Home bait tank

[jmr04]

I’m really fascinated by this. Thinking about building a small scale tank. Not really something I would keep bait in for months at a time but something to put bait in at the beginning of a trip and the end of the day so I could start with a fresh tank each morning. Seems like my water gets un fixably cloudy after a day or two. Id like to be able to load it up day one put unused bait back at the end of the day and so on, then dump it when I leave.

Don’t know if it’s feasible or not, keeping in mind the fact I don’t have a shed or anywhere to enclose it. It would just be sitting on a covered dock. Not really worried about temp because I’d probably only use it October thru April.

My other idea was to get a custom made SBT II. I think I saw somewhere you could get custom made tanks larger than 50 gal. Price would probably be a factor and it would probably need to be at least 100 Gal.

Anyway. I’d appreciate some thoughts. Thanks.

[drag4striper]

Aug 24, 2018 18:50:33 GMT -5 jmr04 said:

I’m really fascinated by this. Thinking about building a small scale tank. Not really something I would keep bait in for months at a time but something to put bait in at the beginning of a trip and the end of the day so I could start with a fresh tank each morning. Seems like my water gets un fixably cloudy after a day or two. Id like to be able to load it up day one put unused bait back at the end of the day and so on, then dump it when I leave.

Don’t know if it’s feasible or not, keeping in mind the fact I don’t have a shed or anywhere to enclose it. It would just be sitting on a covered dock. Not really worried about temp because I’d probably only use it October thru April.



Anyway. I’d appreciate some thoughts. Thanks.

A 275 gallon food grade tote would probably work well for you.
The one I have has no cover over it what so ever. You will most likely fight alge in the early fall and late spring like did if you keep water in it all the time.
But since you are planning on keeping it at your dock, water changes would be a snap for you.

I think its pretty cool of mward , bentrod , r22 and others that have shared all their information with
everyone. Their input really helped me.

I've made some changes to my tank filtration since this pic was made.

[jmr04]

Aug 24, 2018 21:54:28 GMT -5 drag4striper said:

Aug 24, 2018 18:50:33 GMT -5 jmr04 said:

I’m really fascinated by this. Thinking about building a small scale tank. Not really something I would keep bait in for months at a time but something to put bait in at the beginning of a trip and the end of the day so I could start with a fresh tank each morning. Seems like my water gets un fixably cloudy after a day or two. Id like to be able to load it up day one put unused bait back at the end of the day and so on, then dump it when I leave.

Don’t know if it’s feasible or not, keeping in mind the fact I don’t have a shed or anywhere to enclose it. It would just be sitting on a covered dock. Not really worried about temp because I’d probably only use it October thru April.



Anyway. I’d appreciate some thoughts. Thanks.

A 275 gallon food grade tote would probably work well for you.
The one I have has no cover over it what so ever. You will most likely fight alge in the early fall and late spring like did if you keep water in it all the time.
But since you are planning on keeping it at your dock, water changes would be a snap for you.

I think its pretty cool of mward , bentrod , r22 and others that have shared all their information with
everyone. Their input really helped me.

I've made some changes to my tank filtration since this pic was made.

Very cool of all your guys for sharing. I really appreciate it. Gonna start messing around with it today I think. If it ends up going anywhere I’ll post some pics.

[R22]

You learn a lot more from your mistakes than you do from your successes and I have had plenty of failures since I put mine in. No need for yo to repeat my mistakes. I would be happy to show you my tank and tell you about the challenges I encountered along the way. I will be at the lake tomorrow if you have interest. Text or call - Pete Smith - 434-258-8600

[jmr04]

A few more questions. I assume once you get up and running you treat it like a normal bait tank and do partial water changes each day. Change out half ever 24 hours? I cup of salt per each 10 gal.

[jmr04]

So this is my plan. Again don’t intend to hold bait long term. Plan on filling it up at the beginning of a couple days fishing drawing out of it each day and putting unused bait from my boat tank in at the end of the day, so I start out with fresh clear water at the beginning of each day.

I have a 47” in diameter 6 foot high round tank I’m gong to cut down to 44 inches high. Filled to 32” it should hold right around 230 gallons of water. I have a little giant submersible 1200 gph pond pump I’m going to plumb up to a 5 gallon bucket sitting on a board with filter media and holes on the bottom. A la Bent Rod and M Ward. In the plumbing to the bucket I’m going to install a 1100 gph Ventur for aeration. For flow and additional aeration I’m going to have a 500 gph rule bulge plump at the bottom of the tank with another Venturi on the output. Not 100% sure if I need to mount it to anything or how I would do it if need be, but can probably figure something out.

A plumber and carpenter I work with are going to build it in a shop we have at work making sure everything is going to plan before we break it down and bring it to the lake. The guys building it with me are so into it. Seems like all they do it watch you tube videos of how we can do something better or different. Really hurting productivity.

Anyway let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

[jmr04]

So after a few weeks of planning got everything put together yesterday at work. Looked to be working well so the guy who helped me build most of it and I loaded it up and left after work to bring it to the lake. Got everything set up right around dark. Headed out to lights and put 3 dozen on board to give the tank something to do overnight. Despite hotter temperatures and water temp than I intend to use it in, the bait looks great. With no loss so far.

[jmr04]

A big thanks to everyone who shared their set up. Wouldn’t have even known where to start without the help.

[coheasion]

Looks very nice!!