Tek Tanks

[plaicemat]

Rather defeats my original point though, Rich, which is to have a system without all the plumbing and drilling and to also make it portable between boats. If you're going to the trouble of the plumbing, I don't think you need the aerator.

 

Terry B.

[Swainiac]

Terry, if you do include the aerator, then the system is portable, off the water, however to combat this, all I did is just circulate the water in the tank. The motion of water spouting out of my down pipe acts to aerate the water slightly. Then when the system is on board, the tank is fed by fresh sea water, and holds the same temp as the outside environment, with a slightly less O2 content.

 

Rich

[JIMBOB]

Live wells is a subject I can shed some info on, as its basically what I do for a living ,That is keep fish alive.(I would say tho mackerel are probably the most challenging!)

A venturi would be the best of both worlds IE Aeration and circulation both from one pump simultaneously...but does require a bigger pump to work and to be honest most of the oxygen gets in to the water via water movement not aeration.(not necessarily bubbles in the water! ) anything that keeps the water surface moving will work eg. aerator, circulation pumps or a minimiser.

 

Where TEK Tanks slips up in having an enclosed system. that causes the ammonia the fish are releasing to build up. Then the temp rising in the tank causes the max o2 levels to drop . Meaning the higher the temp the less oxygen water can hold. and the more fish the more ammonia.

So to sum up the best live well would have very cool water and lots of surface movement with a good water turnover.

Hope this helps.........................................And not to forget the anti-clock wise swimming

 

James

[alankirby]

Also, becuase the bucket has no "flow" the fish can't swin naturally against the current in that anti clockwise direction that we know they like to.

 

Tom

Spot on Tom.

just thought i would add to the thread that any tank made for keeping mackerel alive should have a flow of fresh sea water. Found a site a while ago which said, i quote "The common mackerel has no swimbladder and uses a passive gill ventilation form of breathing. The fish swim mouth open and the gill chambers expanded, thus water flows through the gills. (Ramjet effect) This saves engery which is used by other fish to pump water through the gills when the mouth closes. Therefore it must move to live, if the fish is not swimming it will drown."

I think that sorts that out.

The site is here if any one is interested Mackerel

 

Alan

[JIMBOB]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that stale seawater will suffocate fish even when it's oxygenated because small organisims (algae maybe?) dies when temperature reaches certain level, and it's these things which kill the fish. Any thoughts?

 

That's called organic load, Plankton algae etc.. will only affect water when its starts to die and decompose, will take a day or so .that's the biggest problem when trying to use sea water at home.may have a small impact at sea but not much.

 

James

[plaicemat]

O/k, I've got a new plan, Stan. Now just a bit of clarification. Both Jimbob and guest Allan have quoted the fish swim in a particular direction. Unfortunately, one says clockwise and the other, anti-clockwise. Now, come on chaps, give a bloke a break, which is it?

 

Terry B.

[TomBettle]

Anti clockwise is the way they swim so you need to pump water in a clcokwise direction to create the current.

[Newboy]

Anti clockwise is the way they swim so you need to pump water in a clcokwise direction to create the current.

Only in the northern hemisphere, they swim the other way down south.......

[plaicemat]

Thank you, Tom, back to the workshop.

 

Terry B.

[Adam F]

Mine were swimming anti-clockwise tonight.....

[BigMac]

Yeah.............. but they were dizzy, weren't they????????????

[TomBettle]

Yeah.............. but they were dizzy, weren't they????????????

No Al

 

They only get dizzy if you make them swim clockwise...

[plaicemat]

..........or pep the water up with some happy juice!

 

By the way, I have now set the tank up with the outlet pipe facing in a clockwise direction with a pipe attatched and a fantail end piece on it and I am getting good aeration and a good rotational circulation of water. I'll see how that works before going down the road of plumbing.

 

Terry B.

[Swainiac]

Terry, be mindfull not to place any obstacle in the path of Mackeral in the drum, as they will get into any corners nose first, sit there and drown!!! They must be free swimming.

 

Rich

[plaicemat]

All cabling and pipework is routed through conduits; no nasty little corners for them to hide in! But thanx for the tip, Rich.

 

Terry B.

[plaicemat]

For anyone interested, here is the scientific bit on the manufacturers site. It shows the theory (most of which has been covered by our resident experts) and how to set up an aeration system properly. Keep-alive aeration advice

 

Terry B.

 

[TomBettle]

Been fiddling with my posh bucket today to try and improve things.

 

I have decided to keep the "infuser pump thing" which stay on suckers at the bottom and directs a flow of water around the tank (clockwise flow).

That is the standard system that blows little bubbles around.

 

Following the theme of the traditional live well I then went to B&Q and bought several hozelock thingy connector oojamaflips.

 

I then drilled a 25mm hole at the bottom of the tank and attached a hozelock thingy with a "on off" type hoze attachement. The theory being I can drain the tank from here.

 

Next I drilled another 25mm hole at the max fill height at the back of the bucket and attached another hozelock thingy. The hole through the connector is small enough to stop any lively fishy swimming out, but acts as a drain.

 

Finally I drilled a third 25mm hole and attached another hozelock thingy which in turn connects to the hozelock thingy on my deckwash. On the inside I attached a brass 90 degree elbow to direct the water clockwise.

 

So:

The tank is filled and freshwater comes in via the deckwash which directs the water clockwise around the tank. Further oxygenation and clockwise flow of water comes from the tek-tank infuser thing. The level of oxygenation is very adjustable with a nobby tap thing on the side. Finally the water drains from both the top (overfill) and the bottom as required.

 

Testing it today and it seems to be 99.9% spot on. The only problem is it fills very fractionally faster than it can drain so I may put one more drain at the overfill level. Alternatively, I'll keep the lid on and simply stop the pump a minute before we get the bait out allowing a little water to drain off first.

 

Fingers crossed it is a success!

 

Tom

[plaicemat]

For those that are interested in these things, it has been organised that the supremo of KeepAlive, the Florida based company that manufactures and markets the system, is going to contribute to the forum. He is very hands-on and a practical angler to boot and is very involved with the catch and release tournament scene in the U.S.A. In their system, the fish are kept alive in tanks, weighed in and then released. Keepalive tanks are the adopted system used.

 

I will, hopefully be communicating with him very shortly and you can then direct your questions and misgivings to the horses mouth, as it were.

 

Terry B.

[plaicemat]

Tom, instead of improving the outlet, how about restricting the inlet slightly with an adjustable clamp? You should be able to get it spot on then.

 

Terry B.

[Paul J]

Tom,

 

sounds like you have the best of both worlds - a fish jaccuzi!

 

PJ

[Swainiac]

Will be intersting to hear the FLA side of things, as they also have temperatures well in the 90's to contend with during their summer, so regulation of temp will be high on their agenda I think.

 

Rich

 

PS......Does he need crew in the next few weeks whilst I'm out there?????

[Swainiac]

One thing I did notice about Toms "TecTank", was the amount of froth kicked up by the diffuser, and this one was set to its lowest setting. From a personal point of view, they actually look very similar to my Honey Ripening Tanks that I use when the crop is extracted from my hives!!!

 

Once we had popped in a few livies, there didnt seem much room for the comfort of the fish inside, but seeing the size of livebait used in the states in general on inshore or intercoastal trips, the size of Tek Tank Tom has, is designed for their minnows, pinfish and shrimps. I would imaging it keeps them alive all day. (I actually nip down to the local 24hr pharmacy and buy one of those collapsable netting laundry bags, tie a length of chord on it, and hang that off the Dock in Florida, that keeps my shrimps alive for at least a day, and only costs me a solitary ten buck note!!!

 

I also imagine that there is no real call for any form of current to be created inside the tank, as baitfish generally come from inshore waters where there is very little tide, but over here, its a very different story.

 

Just my thoughts, Rich

[Member Removed]

The froth you mentioned is nothing more than fish poop. Just skim it off. All your aeration is occurring at the bottom where the aerator is located. Air is being blended at the impeller and the tiny bubbles are bringing up all the impurities in the water.

 

Just remember that you'll get great aeration no matter what the Air Control setting. The Air Control just controls the speed of the water so that you can control the schooling speed of the fish. Start with an open valve so the water speed is very slow. As you close off the air, the water speed will increase. Try to get the fish schooling as though they were on a tread mill and in one spot. Once you achieve that, you won't need to change the air control unless you use a different species. Every species has it's own schooling speed.

[Swainiac]

Capt Tom, do your bait fish tend to congregate against any obstacle in the tank, despite being drum shaped, any obstacle placed inside the tank will have the effect of "squaring" off internal corners, making fish find these and sit there nose first??

 

Rich

[plaicemat]

Apologies, cock-up on the communications front. Capt. Tom will be Tom Vendo who developed, produces and markets the KeepAlive system. He is based in Tarpon Springs, Florida, where the water is somewhat warmer than ours. Any facts you need about bait tanks, he's your man. I had intended introducing him but was out yesterday and missed the slot.

 

Terry B.