Live Bait Tank.

Decided to build a live bait tank for the new tinny… but wanted to do it on a budget of 300 bucks and also wanted to make it fairly easy to remove if not needed.

Electronics and Computers is my game so this one is a little different.

In the past, pumps I have used to my mind have been too fast even at 360 gph which seems to be the smallest available. I have long thought about 100gph would be ideal so devised a way to slow the pump down without losing the grunt of the pump at slower speeds.

The plan was all drawn out on paper and the biggest problem I could foresee was how to get the water out of the live bait tank without building some sort of pedestal for it to sit on so as to use gravity to out flow water into the outboard well . To do so would mean I couldn’t then use my bait board with rod holders and another idea came to mind.

Plan now was going to use two equal size pumps (600gph) with 2 amp draw on each and use a single 10 amp speed controller to adjust the speed of both simultaneously and therefore, flow of water to achieve the desired 100gph in and out..

This should also preserve battery power at the slower speeds…

I also decided I wanted the out- board pump to be able to be used for a wash down pump to clean up at the end of the day..

Time to get all the gear together…  one 600gph aerator pump to fit to the swim step attached to the transom to pump water into the tank and also for the wash down unit… hose 19mm and s/s clips for each end of the two metre hose .. one 19mm switchable ball valve

one hansen 19mm T junction for inlet on tank .. one double threaded through tank fitting to fit all the inlet gear and allow aerated water to flow into the tank..

The wash-down hose will be connected to this outlet once procured..

Turn the tap to run the wash down hose or to run the livie tank..

 Now for the outlet side..  in the past I have used 1.25inch for a gravity fed outlet as its desirable to have the outlet bigger than the inlet but because the water flow was going to come in and out pumped at the same speed , I once again used 19mm hose and fittings ..  one 600gph bilge pump for inside the tank..

one threaded elbow with hose fitting on other end .. one 19mm threaded unit to go through the tank wall and a short piece of 19mm hose and two s/s clips to hold the pipes on.

On the outside of the tank is a 5 foot length of pipe connected to the through fitting at one end and then to the back of the boat connected to a through hull fitting with another s/s clip to hold it in place.

Now if you connected both pumps to your battery it should, in theory , pump water into the tank and out of the tank simultaneously but at a great rate of knots, changing the total 55 litre water content in about 73 odd secs..  Now to slow all this down.  drastically.

Attached / bolted to the front of the tank are two water proof boxes to house the electronics and batteries (fused) .. On the front of the battery box is a s/s boat connector which is attached directly to the battery terminals  and will allow easy exterior charging of the batteries and also have the ability to connect another battery to power the livie tank for an extended period of time. The positive and negative wires run from the battery box to the controller box and is connected to the speed controller..

The speed controller is mounted inside its housing and both pumps positive (switched) and negative are connecter to the speed controller output.

(This pic was taken before the two pump switches were added   will update when I take a new photo}

A switch on the front of the controller box simply turns the system on and off  and a second switch turns the pump inside the tank off  allowing the tank to fill from the transom mounted aerator pump. When the tank is full to the desired level ,this switch is turned on and allows both pumps to work simultaneously again..  the third switch turns the inlet pump off allowing you to empty the tank when you need to head home..

Now the pump speed can be controlled by the variable potentiometer also mounted on the face of the controller box..

It is capable of a simple trickle of water to 600gph or to the desired 100gph.. about 7-8 mins to change the water out..

This can be simply switched on or off to aerate and change the water as you desire…  I am yet to test this unit out on the boat and did not consider a scoop under the boat as there is no way to expel the water unless the inlet pump is turned off just leaving the tank pump to do that job..  It could be done by just adjusting the outlet flow equal to the water collected by the scoop unit and marked at a certain boat speed for quick setting so incoming and outgoing flow are the same.. Maybe at a later date.. but as it stands, the housed batteries should last about 3ish hours continuously running so periodically turning it off and on will extend that time.

Add an external battery to the cables and no problems for a full day running..

Some parts were obtained from the “Will use one day box” and a second hand 55 litre tank was procured from a fishnet member…  Most connections were “Hansen”  and the hose, s/s clips, through hull fittings , pump were obtained from Torpedo 7 at one of their sales.  Trademe was another outlet for some parts esp the aerator pump..

I’m at 272 dollars and still have to procure a coiled hose and hand-piece to fit to the tank tap for the wash down hose

BTW…  Any livies left at the end of the day are returned to the water as they have earned their right to swim freely again.

 

 

 

you might find you need a separate dedicated washdown pump with pressure.. not volume, as i found out when i tried to tee off my livey pump. could pee better! now i have a johnson 60psi job bluddy beauty.

pirate ...I am going to use the 19mm outlet but reduce it down to 12mm or even smaller,  hopefully gain a bit more pressure.. Its more as a water flow rather than a forceful pressure I want just to be able to wash blood scales with a brush or rag  etc while out on the water..  I have a small water blaster I use at home...
Smudge.. the problem arose from trying to dump water out of the tank and not having a suitable spot for the tank other than the floor and keeping as much fishing room as possible ...   two pumps of same value will within cooey,  keep the flow in and out constant.... so both really.. keep current draw down  but have the ability to change out the water at any rate I wanted  relative to the type of livies in the tank some of which can be quite mucky..   simple turn of the dial can get rid of that tank water quickly (hence the 600gph used)  and then  back to normal flow when all settled down.. Altho its an aerator pump, I may fit a bar to the inlet in the tank with small holes ..  see how it all pans out on the water ..  Also a flick of the switches can empty or fill the tank as needed quickly at 600 gph....
Like anything,   it all looks good on paper and adjustments can be made if needed...
Was something to do over last weekend while the driving wind and rain hit us here in the north

like the T for wash down.. even thu may not have the pressure of a normal wash down... but certainly  a hose and heath brush is far better than a bucket and hearth brush.

not sure how reliable having the inlet and outlet pump flows 'co ordinated' will go   different heads , lift etc.... restricting flow adjustment could be an on going thing ????  then added noise?
I have been thinking more on the lines of sealed container, inlet forces outlet out....or maybe float control???

There is another thread a few days ago along these lines... also mentions pick up under travel, and  experienced ppl I have been picking their brains have also placed importance on this aspect.

Im still thinking mine thru...location and portable I think  are the issues.
Current thinking is a plastic container, under the bait board... which sits on the pole in front of the engine well....but sits on the edge of the horizontal.... then figure out how can have the pole go thru the container....the access is a lid , like pics above, not the bait board....
So to remove one lifts the bait board and pole out of the back and the tank can then be removed...
hope explained that ok??

Have been looking at fuel  tote tanks today....???

and how to pout a tube thru a plastic tank for the bait board / ski tow rope type pole and still seal reliably.....made a Allly or stainless ??
just tossing ideas and taking in the experience and idea of others....

Doing same thing at moment , will use a pick up and run a wash down hose of the spare outlet on the rule live bait pump.
I was under the impression though that the more flow the better for the liveys ?

Nothing like a good project good on ya! Biggest problem with my livie tank is the mackeral block the outlet with their noses sometimes easy to fix, I guess I should fix that up eh...

"hahahahahah mind boggles .. a fish head inside outlet hose..  with tail waggin outside... and it cant backup.. "

Could take that further... good strong blade pump or gear pump, dead fish get sucked in  then automatically get chopped into burley and out the back....