Hi,

I'm planning to target kingies, and need to keep some livies alive long enough to get to the hunting ground.

To target the kingies at first light I was thinking of catching the live baits in the evening and keeping in the shed overnight - so an aerator with an oxygen diffuser would be required, rather than a bilge-pump type arrangement as I wouldn't be near the sea water.

Thinking of getting a cheap 12V aerator for around $50 and use it on a large bucket/chilly bin.

Any thoughts on how well these units work?  Is it unreasonable to think I'd have a few small livies in the morning after leaving them bubbling away with an aerator for about 6 hours?

Thanks,
John

how did you get on Johnny???

ive used airators in the past with little success.

you might find this of interest... have just been discussing land based options in the Walk-about section.

i expect you fish from a boat.. but still, some ideas there like the floating cage.

http://www.fishing.net.nz/asp_forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=40663

I had a aquarium Aerator pump in the shed and placed it in my boat bait tank and kept the live bait alive nicely

I used to run a small pump on a standard sized fishbin as a live bait tank in my tinny. The pump sucked water out of the bin and then sprayed it back onto the surface in about 6 - 8 small streams. This oxygenated the water and I could keep 5 - 10 Jac Macs alive for many hours as long as the water did not get too hot in the sun.

Hi

I have an aerator that will keep livies alive all day no sweat, not that they are in it for as long. Also keeps scollies alive all day as well. Fish always look relaxed in it. It is a X2 "D" size battery operated unit.

Joker wrote: Try one of those 12v (about $12) air bed fan type inflators through a piece of hose pipe with an air stone or if you can get it a semi-porous piece of irregation soak hose. This will bubble for hours and not use heaps of battery power as a bilge pump would.

were u get that from

I purchased an aerator from Keepalive. There is a bloke in Christchurch that sells them. I paid about $100 for it. I can keep livies alive all night with it. It runs off a 12 volt supply. It is easily the best unit I have used to keep livies in good nick.