Author Topic: first bait tank build  (Read 24966 times)

Offline appleye

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #60 on: Oct 30, 2014, 09:43 AM »
Started one the same size about a month ago. I have a lot of bait and its running great. Started up a chest freezer about a week ago ready to start catching some large minnow for that one this weekend. Its kind of like a school project.
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Offline JiggerDan

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #61 on: Oct 30, 2014, 09:53 AM »
Nice. Looks better than my 20 gallon aquarium. Should hold more too. ;)
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Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #62 on: Oct 30, 2014, 10:27 AM »
Well I think before they all died from the freeze I had about 12dz or so. That was probably only 40gal of water. I'll have double that now so I'll have plenty of room this time.
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #63 on: Oct 30, 2014, 07:40 PM »
got some work done on the filter. went for fresh baits design

about 5/8" off the bottom




3" layer of bio balls


3-4" layer of ceramic material


almost double the filtering media from last year


lastly did a layer of pillow stuffing or whatever to catch the solids. i'll finish up spray bar and intake once i get the new pump in  the mail and get everything figure out
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #64 on: Nov 01, 2014, 04:58 PM »
Spray bar inside the filter



The full set up minus the dividers. I'll take care of that tomorrow and then fill her on up
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #65 on: Nov 02, 2014, 01:57 PM »
got the dividers all finished up. just gonna wait for the silicon to set up and then fill it with water . i like the way it came out. probably should have made the center divider longer and not left as much dead space around the filter, but this way there arent any shiners nearby to get sucked in. so not the worse thing in the world. still plenty of room. larger on the left and smaller on the right. might cut a big hole in the wood and throw some really big goldens or suckers on the pump side being as they should be strong enough to never get stuck to it.



i just cut wood blocks to make tracks for the dividers. that way if i ever want to take the dividers out they arent glued in place.


i made the right side smaller. i figured the smaller shiners didnt need as much room


i'll update again once i get some fish in there
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #66 on: Nov 19, 2014, 05:26 PM »
Shortly after that last post I stopped at cto and picked up a lb of large shiners. They've been doing good. As you all know it's been below freezing the past two days. Stupid me forgot to plug in the stock tank de ICER. This is what I found

Whole right side of the spray bar was frozen and right side tank had at least an 1/8" of ice. Plugged in the de icer and barely an hour later full water was flowing and it was almost completely thawed. Pretty impressed with it
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #67 on: Nov 25, 2014, 03:35 PM »
I seem to be having a slight ammonia issue. I've been having a slow but steady die off. So I checked the ammonia and it was high so I did a water change and it brought it down a lot. 2 days later I had 4 more dead and the ammonia was right around 2 or 2.5ppm.
I'm confused because it's been running a while so I shouldn't be dealing with ammonia spikes anymore. It's the same filter set up I ran before only bigger. Any suggestions? I really want to get this figured out before I start loading up the tank for the winter
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline appleye

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #68 on: Nov 29, 2014, 10:42 AM »
I think your just going to have to keep it running. I loose a few a day. I just pull um out. I have a couple hundred dozen fatheads in two tanks. It levels it self out. Are you still running the heater? The colder the water the better as well.
In the memory of "Team Lighting" Fish ON!
No one ever says,"Man that fish tastes small.
Thank you Lord for thinkin bout me. I'm alive and doin fine!!!!!!

Offline 82

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #69 on: Nov 29, 2014, 04:25 PM »
I haven't heard anyone mention salt? The right amount of salt can make a huge difference in your mortality rate. There is a huge wealth of info for keeping bait here.        http://www.catfish1.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?521-Livewell-and-Bait-Tank-Review   I keep several dozen large chubs and bluegills in the warmer months for flathead bait and I found some really great info here.

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #70 on: Nov 30, 2014, 12:57 AM »
No I'm not running that heater. I bought a 100w aquarium heater. So far I've been able to keep it right around 35*. I'll only use that big de icer if it freezes over. I've been wondering if maybe I just started off with too much bait. I haven't had one die in 2 or 3 days now. As for salt ice never tried our but know some people swear by it. I'll look into it
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline JZ

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #71 on: Dec 05, 2014, 04:57 AM »
Nice set up, I thought about doing a homemade one this year but in the end I found a cheap 10G aquarium starter kit for $40 and went with that.  I trapped 7dz good size minnows before the creeks and ponds started freezing over and have only lost 1 in a month of being in the tank.  I have a tropical tank so I was familiar with the issues that arise from a new tank and overcrowding so even with a filter and a bubbler I still did 25% water changes daily for two weeks. Pain in the ass but it makes all the difference until things start to balance out. I had a couple extra fake plants so I put them in along with a few big flat rocks stacked on top of each other so the minnows could swim underneath.  I am no expert but I beleive providing cover is key in reducing stress levels and therefore mortality.  Because it is glass I also put a piece of cardboard around the front and one side of the tank to again provide more "cover" for the fish.
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Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #72 on: Dec 05, 2014, 03:05 PM »
http://www.petco.com/product/116668/Hydor-Hydroset-Electronic-Thermostat.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_Heaters#description-tab

anyone ever use one of these? seems like a good way to maintain the temperature. the cheaper one goes down to 41* and from reviews is pretty accurate
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline beeverfishing

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #73 on: Dec 05, 2014, 04:17 PM »
I don't know how well they work, But might wanna try something like this..
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/thermo-cubereg%3B-thermostatically-controlled-outlet

Turns on when temperature falls below 35° F, and off when temperature rises above 45° F
You could use a standard aquarium heater, just plug it in..
  

Offline lazyicehole

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #74 on: Dec 05, 2014, 05:44 PM »
Don't want to start an argument but there seems to be some misleading information being passed on here about biological filtration.  Biological filtration media does NOT need to be submerged.  Autotrophic nitrifying bacteria that grows on the surface of this media requires ammonia and oxygen.  Submerging the media limits oxygen exposure to what is dissolved.  Keeping the water line below the bio media and letting the water flow down through it will increase the water surface area and allow more oxygen to be absorbed.  Chemical filtration does need to be submerged however.  Another potential issue I can see is the temperature requirement differences for bait and the bacteria.  Nitrifying bacteria efficiency peaks at a much warmer temperature (around 30 C or 86 F) than what we would keep our bait at.  Any way that you can keep your filter warmer would improve its efficiency.  The bioload of bait tanks is huge and there will be wild swings of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate throughout the cycle.  Anyway you can help the bacteria do their thing is going to help in the long run.

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #75 on: Jan 03, 2015, 11:52 AM »
So I spent the money on that hydor thermostat thing. The digital one goes down to 42*. Best thing i could have done. Have it set at 43 and it's constantly at 43. No temperature swings, no ice. A little warmer for the bacteria to live in. My fatality rate has dropped significantly. I've never seen the fish swimming around and looking as healthy. Before they would just sort of sit on the bottom. Definitely recommend it for temperature control

Bad picture but


The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Knife2sharp

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #76 on: Jan 21, 2015, 01:03 PM »
My basement stays about 52 degrees in the winter and about 70-72 in the summer and this is where I'd keep my tank.  I had a river aquarium setup down there and I was able to keep brown trout alive throught the year with no problem.  It was only 72 when it was extremely hot in the summer.  For this setup I had a 20 gal long in an entertainment center that was built real sturdy, then the other side of the wall was my sump filter.  This was a wet/dry filter with a tower for bio material above the water line, a section for submerged media, another section with 'Live Sand', then finally a 3rd section for the pump.  The tower was acrylic and the sump was a 10gal aquarium.  The water intake was at one end of the 20 gal aquarium and the pump output at the other, so it created alot of current. 

Getting to my point.  For that setup I used a cheap filter media that my friend and I came up with about 20 years ago, recycled mono fishing line.  We'd go to sporting goods stores and they'd give us all of the fishing line that was dropped off in their recycling bin.  There is a lot of surface area with rolled or balled up fishing line and once the water starts flowing through, it settles and you can add more.  We used this in our marine aquariums and I still have a sack of it lying around.

I never thought of using a wet/dry filter for minnows, but then again, I never tried keeping a large quantity of them.  I would think a large sponge filter with a good air pump is all one needs, or maybe two, depending on the size of tank.  Minnows are pretty hardy and I would think a highly oxygenated filter media is a bit overkill. 

For those having ammonia spikes.  This will happen for 3 reasons:  when you first setup the tank with living animals and isn't avoidable, when you introduce a lot of fish all at once to an existing community, or if you disturb the filter media; releasing a lot of bacteria.  But you would want to jump start the life cycle of the filter by first introducing a large supply of minnnows, since they're rather cheap and you can afford the initial die off.

By the way, I've raised all sorts of game fish and marine fish/invertabrates, feel free to PM with any questions.  But I've never tried to keep minnow alive throughout the year. 
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Offline hardwater diehard

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Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #78 on: Oct 30, 2019, 05:38 PM »
Hey everybody, long time no update. So I haven't had the tank up and running but I finally got my own house that has a nice basement garage to set the tank up in. Shouldn't have any more freezing issues. Looking to take everyone's advice about keeping the tank around 45 to help keep the bacteria in the filter active.

I've had it running for about a month and did the old pee in it a couple times to jump start it. Have had about 3 dozen creek chubs in there for 2 weeks and they seem to be doing great. Currently hanging around 60*. Waiting on the damn cooler weather. Checked my ammonia levels and it was high around 2ppm but that doesn't surprise me that much. Did a half water change. How much longer do you think I have to wait for the filter to finish cycling? I'd love to start filling it up with shiners to prepare for winter but don't want to rush it
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #79 on: Oct 30, 2019, 05:46 PM »
Because i don't think any of my old pictures will load in this thread, here's the tank. 110gal tank with a 5gal bucket filter. Pick up tube off the bottom of the bucket so the water has to flow through the media. About 3"of bioballs, 4"of ceramic tubes and stuffing material for mechanical filtration.

The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline rdhammah

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #80 on: Oct 30, 2019, 07:51 PM »

I've had it running for about a month and did the old pee in it a couple times to jump start it. Have had about 3 dozen creek chubs in there for 2 weeks and they seem to be doing great. Currently hanging around 60*. Waiting on the damn cooler weather. Checked my ammonia levels and it was high around 2ppm but that doesn't surprise me that much. Did a half water change. How much longer do you think I have to wait for the filter to finish cycling? I'd love to start filling it up with shiners to prepare for winter but don't want to rush it
Never heard of the Pee thing. no wonder your ammonia is high. Ammonia is bad. do you have charcoal in your filter? that and bacteria helps neutralize the ammonia. adding water from where the bait came from helps since it already has the bacteria in it. toss a few shiners in to see how they do. with the water temp about 60*, di not overcrowd as this will cause Ich fungus  once that starts, you'll lose everything in the tank and you will have to start over after scrubbing out the tank. If you re using tap water, be sure to treat it for the chlorine. when doing water changes, I always add marine aquarium salt. the salt helps with the slime coat

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #81 on: Oct 30, 2019, 08:09 PM »
Only pee in it at first to get a little anomia in it. You need some ammonia to start the bacteria growth in the filter. I don't have charcoal in my filter because from everything I've read it only stays activated for a couple days and doesn't do anything for ammonia removal
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #82 on: Nov 06, 2019, 03:03 PM »
Looks like the filter is finally cycling. Checked it over the weekend and had almost 2ppm for ammonia but ran out of time to do a water change. Checked it again today before the water change and it had dropped down to like .3ppm! Gonna give it another couple weeks to finish the cycle before I start adding more bait but haven't had one die off yet so it's a good start. Also added another 2" of bio balls to the bucket. These are above the water line so that should help with oxygenating the water as well as added bacteria
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline Papa Sly

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #83 on: Nov 18, 2019, 08:30 PM »
how do you know if the bacteria count is up and doing good...is there a test?
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Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #84 on: Nov 21, 2019, 09:21 AM »
how do you know if the bacteria count is up and doing good...is there a test?

Idk if there is actually a way to measure the bacteria but by checking ammonia and nitrate levels you can usually tell. Once those numbers get down close to zero and stay there, you know you have a healthy bacteria colony in your filter
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

Offline DR.SPECKLER

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #85 on: Nov 21, 2019, 10:06 AM »
Never heard of the pee method but i use the fishless cycle method using pure ammonia that can be bought at the hardware store.guess piss is cheaper tho.lol

Offline PikeKing23

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #86 on: Nov 21, 2019, 11:17 AM »
Just stumbled on a great method of eliminating ammonia from the tank.  Went out and trapped some bait so I had to fill my bucket with pond water to transport them home.  No waders so I had to take the nasty, stinky, dirty water from right next to shore.  It was so bad, I was in a big hurry to get them home for fear they would suffocate. 

My tank needed a water change, as I could smell it.  It was a bit low anyway, so I just poured then water from the bucket into the tank.  The next day the tank was crystal clear and did not smell at all!  I even had some duckweed hanging out in the filter, lol.  My setup is in a dark basement and never grows bacteria.  I think that when it gets colder, this "dirty" water won't be available, but it is a short term solution for now.

On a side note, I am getting baby sunfish 3 to 1 vs shiners in my traps.  Any suggestions?  This is my first season trying.  Thanks.

Offline mi500

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #87 on: Dec 05, 2019, 02:17 PM »
Is there any downside to just grabbing a bucket of water from a local lake to start a bait tank?

Offline Ravo Himself

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Re: first bait tank build
« Reply #88 on: Dec 06, 2019, 05:52 PM »
Just stumbled on a great method of eliminating ammonia from the tank.  Went out and trapped some bait so I had to fill my bucket with pond water to transport them home.  No waders so I had to take the nasty, stinky, dirty water from right next to shore.  It was so bad, I was in a big hurry to get them home for fear they would suffocate. 

My tank needed a water change, as I could smell it.  It was a bit low anyway, so I just poured then water from the bucket into the tank.  The next day the tank was crystal clear and did not smell at all!  I even had some duckweed hanging out in the filter, lol.  My setup is in a dark basement and never grows bacteria.  I think that when it gets colder, this "dirty" water won't be available, but it is a short term solution for now.

On a side note, I am getting baby sunfish 3 to 1 vs shiners in my traps.  Any suggestions?  This is my first season trying.  Thanks.

Light or dark shouldn't have any affect on growing the bacteria. My tank is in my basement in the dark too. Sounds more like you just don't have enough bio material in your filter to keep up with the size of the tank. As for shiners, I'm no expert, sometimes I can find em sometimes I can't to save my life
The BIG one is just one flag away!

Species caught : largemouth, smallmouth,  bluegill, perch, White perch, crappie, trout, catfish, bowfin, pickerel, pike

-Ryan-

 



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