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Live Bait Tank


alankirby
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I`ve just got a 60L barrel to make into a live bait tank. The question is, where is the best place to have the water inlet coming into the barrel ?

I see on Adam`s post he did a while back he has the inlet and outlet at the same height and says that he thinks this works best. Wouldn`t this meen that the fresh water going into the tank could go straight out without mixing with the other water,and would you end up with stale water in the bottom of the tank??

I would have thought it better to have the water inlet at the bottom of the tank so fresh water travels the full hight of the tank till it reaches the outlet at the top !!!

I`ve got a Rule 360 pump and also a non-return valve to use but i`m not sure this would have enough power to pump into the bottom of the tank with a head of water.

What do you think guys and where have you got yours ????

 

Alan

 

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Alan, Your right to have the inlet on the bottom and the outlet at the top. Its also a good idea to have the inlet angled on entry to make the water run in an anti-clockwise direction making the fish swim in clockwise direction. Apparently, in the northern hemisphere, most fish swim clockwise naturally and they are not as stressed in a livebait tank set up this way as they would be if set up the other way. This will leave you with happy baits that last much longer biggrin.gif

Hope that helps

Allan

 

 

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Thanks for the info. I`m not sure though if the Rule 360 pump would have enough power to pump in from the bottom so i might put the the inlet about halfway up the barrel. I don`t really want to get another pump. The other option would be to get the inlet hose down from the top into the bottom of the barrel but i wanted to use tank fittings so i can keep the lid on to stop spillage.

Any ideas on doing it this way ??

 

Cheers

Alan

 

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Alan,

 

Mine ended up this way as I am a victim of the measure it once, cut it once and then regret it! I didnt really think, it was only afterwards I thought that the inlet should have gone low.

 

In hindsight it was the correct choice. The 360 isnt powerful enough to bottom feed a 60l head of water - In the top it creates a nice load of areating bubbles and flows srtongly. All of the charter and commercial models I have seen are also rigged this way. As Tom says a few have a ring of hose, with holes around the rim, but Im not too sure this makes alot of difference.

 

I am 100% happy with mine and would do it exactly the same if I did it again.

 

Let me know if you want anymore advice.

 

Adam

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You could always run a tube from the inlet to the bottom of the tank

 

Im goiing to run it from the top as too much turbulance at the bottom where the fish hang out can stress them and knock off scales.

 

I have a rule 500 and i think it's a bit strong so the 360 would be better.

 

the fish swimming clockwise is a good tip

 

Im going to put in two outlets, one of which i can cap off. This allows running the tank at 1/2 full when im using smaller baits and means im not carrying the extra weight when i don't need it.

 

PJ

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  • 2 weeks later...

I`ve just about finished my livebait tank but now i have a question about the pump.

My boat only has one battery which is 110AH, my Yanmar engine has an 80A alternator. Do you think it would be ok to run the pump (Rule 360) all the time or should i just run it now and then to change the water in the tank ?? I don`t want to end up with a battery that won`t start the engine !!

I have the pump rigged with the in-let hose going in near the top of the tank through a hole in the side,down to the bottom of the tank and a 32mm waste fitting near the top for the water to drain out over the side of the boat. I`ll take some pics the weekend and post them to show how i did it if you like.

 

Cheers everyone

 

Alan

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

PJ, to combat this, I placed my inlet high in the tank, put an elbow in the inside joint, a downpipe all the way to the base of the drum, a blank on the bottom of this downpipe, then drilled holes at the four compass points down the pipe. All my holes were drilled of the same diameter, in hindsight, smaller holes or indeed no holes at the base may have worked better, with slightly, and I mean only slightly smaller holes in the top half. Also, maybe it would be better to only have holes on one side of the downpipe to create more of a current inside the barrel. I may cut another length and try this next time were out. With placky screw fittings hand tight, its a piece of cake to change parts.

 

As the water is pumped into the tank, the spray from the inlet downpipe is at the height of the water in the barrel, UNTILL such time as the water lever reaches the outlet pipe, which is three inches below the inlet pipe, thus allowing a spray jet of water into the barrel from above the waterline, oxygenating as it pumps in. You can also use a natural method of iducing O2 into the barrel, by piercing the inlet pipe at the top by the outside of the barrel, and the movement of water going through will pull air through this hole. I didnt like this method, which is why I included a small aerator on mine. It kept four inch trout alive all day in circulated borehole water.

 

Hope this helps. Rich

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Alan,

 

For what its worth, I copied Adam's set up except my inlet is about 4" higher than the outlet at the top of the tank using a 500 gph pump. Used it twice now this year and it certainly keeps the mackerel alive all day no problem. Even kept Chris's 6oz Bream alive all day Sunday, after he dropped it in during a classic fish fumble. Yet to try it with sand eels or Launce.

 

Gordon H

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  • 2 weeks later...

Then I put in the downpipe. This is a short length, (50mm) 22mm pipe fitted into the through fitting, then fitted to a 90 degree elbow. The down pipe, again 22mm, is 400mm long, ending in a stop end. Holes are drilled at 90 degrees around the down pipe, top to bottom.

post-6-1151865113jpg

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Then I used Push typre fittings for speed of assembly/dissasembly, the black hose is 1 1/2 inch dia, pushed onto a white waste water push in hose from B&Q, the smaller black hose fits tightly over the bilge pump end, and pushes over the short end of 22mm grey pipe coming out of the brass outer fitting on the barrel.

post-6-1151865350jpg

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Here are the hoses I used, together with pump. The larger hose is 1200mm long, so it can be thrown over the side of the boat when discharging, the smaller diameter hose is slightly longer, to allow it to fall into the water below the gunwalls. The cables for the pump were extended to reach the battery at the back of the boat, crocodile clips added to allow easy attatchment to battery.

post-6-1151865584jpg

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