first bait tank build

[Ravo Himself]

so after gathering all the information from you guys that i think i need, i started piecing together my bait tank


its a 54 gallon rubbermaid tote from home depot


decent size. correct me if i'm wrong but i think if the filter works as good as i hope i should be able to get about 150-250 shiners depending on size


heres where the fun modifications came in


filter bucket sits in the hole. i drilled a lot of holes in the bottom for the drain/airation.
i plan to layer the bucket from the top down: poly fill, carbon meadia, ceramic media, bio balls

i dont have pictures yet but i also put a cut all the way across about 3" in front of the bucket so i can hinge the lid for easy access

[FRESHBAIT]

looking good so far!!  It'll be interesting to see how the lid holds up to the weight of the filter,   It may want to collaspe in.   
Interesting design so far,  can't wait to see it in action.   

[Kevin23]

Loookin good! I'd also be weary about the lid not supporting the weight, especially if you cut it. I've cut them before and tried to hinge them, it doesnt work.

If you havent drilled holes in the bottom of your bucket yet, try building a small stand taller than your tank and put the bucket next to the filter instead of on top of it. Then run a piece of PVC out the bottom and angle it to drop the water in through the big hole you cut. That way you dont have to take the filter off the tank to get at the bait or even look at them.

[beeverfishing]

Loookin good! I'd also be weary about the lid not supporting the weight, especially if you cut it. I've cut them before and tried to hinge them, it doesnt work.

If you havent drilled holes in the bottom of your bucket yet, try building a small stand taller than your tank and put the bucket next to the filter instead of on top of it. Then run a piece of PVC out the bottom and angle it to drop the water in through the big hole you cut. That way you dont have to take the filter off the tank to get at the bait or even look at them.

X2

[Kevin23]

Oops sorry, I misspoke in that last reply. I meant put the bucket on the stand next to your tank.

[Ravo Himself]

Well I'm reinforcing the lid so it should be able to hold up to the filter. Also I noticed that the hing idea is more complicated than Ithought but I'm gonna make it work. I put flat stock underneathe it to reinforce  and to have something to screw the hinges too. I'm also gonna screw the side of the lid that has the filter to the box for strength

[Kevin23]

Hinged lid will not work because the lid is not the same shape throughout. The edges have the raised part to snap on the edge of the box. When hinged this prevents it from flipping up. I tried it last year when I wanted to use one as a storage box in my shanty... just wouldnt work. Plus I couldnt cut the darn thing worth a darn when I got to the edges. I had to get the soldering iron and burn through it. Center cut fine, but those edges are TOUGH.

[Ravo Himself]

I just cut it with a cutting disk. Went through like hot butter. As for the snaps. This lid only has locks on either end at the handles. So it should still be able to open and close

[Ravo Himself]

you can see the piece of aluminum flat stock underneath that i screwed in to. all i had to do was notch the humps on the edges a bit to clear and it flips up nice and easy. i can take better pictures if you want to see how i did it. just waiting on the filter media to get in the mail and ill be all set

[Ravo Himself]

Say Ican put 45 gallons of water in that bucket. How many 2-4" shiners do yo-u think Icould hold assuming my filter works as good as Ihope   

[FRESHBAIT]

couple hundred or more. 
If you put 10 dozen in there thats 120.  Which when you look at it in the 5 gal bucket when you get them at  the bait shop looks like its full.   Throw that many in your bait tank and it looks like you don't have that many in there.   Just start putting them in there and see what your able to handle.   start out with about 10 dozen and go from there see how it looks, then keep adding more into the tank and you'll know when its full, b/c it'll just look full.   Also you start to see your bait stressing and dying.     Base the amount of bait in your tank by the amount of bait you'll need to keep you fishing for the month,  that way you won't have to go out and buy bait,  if you trap your own thats even better b/c when you see that your bait supply is getting low. Go out set some traps check them in a couple days and then restock your supply. 

When I go fishing just for the day I bring about 15 dozen med fatheads and shiners with me, that'll support me, my dad, my two kids, and my nephew all day, running 5 tipups a piece with some to spare if we get into the fish.   For a pike tourney I fished last year with my dad I had 5 dozen 8" suckers, 5 dozen Jumbo shiners, 5 dozen XL shiners, and 10 dozen med shiners all in a 48 qt cooler with nothing more than a battery operated bubbler.  It kept them alive all day, and the leftovers went back into the bait tanks and it was maybe a dozen of the med shiners left.  187 pike iced that day for our group of 4, I iced 67 my dad did around 40 something, my cousin and his friend probably 40 a piece.  I keep alot of bait b/c I go through alot of bait,  I pretty much supply my family and friends with bait,   I don't make money doing it.  Its just something I like doing and I try and do better at trapping  bait every year. 


Long story short 200-400 would be my guess. 

[Ravo Himself]

Yeah. My set up is for personal use too. That's cool I can probably get that many.  I do trap my own. How can I trap through ice if I ever need to restock? I figured drill some holes in like a 2 foot square and chisel the remaining ice out. Drop the trap and cover to hole to keep it from freezing.

[Ravo Himself]

still waiting on some filter media so i ran to home depot for some adaptors and tubing for the pump. after fooling around with ideas for a bit this is what i came up with. drilled holes in the tubing to allow water to be dispersed more evenly across the whole bucket as apposed to dropping all in the same spot. hopefully i can start trapping bait this weekend

[FRESHBAIT]

what kind of traps do you use???  For my big clover traps I take my chain saw cut out a hole and then push the ice under. I use a old chain saw that I cleaned up( got all the petroleum bar/chain lube out of it, and just fill it with veg oil for lube) i use it only for cutting holes in the ice when trapping.   For the small traps like the Gee's minnow traps, and the frabills I just take my 10" auger and drill 3 holes in a line and over lap them a little bit.  Then I just put the trap in and just tie it off to a piece of wood that goes perpendicular to the line of holes.  I usually suspend my bait traps just below the ice.   The 10" auger width is just bigger than the width of the gee's and frabil minnow traps,  the length of the three holes is about 8' longer than the length of the trap.   When you go to check your traps, bring a spud bar to chip out he hole and lift the trap out.   DON'T CHIP TO CLOSE TO YOUR LINE OR IT'LL BE CUT AND FALL TO THE BOTTOM. 

[Kevin23]

Perfect, but I'm wondering if you might have drilled too many holes. You need water to stay in the bucket or you will never form any good bacteria. Its a fine line, which is why most guys use the pipe on the bottom to the tank with a valve so they can control how much water exits the bucket.

You really need the bucket to stay over half full of water, you want most of your filter material to be in the water... except for the top thin layer if you are running one for mechanical filtration. But if you dont have most of that filter material submerged 24/7/365 with water flowing through it, then you are never going to get good bacteria to form and your ammonia levels will go through the roof thus poisoning your bait. 

[FRESHBAIT]

Good catch BBk,   I looked at it and thought the same thing. 

[FRESHBAIT]

Rav check this out,  its pretty much how I do my big traps when I'm trapping with them.  Except I use a clover trap.  Hole is about the same.   

[Ravo Himself]

Cool. Thanks for the video.

Also. I didn't know that about the water levels in the filter. Ill go to petco and get some aquarium silicone and plug some up. Will the filter material slow down the flow at all. It will be easier for me too check the water level with none in there

[Kevin23]

It will slow it down a little, yes.

You dont need aquarium silicone. Just shove some duct tape in the holes and call her good. (break off a patch, stick it on and push it through from the top with a pen or something to where you can pull from the bottom, it will create a nice plug) Plug em all then pull a few through until the water flow is right. Just call me Red Green

[Ravo Himself]

Too late. Petco is a minute from my house so I already got some and some PRIME. It says 1 cap full for 50 gallons so its kind of perfect for my tank size. But I plugged up half the holes with the silicone. Ill test it tomorrow once everything is dry. Hopefully it gives me a few inches off water

[Ravo Himself]

Is the most important to just have the bio media underwater. Like if the cermaic and bio balls are submerged but the carbon is not. Is that ok. It makes sense for the bio media to be submerged but shouldn't the carbon still clean the water with it running through

[Kevin23]

Carbon doesnt matter, its only live for 24 hours then its no good. But yes, you want it in the water. If you hold it up to your ear while its wet, you should be able to hear it sizzling or popping. If so, its alive.. if you hear nothing its dead. IMO its a waste of money. I used to run 30+ tanks breeding and selling tropical fish, I never wasted my money on carbon. The only time I ever use it, and this is very rare... is in one of my bluegill ponds in the fall. This time of year the oak leaves fall in the water and make the water a nasty brown color and makes it stink.. carbon takes care of that.

[Ravo Himself]

fiddled with the bucket tonight. i plugged all the holes up and drilled 8 small ones. i slowly made them bigger untill it equalized at an amount i liked. it pretty much holds about 3 1/2" of water in the bottom. i figure with the bio balls and the ceramic in there it should displace enough water to cover both. ill know tomorrow when the rest of the balls get here

[Ravo Himself]

bio balls were here when i got home. set up the filter and started filling her up





i didnt account for the weight of the water bowing the tub out so i drilled holes near the top and used string to pull it back to about normal. not perfect but it works.

also i was getting nervous about whether or not the water level in the filter was right or not so i drilled a 1/4" hole just on top of the ceramic so the water can never get above that.

i'm still debating as to draining an inch or 2 of water to putt less stress on the tub and to allow for better airraition from the drain holes.

what do you think?

[Kevin23]

I'd leave the water the way it is and build a box to reinforce it. Especially if it is going to be in colder temps.

As for the aeration, I dont think you have enough nor will you get enough out of that filter for 100-200 fish. I think you should hit up the pet store for a cheap dual output aquarium aerator, tubing, and stones. Can never have too much aeration when it comes to baitfish.

[Ravo Himself]

My dad has one from an old fish tank he's going to give me. I'm gonna go catch a dozen or two tomorrow just to get some bacteria started growing and see if everything works

[FRESHBAIT]

the newer totes are a bit flimsy and will bow,  Like others have said you can make a frame around it to keep it from bowing, or you could redneck engineer it by puting some angle aluminum along the inside lip to strengthen it. 

Its looking good so far,  and once you get that air pump and stones going your on your way.   

[Ravo Himself]

did a 24 hour soak with a trap. only got 4 goldys and 4 crawfish. in the summer you can get like 2 dozen in an hour. all this size or bigger

[FRESHBAIT]

Nice looking bait!! Perfect size if your targeting some larger species like pike or big lakers.   One thing I notice over the years of trapping bait is sometimes it takes a little while to dial in on where the bait are holding at.  Sometimes they're suspended right below the ice, sometimes midway down.   I just keep playing with my sets till I find what works.  I also use a Recipe for my bait in the bait trap. 
Here is what I use:

3 handfuls of purina dry dog food(green bag)
2 handfuls of purina dry cat food(blue bag)
2 handfulls of Cheese balls
A pack of old stale hamburger buns
A piece of White styrofoam for each bait trap(kinda acts as an atractor, don't know why buy everyone swears by it, some only use a piece of stryofoam)

I mix it all in a 1 gal ice cream bucket with a lid and carry it out with me to my traps.  I then just reach into the bucket and grab a little bit of the mix and try to get a little bit of everything.  Then I crumble up a hamburger bun and throw it in, then a piece of the white styrofoam. 

Some people use different things, this is what I came up with that works for me.  Never hurts to try, and with it being still early yet you can pull traps everyday  and each little bit helps.  When you get some good ice to walk on you can move some traps around to try and find the bait. 

[Ravo Himself]

Yeah. Hopefully I can get another couple dozen of this size and a couple dozen a little smaller