Was wondering if anyone has any experience making a bait tank to keep live shrimp in and any advice they might have. I have a 30 gallon or so styrofoam box I got from work and was thinking of using it to hold shrimp for a day or 2 before I go out. Most of the time I hit the water before shops are open and my Whaler has been out of commission so I’ve been kayaking a lot more lately, but catching live bait is a pain and usually too time consuming the day of.
My plan so far is a fish tank filter, my wife just got over pneumonia so I have a nebulizer which puts out more air than a standard fish tank bubbler. I got a 2’ bubble wand and i will do about 25% water changes daily. I plan to add ammonia remover with every change, so once a day. And I’m going to try to line the inside with a 50gallon black trash bag so the inside is dark. Will have it outside on the patio so with the cool weather they should last a little longer.
Thanks for the gut laugh. Your patio is going to be funky. That ought to clear any residual PU ammonia.
Water temp. will need to really be watched.
I have a pond 30ft from my back door to dump water in. Don’t plan on having it going full time just a couple times a week so I don’t think it will get too bad if it is rinsed well in between uses. But Mdaddy, your response reminded me why I stopped comming to this forum. Thanks for the insight.
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
Nervous Mullet
1986 Boston Whaler 15 Sport
2000 70 Yamama
Mud Minnow
Wilderness System Tarpon 120
ChrisV built the tanks for his store back when they sold live shrimp.
Your biggest problem will be sourcing clean saltwater.
Black bags leach contaminates, so does Styrofoam. The tank will need to be run and refreshed with water long enough to rinse out all the contaminates/manufacturing residue.
When you catch the shrimp, let them sit in the catch tank (livewell) for a few hours so they get all the poo out. Keep the livewell pumps running so the dirty water gets pumped out. Drive out to clean water and fill the livewells. Shutdown filler pumps and run recirculating pumps. Avoid sucking up dirty water from the river/boat ramp.
Do not feed the shrimp.
Dump water on the ground, not in a pond. Keep dead shrimp in a bag in the freezer, toss in trash on garbage day.
Water temp is critical. Instead of pumping outside air (cold at night/hot during day) into the tank, run the hose through a door/window using conditioned indoor air (kept at same temp all day).
5 gal bucket and a bubbler (aerator) from walmart will keep shrimp alive for days! keep good batteries in it…
Appreciate the tips. Didn’t think the plastic would leach chemicals. What about the black pond liner material you can get at Home Depot? I like the idea of using inside air.
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
Nervous Mullet
1986 Boston Whaler 15 Sport
2000 70 Yamama
Mud Minnow
Wilderness System Tarpon 120
I think these replies are way too complicated. OP states that he is only trying to keep them alive for a couple of days.
I used to keep a couple dozen alive in a 12gal bucket with a Walmart aquarium pump and aerator rock ( like 10 bucks) for two days easy. Just make sure you have a lid that partially covers the top to keep them from hopping out.
Some die regardless but it helps a lot to have a couple milk jugs full of clean saltwater in the fridge to freshen them up.
I lived on Folly beach for a few years and under my house I put together a dual 55 gallon drum bait tank system with live algae gravity filter bucket and pond pumps for around 100$. It would literally turn muddy water crystal clear in a few days. We originally built it to collect and keep pinfish alive the week before fishing offshore for grouper but found out it was awesome for any other bait too.
babe, hey babe? Are you done with this?
“my wife just got over pneumonia so I have a nebulizer which puts out more air than a standard fish tank bubbler.”
got me beat on that one, but as Sheaper and friogotto mention, it’s the quality/cleanliness of the water that has always helped me.
“No… it’s okay, I know the way out…”
You said you fish a couple times a week. If you want good fresh shrimp you need to look into building a biofilter. Do a search on google. Koi ponds. You will need to run the tank constantly but you will save money in the end. What your talking about doing is time consuming and costly. I would also suggest a net inside the tank. Something for the shrimp to hold onto so they don’t get tired and die.
Awesome help guys. As sheaper pointed out and noticed, this is not going to be a full time setup. I have made all kinds of filters for aquariums in the past from biofilters and fluidized sand but I’m just gonna go simple and experiment before dropping too much money on unnecessary equipment. Container is tight, plenty of O2, water will be filtered and temperature will be regulated. I think that will cover the basics for right now. I know I have used 5 gallon buckets with bubbler and most have survived a day. After that they’ve stated to drop rather quickly, just looking for a cheap system to increase their life a day or 2 and keep them lively. After a day in a 5 gallon bucket they usually don’t seem very lively.
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
Nervous Mullet
1986 Boston Whaler 15 Sport
2000 70 Yamama
Mud Minnow
Wilderness System Tarpon 120
lets me see here, you have a pond (I assume saltwater), some 30 feet from your house, you will be walking, daily to the pond to refresh the water. Let me think, hmmmmm.
What am I missing? Why couldn’t you not take a five gallon bucket. Drill a boat load of small Holes (smaller than shrimp) in it. Take a pool noodle and tie it around the upper edge. Put a little weight in the bottom, just enough to keep it upright. Or more weight (and no noodle) if you want it submerged for stealthy-ness. Snap on the lid, tie on a rope and toss it in this pond you have to remember to walk to to get fresh water everyday.
An improvement on the stealth version, because you probably don’t want the bucket just laying on the bottom. Tie a rope and anchor to the bottom of the bucket and use the pool noodle around the top. Then with a short enough anchor rope the bucket could be completely submerged, yet suspending in the column of water
quote:
Originally posted by OVwhalerI have a pond 30ft from my back door to dump water in. Don’t plan on having it going full time just a couple times a week so I don’t think it will get too bad if it is rinsed well in between uses. But Mdaddy, your response reminded me why I stopped comming to this forum. Thanks for the insight.
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
Nervous Mullet
1986 Boston Whaler 15 Sport
2000 70 YamamaMud Minnow
Wilderness System Tarpon 120
First, my apologies for offending you by my response. After 30 years of trying(unsuccessfully) different methods to keep shrimp/mullet/pinfish alive away from their natural environment…and the stinky results…I pictured your wife walking out the back door and the hell you would catch.
Second, I won’t reply to anymore of your posts.
No the pond is not salt. Just a small drainage pond that I thought would be better to dump water in than the grass where it would stink.
No hurt feelings Mdaddy, guess I was just a little frustrated the first response was a laugh at something serious I was trying to do. It’s all experience and learning. Pretty confident I will achieve what I’m trying to do.
“Everyone should believe in something; I believe I’ll go fishing.” Henry David Thoreau
Nervous Mullet
1986 Boston Whaler 15 Sport
2000 70 Yamama
Mud Minnow
Wilderness System Tarpon 120
The secret I have found is that shrimp usually die of exhaustion, trying to swim around in a bait tank.
I put one of theses…
with some lead weight in the tank/bucket then an aerator. I even throw in a frozen 20oz bottle of water to keep the water cool, they have kept for a week in a 5 gallon bucket.