rich185 Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 Hi everyone, i want to make myself a livewell for mainly keeping mackerel alive for up to 4-5 hours. Been looking at a few ideas on the net and i like this idea because its simple and easy to set up. http://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14582 Basically a 40-60 liter cool box with a bilge pump pumping water into a spray bar to but oxygen into the water, but would this be sufficient for keeping mackerel alive cause i know they like there fresh water? Would i have to keep changing the water? Or would i have to get a barrel, something like this - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350752781548?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 http://www.tropicalboating.com/2010/04/building-a-live-bait-well-for-a-small-boat and have fresh water going in and water going out an overflow. I dont have much room in my shetland so i dont want to go to crazy on the size of tank. Ideally prefer option 1 but would it be practical for the maccys ? How many mackerel can i keep in 50-60 liters of water? Your thoughts and ideas much appreciated. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 There are barrel building guides on the forum. I did one which was a mod on existing ideas. How many macs, 20 maybe, the colder the water the more you can keep! Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 From my old post: Jack, I made mine last year, it is the post towards the bottom of this thread: http://www.pbsbac.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=6356&hl= I think the important thing is plenty of fresh water, nice'n'coldwell oxegenated and not too many live baits and no bleeders. I had an un obstructed barrel and I am sure no one told the fish about the ant-clockwise thing - they go up down accross and both ways! I have a 360Rule pump and it only just has enough pressure to lift water in my boat (probably 4ft). I am looking at changing to an Attwood V500 Bilge Pump (has a head of 10m max and at 3.3ft 350gph and 6.6ft 200gph) cost - way under £20. I'll let you know how I get on. http://www.attwoodmarine.com/products/Inst...ies%20Bilge.pdf It draws 1.4amps @ 13.6v so shouldn't worry you on draining the battery too much. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coddy Posted May 13, 2013 Report Share Posted May 13, 2013 Rich I would steer clear of the 60ltr barrel on your shetland. I sat my barrel on board and 1/ it took up too much room 2/ 50ltrs of water in the back, I feel, would make it unsafe as it would be too low in the water! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 I made one from a plastic barrel I bought from Solent Plastics I think in Southampton, it worked pretty well. I've got it at home so I'll take some photo's and post them. Main points: Lots of water, I used a 850gph rule pump, it kept more macks alive than a 500gph one I used before. Round or oval is best, with square or oblong the macks can get stuck in the corners rather than swim round and round No big macks, they just die Unhook straight into the well if possible, ie don't touch by hand if you can Don't put too many in or they all die, more water helps with this. Try 6 if they all stay alive then go up until you find the limit. The bigger they are the quicker they die. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
great white Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 I use a rule 360gph pump 1" pipe to the tank and the overflow from the tank is 3/4 way up and 11/2" Dia. any smaller and the tank will overflow or be so full the fish jump out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaicemat Posted May 14, 2013 Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 If you're thinking of using the bilge pump to just recycle the water, forget it! I have an American tank which recycles and aerates the water very efficiently which is fine for sandeels, launce, pout and small Pollack but mackerel turn up their fins after less than an hour. Use the designs found on the forum to make one that constantly changes the water. Terry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich185 Posted May 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 14, 2013 Looks like id have to get a round tank with the fresh water going in and out then. But what do i do when traveling along cause i doubt it would suck water whilst the boat is moving, and id probaly have a lid on it so wouldnt be able to but the bilge in the tank with the lid on, unless a cut a small hole in the lid. Rich I would steer clear of the 60ltr barrel on your shetland. Dave Hi dave i have found a 30l and a 50l version of that barrel on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370797633748?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330873014858?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 I would have thought these may be a better size, but how many mackerel could you keep in the 30l one? Thanks guys for your ideas rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve S Posted May 15, 2013 Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 Here are the photo's of my portable Livewell. Height 56cm Diameter 40cm. The top is screw on with a plastic window so the Macks can see but can't jump out. I keep the top on generally to stop escapes. The barrel bought from Solent Plastics for not much, it is fitted to a square wood platform that can be screwed to the swim platform with wing bolts. The water feed is the top connector, a standard garden hose fitting. The end of day drain at the bottom is a fast flow garden water barrel tap. The overflow is the hole on the right with the grill over. Mine was mounted on the swim platform so no drain pipe was required. There is another hole above the top connector, that was a mistake but has no effect on the operation. The aluminium plate on the inside forces the water feed to flow out one side of the barrel only with flows from the bottom of the barrel to the top using the ribs built into the barrel (the photo does not show up the exit hole well). This forces the water to flow in one clockwise direction only. The inside is kept smooth to minimise damage to the fish. The main water feed is from an inlet with a stopcock at the bottom of the hull fed to a connector on the transom. When I wanted to use the Livewell I connected standard garden hose from the transom connector to the livewell and started the 850 gph pump. Fill time was about 4 mins before the overflow came into operation. The pump is about 1m below the Livewell top connector. Macks stay alive all day in it. Steve Jamie W 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich185 Posted May 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 15, 2013 Cheers for that steve and the pictures, thats just what i need. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rich185 Posted May 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2013 Well this is it. Im using a 45l drum with a 500gph bilge pump with a 12v cigarette lighter adapter pumping water into the tube in the barrel with half a dozen holes on one side to make the water circulate clockwise with the top hole above the water line to put some bubbles into the water, and got a exit hole twice the size as the inlet at 1.5" and this goes out through a hole in the transom and tried it out yesterday and seemed to work well with the one mackerel i caught. What i am going to do now though is put a hole in the lid so i can put the bilge pump in the barrel whilst on the move and use a bit of perspex to cover the hole up that i will hinge into the lid with a small slot in it for the tubing so i can still close it whist the pump is in the barrel. Being demonstrated in my pond. Thanks everyone Rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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