live well questions.

hey everyone i am planning on making a live well for my boat and was wodnering how the bait stay alive? is it the circulation of water or the addition of freshwater into the tank? like do they stay alive because water is being circulated inside the tank or do i need to keep adding water and dunping water to keep them alive?

Re: live well questions.

Oxygen is the key. The water needs to be aerated. You can accomplish that by circulating new water thru it all the time, or by aerating what's in there. That can be accomplished with an air pump or by splashing. There are also ultrasonic aerators that draw very little electricity, but they're rather expensive.

Re: live well questions.

Boater Dude<br />There are at least three ways to do it.<br />1: Pump in fresh cool water full of oxygen.<br />2: Circulate the water and let it spray back into the tank to add oxygen.<br />3: Pump air into the water to add oxygen.<br /> <br />1: Pump in fresh water and let excess water run out the overflow. This is the best way most of the time. Most people wire the fill pump thru a special switch. Switch has two postions, On Position or Timer position and center off. In the on postion the pump runs all the time and once full the water runs out the overflow. Timed postion the motor will turn on for 1 mimute then turn off for 4 minutes. Most timed positions are adjustable, some you adjust the on time and some you adjust the off time. So in cool weather and with a bait tank that is not over crowded you set it for one minute on and 4 minutes off. This save your battery and your bait does fine. Later in the day the temperature claims to 108 degrees and the water in the bait tank get too hot and your bait starts to die, so you adjust your timer to 1 minute on and one minute off. This brings down the water temperature in the tank and the bait is happy again. Also good for your fish livewell. This would be all your need most of the time, but two times it is a problem. If you have a salt water bait like anchovies or Sardines but your run up a fresh water river to get lunch, fuel, or let the ladies use the rest rooms. The fresh water pumped in will kill your bait. Another time is you fish all day but have a lot of bait left and at the end of the day you pull your boat and go to your camp site. Then fish again the next day. With the boat out of the water there was no way to add oxygen so the bait is all dead.<br /><br />2: You circulate the water in the tank and spray it back in to add oxygen. This works in cool weather but when it get hot outside there is no way to keep the water cool. As the water warms most bait fish will Die. However this works good when you pull your boat and go to your camp site then fish again the next day. Again usualy use a timer to save your battery.<br /><br />3: You pump oxygen into the water. Again does not work in high temperatures as water get to hot and kills your bait. Also some baits like anchovies usually die.<br /><br />Some boats use the same pump and timer to fill with water or circulate water. Just have a Y valve on the input. One way you get sea water and the other way get water out of the tank.<br /><br />Tank overflow needs to be screened so bait does not go out the overflow but also not to fine a screen or it will plug up with fish scales and the tank will run over in the boat instead of out the overflow. Some tanks will have several overflows so you can adjust water levels. All the over flows and the drain tied together so use same hose to exit the boat.<br /><br />Tank also need to have a drain and of course a plug so you can fill the tank.<br /><br /><br /> http://www.iboats.com/ <br /><br />Then search for LIVE WELL TIMER