I have a 550 gallon tank that I want to turn into a saltwater bait tank to keep in my garage…
This tank would be located about 100’ from a tidal creek (inches of water at low tide, 6-7 feet at high tide.
I know ZERO about saltwater aquariums and frankly, the search is overwhelming…
I was thinking of a few options:
Have some sort of external pump that can pump water all the way from the tidal creek into the tank and swap out the water every week, keeping some sort of aeration (bubbles) in there between swaps…
Building out some sort of filtration system similar to a SW aquarium. This seems potentially costly and “high maintenance”.
Any ideas that you guys might have…
Basically I am looking for something “cheap”\cost effective and low maintenance. I don’t need the water crystal clear. All I really want is for the bait to stay alive for weeks or months at a time.
And I wonder if I could use a “sand filter pump” meant for an above ground pool. From what I can tell, you can get one for about $100, but will creek water just clog up the filter right away?
serious question: how are you going to get bait out of a tank that big?
Have you ever seen the guy at bohicket trying to catch minners in that little tank they have?
I would think about something you could drain if needed to get the fishies out. Lots of folks have plastic drums with holes + hatches that they keep tied at the dock.
serious question: how are you going to get bait out of a tank that big?
Have you ever seen the guy at bohicket trying to catch minners in that little tank they have?
I would think about something you could drain if needed to get the fishies out. Lots of folks have plastic drums with holes + hatches that they keep tied at the dock.
My dock is in an inch of water at dead low, so plastic drum won't work.
Might want to look into Intex pool pumps. We had a above ground pool , instead of added chemicals and chlorine, we made it saltwater. You can by the bags of salt from Walmart. Intex has a saltwater filtration system, very easy to use. You can check Craigslist from time to time, you can find the whole pool and pumps for sale or sometimes free. https://charleston.craigslist.org/for/6147958172.html
As far as pumping water from the creek, every bit of trash and junk will clog or find its way into your tank.
Ya know, it must be nice living in Neverneverland. Remind me to come visit you, when I need a break from reality.
You can get about all you need at Harbor Freight! Get there 600GPH pond waterfall pump on sale for less than $30 and a 2000 GPH portable sump pump for less than $50.get 25’ roll of 1.5" pipe from lowes at $12 rool enough to go from end of dock to tank and use the big pump to fill tank at high tide, reverse location of pump to drain. Use the small pump in the tank, install a Danco venturi aerator (800-599-7505) Columbia ,S.C. on a peice of 3/4 " pvc connected to pump and an elbo to flush it into a 5 gal. bucket with holes drilled in to the bottom filled with pillow filling. Clean the filling once a week and change water also. I use this system to keep herring and gizzard shad in 2 300 gal tanks in my shed for striper fishing, works well! Call me for any more details, 864-350-8211
I would have thought the EPA and/or DHEC would have frowned upon pulling water and then returning it to the system. How can they guarantee that you aren’t dumping something back that shouldn’t be there?
I’ve got that tank setup in my garage as we speak. It’s basically a 550gallon saltwater tank. It runs year round. Will your tank be inside? In a covered shed or garage? What bait will you be wanting to keep? I’ve had my tank running for almost 20years. A few different setups and two different houses but always the same concept. I’m out of town at a wedding. Will get some pics when I get home if you like.
I’ve got that tank setup in my garage as we speak. It’s basically a 550gallon saltwater tank. It runs year round. Will your tank be inside? In a covered shed or garage? What bait will you be wanting to keep? I’ve had my tank running for almost 20years. A few different setups and two different houses but always the same concept. I’m out of town at a wedding. Will get some pics when I get home if you like.
You are the guy I need to speak with! I was thinking about putting it under the back deck in shade, but could move inside garage. My garage is not climate controlled though. Breakaway walls because of flood zone requirements. I was thinking pinfish, croakers, stuff like that.
Your biggest problem is probably going to be ammonia buildup. If you could keep the circulation going from the creek to the bait tank and back during the times when the tide is high enough to pump water (vs. mud), I think you would eliminate the ammonia issue. You could probably rig up a float switch at your dock so that the pump would run automatically when the water level was at or above the desired level.
