturi since it is inline after the pump but I use a ceramic diffuser that sits on the bottom of the tank. All my components, tubing, diffuser, regulator are UL listed for marine use and for use with pure oxygen… I routed a channel in the top of my 50 gallon Vest tank for the oxygen tubing to lay in so I can close the top without pinching the line… If you use oxygen, you still need to circulate the water through your pump and filter to help offgas the additional CO2 from increased respiration in oxygen rich water. Increased levels of CO2 will make your bait lethargic and turn dark and eventually die. You may see the bait struggling and think “I better turn up the oxygen on them” and only make it worse… Another benefit of using compressed oxygen in summer is the cooling effect you get when compressed oxygen expands. Helps keep your bait tank water cooler…My regulator has 10 settings but I only use the 2 lowest for continuous use…
I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…
I started out circulating the water, but after trying it with just the O2, I don’t bother any more. They seem to do OK, but I normally don’t stay out very long. I prefer to go often and just fish 2-3 hrs at a time. I may try it with the water circulating again and see if I see much a difference.
I pretty much only use the lowest setting myself. I specifically got a medical regulator that goes as low as .25 lps and I never run any more than .5 lps.
I have the FishFlo Pro Series One Regulator and use either 1/32 LPM or 1/16 LPM setting…but the ceramic diffuser makes the difference. The large surface area of the microbubbles is what helps to saturate the water with oxygen. With larger bubbles you waste more of your oxygen.
I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…
any body know of a place i can get a filter houseing -3/4 inlet outlet that cleans out from the top (preferrably)–talked to a friend into aquariums and got some great advice–gonna put a suction line into side of tank near bottom going into the filter which i can place within reach under my console so i wont have to cut an access door -then run a line back to a thru hull pump just before the tank with one of the dannco venturi kits on the line between pump and tank-wont have to worry bout the gravity feed into the filter-will just have to bleed it like a pool system and all should work no matter how rough the lake gets-only thing i cant find so far is a sealed filter to use–gonna go to lowes and ck out their cartridge filters- but if any of yall can think of something bettr let me know please thanks
Check out a Banjo strainer. Used in landscape projects. You can get a 30-40 mesh strainer built in. I would look at 1 1/2" model and getting fittings back to your lines.
Dan Derrick is really good too. He has some cool thru hull fittings that work well on boat retrofits. You can feed the o2 straight to his Venturi.
Here is a picture of it I had on my phone… but you can’t see how far the tube ( the modified body of an old pen) extends thru the endcap and into the T… it extends just past the opening where the water comes in from the bottom and the end of the pen is cut at an angle…basically the water is restricted and then expands again and pulls air into at that point creating tiny bubbles in the water as it goes into the tank…
I’ll try and add a picture from inside of the tank and the aeration later… and here is a youtube video of it…
