Ice chest live well

[Shanks]

I was at Boyd's at Texas city dike getting some live shrimp and croakers...and these two guy roll up with two ice chest with some sort of air tank on top with what I think was a copper line going into the ice chest. The ice chest was small about enough for a 24 pack of beer but they said they were fishing a tournament and they needed the live well on their boat for the reds.

Has anyone ever seen these or know how to build one? sure would be nice. I'm guessing that since it was smaller and not as rectangular the bait stays alive longer.

Any help would be great!

[findeep007]

As far as my knowledge goes it's just a small oxygen tank. This same outfit is rigged in alot of new bayboats because of how well it works, and no need to worry about your battery's running dead. My cousins boat has this in it. It works great, less dead croakers and shrimp but the bottles are a lil pricey. I am not sure it matters the shape of the cooler/ live well as to enough circulation to the size and how much bait you have. I hope this helps. I agree sure could be useful if you had one that was mobile.

[Burned Thumb]

If I was building one , I'd get a small oxygen tank ( I believe it's size "R") , and connect a breathing type regulator . Next connect a plastic tube to an aquarium aireator stone , to create very small bubbles . Initial expense will be a little high , but thereafter you can just have your tank refilled .Good luck on your project.

[Big Guns]

Boyd's sells the oxygen response systems ready to go. Just incorporate it into any ice chest you like.

[country1980]

walmart here in florida sell one that use a pvc pipe with suction cups to hold it up at the top for like 45

[presbychuck]

ONE CAVEAT!
It's easy and natural to think that these rigs will keep your bait alive (and they will) but not unless you change the water and keep it cool. Oxygen is just one thing the bait needs. Heat and toxin buildups (especially with shrimp and croakers) will kill your bait before they run out of oxygen most of the time. Freeze some bottled water to take along with ya. You can drop one of those bottles in the cooler to hold temps down on hot days and not introduce any chlorine into the system. Then make sure to change out the majority of water every hour in order to keep the toxin level tolerable. This will keep your bait lively and fresh all day. Keep em aerated, cool, and fresh water. That's what keeps bait alive whether the oxygen comes from a bottle or a pump.

[crawdaddct]

WHen I was a kid, I hitched a ride out to the jetties with some guys. They had a simular setup. They had a standard igloo cooler with a tank mounted on the back against the floor. Copper tube ran through the back of the cooler and into the inside. They had used spray foam to seal it up. They had capped the copper tube and drilled smal holes on the bottom of the tube. Worked great. Our shrimp lasted all day. They also kept the water cool with a little dirty ice (not from the tap).

[Shanks]

Great advice. I definitely want to build one. I wonder how good this would work with the whiting I catch for bait...whiting is my go to bait when I can catch it.

[MI_boy]

A while back, I'd had the same "how do I keep baits live" thought. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22146 is the link to a circulating water bait tank I tried to build. My thoughts at the beginning: incoming water is exactly the same temp the fish came from, it is toxin/poop free, and it has high O2 content. Unfortunately, I gave up on trying to beat the sand-eating-the-impellers problem, and it is sitting in the garage, unused...
Good luck w the cooler option, and keep us posted.

[Shanks]

MI_boy... I total dig your idea on the pump...I wonder if there is an easier solution. What "IF" big "IF" you could take a smaller hose and create a type of double in-flow and out-flow? like using a hose to take gas out of a tank (legally of course ) you could run a hose down to the water crate permanent suction and then have another hose that goes back on the sand or water that takes water out. That would keep clean saltwater in it without any motor use. However the out-flow hose/tube would have to be small enough to not let any shrimp out...I also think the out-flow would have to be at the bottom where as the in-flow could be above the water...this system would also keep the water at a constant level.

Might not work just an idea if you don't want to try mine. I'll try to build mine in a few weeks.

[Burned Thumb]

MI_boy... I total dig your idea on the pump...I wonder if there is an easier solution. What "IF" big "IF" you could take a smaller hose and create a type of double in-flow and out-flow? like using a hose to take gas out of a tank (legally of course ) you could run a hose down to the water crate permanent suction and then have another hose that goes back on the sand or water that takes water out. That would keep clean saltwater in it without any motor use. However the out-flow hose/tube would have to be small enough to not let any shrimp out...I also think the out-flow would have to be at the bottom where as the in-flow could be above the water...this system would also keep the water at a constant level.

Might not work just an idea if you don't want to try mine. I'll try to build mine in a few weeks.

It sounds like you're talking about a syphon , of some sort. Keep in mind a syphon requires that the outlet be lower than the inlet . The water would leave the tank OK , but the water wont run uphill , to enter the tank . If I'm understanding what you're saying

[MI_boy]

I put a ball valve at the bottom of mine so I could, in theory, drain the sand/poop out of the bottom or keep it cracked to match inflow, but in real beach life, the impellers ground down with sand before I even got the tank 1/2 full (2 diff times).
The pump could, in my bathtub testing grounds, almost keep up with the bath faucet even when sucking thru 75' of hose.
I think the solution would be some sort of large aquarium stone filter on the sea end or maybe an inline (like fuel filter) if it didn't plug in 5 min.

[Shanks]

MI_boy... I total dig your idea on the pump...I wonder if there is an easier solution. What "IF" big "IF" you could take a smaller hose and create a type of double in-flow and out-flow? like using a hose to take gas out of a tank (legally of course ) you could run a hose down to the water crate permanent suction and then have another hose that goes back on the sand or water that takes water out. That would keep clean saltwater in it without any motor use. However the out-flow hose/tube would have to be small enough to not let any shrimp out...I also think the out-flow would have to be at the bottom where as the in-flow could be above the water...this system would also keep the water at a constant level.

Might not work just an idea if you don't want to try mine. I'll try to build mine in a few weeks.

It sounds like you're talking about a syphon , of some sort. Keep in mind a syphon requires that the outlet be lower than the inlet . The water would leave the tank OK , but the water wont run uphill , to enter the tank . If I'm understanding what you're saying

I think you are right I didn't think about the easy stuff like water won't go uphill.

[crawdaddct]

MB - Were you laying it on the bottom or were you getting to much sand from the water in general. I was looking at my pool cleaner floating line and thought something like that could work. Of course you would have to ancor it in place. Pool lines have inline filters too, that could filter what ever you do pick up.

[MI_boy]

I tied it off mid-water column to a gig stuck in the sand. Problem is that everytime it sucks air, all of the prime is lost and it has to re-prime itself thru 75' of hose. I moved this weekend, so I saved the pump (never know when one will find another project) and put the barrel on the curb.

[presbychuck]

I can certainly see a floating pickup being the hot ticket to reducing sand exposure to the pump. Also pump type would be important. Some types, like diaphragm, wouldn;t be as susceptible to the erosion aspect, but would have check valve issues instead. Pool filtration is probably the best idea for sand control (especially in conjunction with a floating pickup). My son in law is a pool guy and owns a pool cleaning business in the DFW area. I'm sure he would be a great resource for filtration ideas.

Personall, I am about to rig one up on my jetski and use the water streamer feature on the back of it to aerate the well. That water stream is water that has cooled the engine and I was worried that it might raise the temp to kill the bait, but it appears to be virtually unwarmed when it sprays out. This was tested scientifically using the "mmmmm feels about the same near as I can tell" method of determination. LOL

[casper]

back when i was striper fishin on texhoma , i built a tank from a large igloo ice chest, rounding the corners (is very important) put in two 12volt areator pumps . used the water where the bait (shad) was caught, and ice to keep it at 58-60 deg. this requires 1 floating thermometer declorinator, no foam, and rock salt, i could keep a shad alive 12hours or so on 90+ deg days its been awhile oh and if you touch a shad with youre hand it will die shortly. this system should work really well for most live bait

[Shanks]

Casper- good idea I'll have think about this when I'm ready to build.

I'm ready to build this but apparently I should get the guttering done on my house first...dang responsibility.

[presbychuck]

oh and if you touch a shad with youre hand it will die shortly.

Good point Casper. I know that even with Croakers and Shrimp, if you stick your hand in the livewell repeatedly they will die much faster. It is best to use a little dip net to catch the bait in the well when ready for use.

[luckyfather]

I built one from an old 60qt cooler. If you add some water stabilizer for an aquarium you can put your hands in it all day long. Copper is extremely fatal to invertebrates. I have a pump from Walmart from frabill.Was 16 bucks. Because you have the water treatment in the cooler already, you cash use regular ice to keep them cool and they won't die. Just my experience