Author Topic: live well for my bakkie (Read 9546 times)

grumpyh · « **on:** July 14, 2011, 04:55:24 PM »

hi i am looking for a live well to keep in the back of my bakkie, any idea as to where i can buy one or any ideas on how to make one will be appreciated. i will like to use it to keep shad and mullet.

J-Rock · « **Reply #1 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:02:45 PM »

Quote from: grumpyh on July 14, 2011, 04:55:24 PM

hi i am looking for a live well to keep in the back of my bakkie, any idea as to where i can buy one or any ideas on how to make one will be appreciated. i will like to use it to keep shad and mullet.

The easiest way would be to get yourself either a 25l or pref. 50l drum. Buy an aerolator pump at your local pet shop. Just fill your drum with sea water, insert the aerolator pump and add the livies... Make sure to get the pump that works off batteries or modify it to run off a car battery.

Zetti · « **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:06:45 PM »

Grumpyh

I've never heard of a livewell on / in a car so i quickly googled it. Found this, now you have to decide, live bait or cold

?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Livewell/

J-Rock · « **Reply #3 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:07:22 PM »

Quote from: Viskop on July 14, 2011, 05:06:45 PM

Grumpyh

I've never heard of a livewell on / in a car so i quickly googled it. Found this, now you have to decide, live bait or cold ?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Livewell/

www.instructables.com/id/Portable-Livewell/ My exact idea!!!

J-Rock · « **Reply #4 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:08:23 PM »

Here's another one to look at.

www.tinboats.net/index.php/Projects/building-a-livewell.html -

REEFMAN · « **Reply #5 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:16:05 PM »

Mate of mine b8fish built one a few years ago... text and pics courtesy of Brendan...

I used two 200 litre plastic drums. The top of the drums have two access points, which are not ideal for making a useable surface to make a live bait tank, therefore I used the bottom sides of both drums to construct the tank. I cut the one drum at about 50cm and used the other drum to create the new top so that the height of the whole unit fitted comfortably in the canopy in my truck, the bottoms on the drums are better, as they are flatter, and easier to mount the sealable lid that I used. The white silicone seal shows where the drums were cut. I took the cut drums to a plastic welder (Poly Weld) and he welded the two pieces together. The live bait tank sits 70cm high, thus fitting into the trucks canopy easily.

The orange webbing was sewed by a friend of mine with an industrial sowing machine. It makes for easier moving around.

The tank comfortably takes between 80- 100 litres of water.

Pic 2:

This is the view of the top of the tank. It seals completely, therefore not spilling any water from the tank when driving over rough terrain. This lid costs a bit, but is worth it.

Pic 3:

Next is the inside of the tank and probably the most important part. This is the part that makes all the difference between success and failure. I stole with my eyes properly from a very successful Natal angler to get how a successful tank works. There are a couple important factors that need to be taken into consideration to ensure that your live bait survives. One is oxygenating the water, secondly is creating a current in the tank and lastly is removing dentritis (read by-products) from the water or in other words, some sort of filtration. Do not get too carried away with the filtration, you will see that my filter system is very simple compared to the commercial products on sale, but it is very effective.

To mount the pumps that are required to run the tank, a piece of moranti wood is used. I sealed the wood with marine resin to ensure the woods longevity. On this assembly I mounted two bilge pumps, both 12V DC. This is to ensure that I can travel with the pumps running. One bilge pump runs the filter at 360 Gallons per minute, the other bilge pump creates current in the tank and spray on the surface to oxygenate the water at minimum 500 Gallons per minute.

From the above image one can see how the moranti wood backing is attached to the top the tank via two stainless steel nut and bolts. The filtration system is also illustrated. It consists of an inlet pipe, on the left, coming from the 360 GPM pump and leaves the cylinder on the right, back into the tank. In this cylinder one uses a fine mesh bag filled with activated charcoal and filter floss (the white thick cotton wool used in fish tanks). This simple filtration system works beautifully to remove dentritis.

Fritz · « **Reply #6 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:16:45 PM »

Firstly

Get hold of a plastic 200l drum with lid and clamp that you can secure the lid with when you have bait and water in transit.
Get hold of a livebait pump or bilge pump so that you can circulate the water with. I will be better to get the laivebait pump because it has a airaitor in it aswell.
You can contact the guys at Seaport and speak to Nick. He is the owner and ask him for one of the pumps. It has a diagram on it to show you how to install.
I use one of them and it works like a charm. If you have any hasle lert me know and I will be glad to help you with it. You can have a look at the one that I have at my house if you want.

REEFMAN · « **Reply #7 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:20:17 PM »

Pic 4

In this next illustration are the two bilge pumps. The 360 GPM feeds the filter system which you can see at the top of the image. The orange pump is 500 GPM, it is connected directly to a vertical pipe as illustrated. This vertical pipe has holes drilled on one side to create a current in the tank. If one wants to, tubing can be connected to the orange pump and connected to an oxygen tank, run the oxygen through the pipes to the current and spray works very well.

Pic 5

The vertical pipe runs to a pipe fitted horizontally as illustrated below, holes facing down ensure a spray onto the water, thus oxygenating the tank.

Pic 6
This image shows two stainless steel bolts. The whole internal assembly is mounted on these two bolts.

At the top of the image, the wiring from the bilge pumps. The socket in the image is the same used by caravaners, I have one fitted in my truck, and one on the tank.

In closing, the tank has worked nicely, I change 50% of the water every 12hrs. If I am travelling long distances, I change the water every 200km. Yes, that means I find a way to get 50% fresh sea water into the tank every 200km. This is mainly to change water temperature. By the time I get to my destination, the live bait is acclimatized to the temperature of the water where I am fishing.

To run the tank overnight I connect the Bilge pump to a Car Battery Charger, simple as that.

Fritz · « **Reply #8 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:23:25 PM »

Sorry Tony I posted and you still bizy.

REEFMAN · « **Reply #9 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:27:38 PM »

Quote from: Fritz on July 14, 2011, 05:23:25 PM

Sorry Tony I posted and you still bizy.

Great minds think alike bru!! Your solution is eggzackery the same as mine!!

REEFMAN · « **Reply #10 on:** July 14, 2011, 05:29:00 PM »

PS... very rude of me... Grumpyh

Hope you'll be a lot happier here!

SAfish · « **Reply #11 on:** July 14, 2011, 07:12:12 PM »

Our DIY guru JohnF have done this great tutorial a while back. You guys should try the search function.

http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php/topic,630.0.html

Fritz · « **Reply #12 on:** July 14, 2011, 07:36:22 PM »

Sorry boet. That was long before my time.

SAfish · « **Reply #13 on:** July 14, 2011, 07:37:43 PM »

Quote from: Fritz on July 14, 2011, 07:36:22 PM

Sorry boet. That was long before my time.

Welcome to the Ice Age.

Fritz · « **Reply #14 on:** July 14, 2011, 07:41:52 PM »

Quote from: SAfish on July 14, 2011, 07:37:43 PM

Welcome to the Ice Age.

Thanks

grumpyh · « **Reply #15 on:** July 15, 2011, 07:01:16 AM »

many thanks for all the assistance, appreciate the help :shre:

Lenny · « **Reply #16 on:** August 23, 2011, 11:28:38 AM »

I use a smaller version , Although if you got space then ther above ideas would work very good .

I use a 2, 25 lt , one for transport and one for at the spot , the one at the spot i tied on a road , hacksawed a door , and
tie a rope to the handle .... then use a holesaw 2o mm drill a couple of holes in the bottom half of ther drum [if you drill hole up top , your livies is gonna sink anlong with , you drum .tie off the rope , securely and gooi the livies in !!!

The cons are you cant travel far , and can really have more than 10 livebaits , but its easy and cheap , to construct .

Rule the similar pump Reefman has ,you get in a portable version , so basicly you have to plug it in and fill up with water
Think the one i got i Paid 300 bucks for , money well spent .

I have had a few pumps , but none of them comes close to the Rule !

grumpyh · « **Reply #17 on:** September 07, 2011, 01:01:45 PM »

hi Reefman

i have got the tank up and running thanks to your advise, i bought a 260 litre jojo tank, i got them to reduce the height to 700mm, and weld the top on again, the screw on lid is big enough to use a scoop net inside. i used a piece of stainless steel to mount the pumps onto. i now need to find a 12 volt pump with about a 10 meter head inorder to fill the tank up. any ideas as the what i could use will be appreciated
thanks
ahmed

REEFMAN · « **Reply #18 on:** September 07, 2011, 01:20:01 PM »

Sorry Grumpy... I'm clueless when it comes to the technical side of these things... I'm sure someone here with the right knowledge can help you...

grumpyh · « **Reply #19 on:** September 07, 2011, 01:33:16 PM »

regards
ahmed

Author Topic: live well for my bakkie (Read 9546 times)

J-Rock

J-Rock

J-Rock