[fwmud]

Heres an old pic of the tank I use at home to store bait.I've since added a "cooling loop" buried underground to help maintain a more constant water temp.Also along the back wall I added a piece of 3" PVC pipe,sealed on each end,with a wide slot cut out on the top that runs the length of the tank.
In the pipe I put filter media and have a slow constant water flow into and over it to promote bacteria growth.Cost was approx. $50.00 for parts.
The red bucket houses the pump and more filter media.Copper pipe at top along center line contains 3 sprinkler heads from a commerical sprinkler system.
The 2 filters are charcol(large one ) and a dirt/debris(smaller one on right)
filter.

 

[BIG GEORGE]

Some set up there Keith. Looks like ya may have to manage a plumbin supply store to build it. LOL!

 

[spoonfish]

Great looking bait tank. Thanks for the info. on it.

 

[fwmud]

george where you ever a detective?
LOL thanks man.

 

[BIG GEORGE]

No! Just pay attention alot. LOL!

 

[Desperado]

Nice set-up. You have better filtration then my fish tanks in the house.

 

[Guest]

you really did your home work on that project.GREAT JOB i am still useing
2 55 gal aquriuams to keep bait in with a really good filter system.the only
plus i have they are setting on a counter top in the dineing room,i can see them from where im setting,the dineing room is also my office,my wife calls
it the fishing shack.

 

[cuttingout69]

Keith brother, that is one good looking bait tank. I love the set up. Good pics too. What did you say you use to do for a living? Weren't you a brick layer or something!

 

[Abu]

Exactly the tank I want Keith. I have the chest freezer in the basement and know some plumbing. I won't need to run anything underground because the basement stays cool. Now if you ever get too much time on your hands or get bored send me the detailed plans of the plumbing layout, what type and size filters and pumps and I will head to Lowe's and wherever else I need to go for everything. I love these type of projects. Looks like you done some homework before building it. Awesome job and I hope mine turns out somewhere close to as good as yours. I would like to keep baitfish all next summer in mine. How many gills, goldfish or whatever baitfish can it hold and for how long? I am guessing if not overcrowded they would live forever with a little feeding. Abu

 

[fwmud]

Guys thanks for the compliments . (And the jokes)
ABU, you are way too kind. It was a lot of pre-planning,but, mostly trial and error.LOL
The left hand filter is rarely used. I have a simple sedimanet filter in it. I only use it when new bait is added to tank and they uh, leave a lot of stuff in it. The right hand filter is a wire mesh type that is removeable and cleanable.
The setup is pretty simple. The pump in red bucket has since been switched to an out of tank filter to simplify cleaning and room in water.
The over head sprayers are commercal fire system sprinkler heads. I got them from a contractor. I'll check this weekend and se if all items are at lowes/home depot and get ya a list. Its real simple to maintain.
Thanks, Keith

 

[Abu]

Keith, I was hinting hard but not really expecting you to take all the time for a parts list, I really appreciate it alot. I have had several ideas with pumps, filters and plumbing but didn't want to spend the money on them when I wasn't sure it would workout. This will be perfect, I can tap into the water lines and drain running through my basement. I am by far not the worlds greatest plumber but learned alot of it the hard way by trial and error when I moved into my old house and working on relatives problems. Alot of my family thinks I am Mr. Fixit, when anything breaks from electronics, plumbing, air conditioning, you name it, I get a call. I am a computer and electronics technician so sometimes I would like to throw the kids toys and boomboxes in the trash and buy them new ones, LOL But I always spend an hour or so fixing them even if I have to engineer some of my own parts. Abu

 

[TOPS]

Can I use one of those big watering trough as a bait tank? will I be able to keep my bait alive in that type of tank.

 

[Abu]

Hi TopSgt Lawrence. Haven't heard from Keith. My guess is you could use the water trough as a biat tank but there would be no insulation like a big chest freezer has. Kinda like an insulated cooler will keep your baitfish alive much longer than a plastic or metal 5 gallon bucket. Abu

 

[Abu]

Hello yodaddy. I have looked at these before. I have seen these same Johnson controls used in freezers to control the air temperature to keep keg beer ice cold. The instructions say to turn your freezer to max cold and then adjust your controller to the desired air temperature. Do you have one of these? If so, is it a heater to bring the temperature up from twenty degrees or will it cool as well? Also, is the probe good for underwater use? I have to findout more about it because my chest freezer is an old broken one and it will do no good to set it at max cool. Abu

 

[fwmud]

Top, sorry it took so long.(no internet at home)
ABU
The 2 biggest problems w/ baittanks and bait are;
1) ammoina build up. This will cause a fish kill FAST! A cheap test kit can be gotten at your local walleyworld.
2) heat, My freezer is inopt so I buildt a cooling loop underground. This will also work in reverse in cooler times.
ABU if your tank is in the basement,temperture shouldn't be a big problem for you. Easiest way to control ammo is with filter media with a slow water flow thru it. Add bait a little at a time.(3 or 4 over weeks) to allow bacteria to build up in filter media.
I lost qiute a bit of bait trying to add too much too soon. Get the test kit and some ammo-lok to back off ammo level if it spikes.
Take your time, add bait slowly and check ammo levels regulary.
The trough should work fine if it stays cool and clean.
I keep bait for long periods and feed them once every 3 days. Just cut worms a little at a time. Any dead bait needs to be removed ASAP to help keep levels down.

 

[Abu]

Thanks Keith. I will get the test kit and ammo-lok. I will add bait slowly over time, will have all of the cold Ohio winter to work with my bait tank. I just need to know what type and size filter and what type and size of pump or aerator. I spliced into a cold water line in the basement and ready to fill the chest freezer. I just don't want to buy the wrong filters or aerators and have no experience with all the different ones on the market. Abu

 

[fwmud]

ABU I have the material list,but, left it at home.
I also added another filter,inline with my cold water supply that runs thru a charcoal filter to help clean out some/most of the chorine outa the county water.
For a pump, a cheap one that'll last a while is the "blow-up" pool pump that comes with the big inflatable pools from walleyworld. It's designed to run constantly. I do no use the paper filter that comes with it. I only use it to pump water thru filter media for bacteria colonies to live in.
A simple bucket with filter media in it will sufice as as you build/re-build it.
Your cold water supply will have to be de-chorinated either before or over time. You can even use a storage barrell next to your tank to let water sit in and chorine will disappete over time.The chemicals used to de-chorinate get costly over time. I have a severe evaporation problem so I needed a cheaper solution than to continue to add chemicals.Yours being inside away from sunlight will be easier.
Also, "spraying water" into the tank will also help remove some chorine veres just letting the water flow into tank.

 

[TOPS]

So you think a big water trough will work if i keep in a shade ,like under a shed. 2 where do i buy the Ammo-lok? 3 filter media,what is this and where to buy. 4 Did you say no filter in the pump? I do not have to worry about the chlorine because i have a separate water well from my house.

 

[flatheadhunterx]

when selecting a pump it is recommended to get one that pumps 3 times the water in a hr. ex. a 200 gal. tank would use a 600 gallon per hr pump. you can get a book on water gardens and it explains how to keep fish in them pumps filters chemicals and so on. when i get mine set back up i will post pics of it. it is a 12 ft x 3 ft kids pool i bought at wally world one yr on sale during the winter for 39.00 i bought several pumps and filters before buying a book to learn what i was doing. i use a 1400 gal per hr. pump with a external filter which holds a lb. of charcol for the waste. its complicated to explain how it is set up but when i get it back together i will post it here. just bought a house so i had to move it. what a job. i have kept almost every kind of fish they are in it. even kept 2 small stripers in it for 3 yrs to see how big they would get but killed them with algea remover.they gained about 4 or 5 lbs each though.i can hold atleast 50 to 100 fish yr round with no problems. i buy trout chow by the 50 lb bag to feed them. also you may want to put rock salt in it 1 lb. per 100 gal.to keep them frisky and to keep them the scales and skin tough or they may get soft bodied sorry for the long post i just like to talk about it.

 

[Abu]

Flatheadhunterx.... Thank you for the long post and all the good information. I love to read about bait tanks and need all the help I can get. I have a small bait tank using a cooler and submersible 12 volt aerator which I can keep a few baitfish in forever if I take care of them but not nearly as many as I want to keep and the big chest freezer will be put to use as soon as I know exactly how I want to put it together with as little maintenance as possible. I have seen some pretty good sized heaters for huge aquariums but I would like to have something that would cool as well as heat to keep the water at a fixed temperature. Abu