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Live Bait Tank


Wedger
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Thought I'd better get on with a few jobs on Otter this weekend as I'm 'gated' with work on call duty sad.gif .

Plenty of work to do yet before we venture out. New trap door to the under deck fuel tank, finish fitting the new fuel sender and gauge, new cooker to go in, clean the bog sick.gif .

 

Anyway, less mundane jobs to do as well so I set to and made a 'use anywhere live bait tank'.

Materials:

25kg screw top plastic canoe

small amount robust 5mm plastic mesh for screens

35w 12v blower......... smallest professional one I found but could run up to 4 of these tanks. (or one big one)

diffusers (one for this size tank)

6mm pipe

6mm Rectus snap connector for air line

small leisure battery

 

I intend to make a second one, if the first proves successful.

Air will be plumbed around the deck, under the gunwales out of the way, with rectus outlets at the key points. Rectus fittings are self sealing when disconnected so any amount can be fitted to the ring main. One or more tanks may then be hooked up out from stowage as required the returned to stowage for the return journey.

There will be the need to freshen the water from time to time, with the odd bucket, both to reduce muck and keep the temperature down. Easily done through the mesh, without taking the lid off. An overflow is neatly positioned in one of the sunken handles.

I'm looking for a small volume 12v water pump to negate the need for bucket work. This I would run with a relay for intermittent flow. This would reduce power consumption and reduce water on the deck.

 

Any ideas chaps? unsure.gif

 

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Trevor

 

That looks a very elaborate set up.

 

Most of us just have a tank with an inlet and an overflow that has mesh over to stop the critters escaping. The inlet is conected to a pump which continuously delivers fresh seawater and the overflow disposes of excess water. With this set up you have constantly changing water which keeps it cool and well aerated

 

Martin

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If you had a deck wash pump you could connect this to your holding tank via a diverter valve.

 

Then you would have the best of both worlds, water to clean down and to flush through the bait tank.

 

Down side is the cost of a decent deck wash pump! sad.gif

 

Coddy

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They look like small bilge pumps mounted onto a skin fitting instead of their usual plastic base with a grill. there was a recent article in the BFM about bait tanks that showed one of these rigged in a small boat.

In my experiance Insurance companys do not like plastic skin fittings below the waterline, if it shears your boat takes on water very quick

 

Trevor years ago I made an elabrate tank and pump with valves and the bloody think packed up within weeks. total waste of time effort and money, and there were too many holes in the tank to use again when I found a better simpler method.

 

When helping a charter skipper in the channel islands he showed me his setup, that is basicaly as Paul describes, although the pump is not continous I have found that they last at least a season and still only cast about

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I would agree with Charlie, do not fit anything below water line unless you have to.

 

Bilge pumps do not make good deck wash pumps from experiance from a friend, however the costs do go up dramaticly for a quality unit.

 

Try this site Aquafax look for the generl purpose pump.

 

or Aladins Cave

 

or try here Rule & Jabsco Pumps

 

Hope this helps

 

Coddy

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Trev,

 

In a rush now - but I have used a 350 GPH bilge pump for 2 years now and never had a single problem.

 

Mine is as basic, but robust as they come - basically the same as the charter guys use. When I get back tonight Ill do a few piccies for you.

 

Adam

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We have a bait tank in the floor on pal-o -mine,but it only circulates water when you are on the move. we also have a superdooper deck wash hose,but Andy won't let me run it when we are drifting or anchored up. he feels it will hammer the battery too much.!Comments please..jack

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Jack

 

On a boat your size I would imagine you have more than one battery. If you have 2 batteries there will also be a battery switch somewhere. Get into the habit of starting and running hte boat to the mark on all batteries then switch over to either battery one or battery two. This way you should always have a fully charged battery for starting your engine. I do this on Maverick and have never had a problem and I can't remember having to resort to using the fully charged battery even when running the deckwash/bait pump most of the day

 

Martin

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  • 1 month later...

To add to this thread, I've recently been working on my livewell for the kayak. Using a Rule 360 aerator pump it wasn't 'silent running' as advertised. I want to keep my kayak stealthy so fit a voltage regulator to reduce flow and also fit the pump inside the tank. After hearing back from Rule the aerator pumps can be submerged like their bilge pumps. Its very quiet now. A couple of pics including my bath test.

 

Does anyone know where I can buy a garden hose anti-syphon valve? I've tried a plumbers merchant off Holdenhurst Road (Plumb Base), In Excess, B&Q and Homebase.

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Aaaah!

 

What you need is one of those very cheap and nasty washmatic hoses...... the ones that they sell for washing your car and the windows from a bucket of water wink.gif

 

They have a oneway valve that acts like a pump when you move the brush up & down.

 

If you need to get more complex (expensive), they do one for poly water pipes. All domestic supplies should be fitted with one so there has to be lots around.

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Thanks for the tip Newboy.

 

Its not too big a deal for me if I don't have a valve although it would reduce the number of times I have to turn round to reprime the pump or lower the hose each time I start it. The blue hose in the pic will be bent round to either the left or right to fit through a scupper hole.

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