# Home bait tank - Attempt #2



## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

Decided after my first semi-failed attempt at keeping bait, I would try again on a more educated approach. After much Youtube watching and intraweb surfing I decided on a block tank with filled cells and covered with a rubber based pool paint.








The water is pumped from the botom of the tank into a 5 gallon bucket with a filter to serve as the mechanical filter. The water will exit from the bottom of the bucket and in the event the filter is unknowingly stopped up,  the water will exit out the top pipe to prevent a disaster.








From the 5 gallon bucket it flows into the bottom of a 55 gallon drum that is the biological filter. The water then fills the drum and exits from the top back into the tank and the process starts over again.










3" pipe necked down to 1 1/2" directing water to bottom of drum causing a directional flow.








Cleaning sponges acting as the biofilter media.


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

And before someone ask, I am NOT a block mason....LoL...


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## BradMyers (Apr 24, 2012)

Looks great.


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## davidf5252 (Apr 24, 2012)

Looks awesome too me!


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## littlejon (Apr 24, 2012)

Looks like a hot tube with a blue cooler next to it and a big orange ash trey, Seriously, very nice and well done


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## chad smith (Apr 24, 2012)

Was it expensive? Or did you have all that block lying around the house?


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## GAGE (Apr 24, 2012)

Looks sweet and professional, are you going into the bait business?


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## Todd71673 (Apr 24, 2012)

I wish I needed that much bait! Nice job!


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## Terribleted (Apr 24, 2012)

Pretty cool.  Hope it works great for ya.


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 24, 2012)

Nice job! Put your sponges in a laundry basket with a hole in the center soins ya can get them out easier when the y get clogged.


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

chad smith said:


> Was it expensive? Or did you have all that block lying around the house?


Bought most of it, had some stuff laying around. About $300 total


GAGE said:


> Looks sweet and professional, are you going into the bait business?



Lord no! I just like to play with the fishes.


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## doodleflop (Apr 24, 2012)

Can't hide money You must have a fortune sunk into sponges

Really cool setup though. 
I've pondered the same thing you've built. I'll let you be the guinea pig. Let me know how it turns out. My only concern has been the summer heat and can the bait survive it.


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

doodleflop said:


> Can't hide money You must have a fortune sunk into sponges
> 
> Really cool setup though.
> I've pondered the same thing you've built. I'll let you be the guinea pig. Let me know how it turns out. My only concern has been the summer heat and can the bait survive it.




Sponges were less than $25 at the Dolla Sto!


Not sure on the summer bait, but if'n I can have the biofilter ready to go by Fall, I'll be ahead of the game.


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> Nice job! Put your sponges in a laundry basket with a hole in the center soins ya can get them out easier when the y get clogged.



Skippy said don't never touch 'em??


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 24, 2012)

T.P. said:


> Skippy said don't never touch 'em??



They'll lose their effectiveness when the become clogged. You'll need to unclogg them without removing "all" the good bacteria. X2 what doodleflop says on heat. A chiller or cold well water water changes will need to be made for the dog days.jmo


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 24, 2012)

Worst case, and it can always double as a hot tub!


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> Worst case, and it can always double as a hot tub!



The wife did always want one!



Question- Putting bacteria in the tank; directly on the sponges or just pour in the water??
.
.
.
.


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 24, 2012)

T.P. said:


> The wife did always want one!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Did you fill with city water or well? If its city, I'd let it run a few days to let the badness evaporate before adding at the 5gal. Wheres the pump?


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## Toona Dog (Apr 24, 2012)

what did you put on your PVC where it goes into the bucket and barrel to keep it from leaking?


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> Did you fill with city water or well? If its city, I'd let it run a few days to let the badness evaporate before adding at the 5gal.


 Well water! Pump in bottom of tank.


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## T.P. (Apr 24, 2012)

Toona Dog said:


> what did you put on your PVC where it goes into the bucket and barrel to keep it from leaking?



Bulkhead fittings from here.

Tractor Supply got some also.


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## shakey gizzard (Apr 24, 2012)

T.P. said:


> Well water! Pump in bottom of tank.



Getcha a dozen or two Jumbo shiners to start cycling. Keep the pics comming!


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## Dustin Pate (Apr 24, 2012)

Looks good but I think you may run into a problem with the corners. Bait may possibly get in corners and red nose them.


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## doodleflop (Apr 24, 2012)

shakey gizzard said:


> They'll lose their effectiveness when the become clogged. You'll need to unclogg them without removing "all" the good bacteria. X2 what doodleflop says on heat. A chiller or cold well water water changes will need to be made for the dog days.jmo



My thoughts on cooling the water was to get a small fridge and drill one hole in each side for a line in and out. Get some 3/4 or 1" copper line and twist it into a coil like the ole moonshiners did. Stick the copper coil into the fridge and run PVC through the holes in the fridge and use compression fittings to connect the lines. Have a pump dedicated to pumping water through this line and leave the fridge running as cold as possible without freezing the line up inside. Use some expanding foam to seal the holes you drilled. There you have a redneck bait tank cooler.


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## brett30030 (Apr 24, 2012)

Very impressive


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## EClass (Apr 24, 2012)

You have a boat load of sponges but you really need to rinse each one out good before using. They do contain some soap from the factory during production and can wreck havoc on your water.

Basically, you are running a large aquarium. I have been running tanks for 20 years. Send me a PM if you have questions. Add a couple of shiners to start cycle. Throw in a couple pieces of uncooked shrimp from Publix to get some bacteria started. You really need about 30 days to cycle before you put your bait fish in.

I agree about the corners. See if you can get a couple pieces of plexy. and "flex spring" them in place to make in more oval inside.

Looks great BTW!


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## fishingga (Apr 24, 2012)

Looks good.  I don't know about the sponges but I use the industrial looped scrubber pads.  Works great as does other media.  I wonder if the sponge will break down over time in the salted water?   Doubt you will have to clean them much if any since you have a prefilter.  You will have to clean the prefilter often.

In my experiments the refigerator sounds good but will not work.  Even with 50+ feet of pex coils in the freezer it can not keep 250+ gallons below 80* esp outside in warmer months.  Stay away from copper.  I think the salt reacts with it and will kill your bait.  If you can get an 8 gallon water fountain unit there is a way.  The tank may be big enough the corners may not be a problem.  You will know soon enough.  Put a bunch (30 to 50) of bream and any shad you catch plus a bacteria supplement, if you want, to cycle the filter.  I don't think a dozen or two will put off enough ammonia for the size tank you have to get your filter cycled.  You will throw some shad to the cats but most of the bream will live.  Gizzards will live longer than threads in bad water so try to use them.  Feed the bream too, they will poop more and put off more ammonia.  Does not matter what the water looks like initally.  You want to load up on the bad stuff to get the good stuff going and you will be ready for fall if not sooner!  Get a ph kit, not the strips the drops, and an ammonia kit and check your water about once a week to see how it is progressing.  Just my experience!

Have fun!


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## T.P. (Apr 25, 2012)

Excellent advice fellas! I really appreciate it! I had actually already thought of the exact same refidge system as doodleflop mentioned but was also unsure if it would work just as fishingga mentioned.

Gonna be interesting to fiddle with, a complete learning experience for me.


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## Lukikus2 (Apr 25, 2012)

Looks great.  

If you are running well water it should stay at a constant 70* or minus year around. I would just put a overflow in the tank and an timer hooked to an aquastat to maintain a constant temp.


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## crappiedex (Apr 25, 2012)

You done good on it for sure.  Hope the tank works good after all the hard work you put in.

Thats the second bait tank I've seen lately I really liked. Here is a link to the other  one made out of the freezer.

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-crappie-fishing-forum/207101-my-new-minnow-tank.html


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## Corey (Apr 26, 2012)

Just a idea about cooling your water, how about a old 
radiator. Have a waterfall effect with a fan behind it? 

Like a old school AC?


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## T.P. (May 23, 2012)

When I used the pool paint I noticed it was not covering the deep porosity of the block. Wishful thinking had me hoping it somehow was good enough. It wasn't. Had it running for a week or so but it was leaking 20 or so gallons a day. I drained it down, let it dry for a week and rolled on two coats of Drylok and then covered with the blue pool paint just for the blue color. Then I let it dry for 10 days and filled it with water this morning. No leaks now.

I did have bait in it for the two weeks it was running and they were living fine although I did have to add a second pump for aeration, they weren't getting enough oxygen with just the overflow of water from the biofilter.







Here is a picture of the 2nd pump with venturi hole.






This is a picture with my finger covering the hole so only water is coming out.






Here it is with the hole open.






Gonna fill it up with shad this weekend and see what happens.


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## fishingga (May 23, 2012)

That looks good T.P. 

Keep an eye on the threads especially wanting to get stuck behind the pipe and tube for the areator.   You may wind up having to move it away from the wall, if possible.


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## Larry Young Jr (May 23, 2012)

Looks good to me. good luck


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## T.P. (May 23, 2012)

fishingga said:


> That looks good T.P.
> 
> Keep an eye on the threads especially wanting to get stuck behind the pipe and tube for the areator.   You may wind up having to move it away from the wall, if possible.



I though about that and figured if it did happen I could cover it with some sort of something flat to close off the corner....maybe.


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## warronl (May 23, 2012)

T.P. said:


> Decided after my first semi-failed attempt at keeping bait, I would try again on a more educated approach. After much Youtube watching and intraweb surfing I decided on a block tank with filled cells and covered with a rubber based pool paint.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



VERY Cool!


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## Worley (May 24, 2012)

*Tank*

Looks good. In the corners u could cut a big piece of pvc pipe 6" or so in half, and silicone the halves to the corners if u even need to...?


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## j_seph (May 24, 2012)

Thanks TP, I got a sink full of dirty dishes cause I couldn't find a scrub pad and here you are playing with bait tanks


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## T.P. (May 24, 2012)

j_seph said:


> Thanks TP, I got a sink full of dirty dishes cause I couldn't find a scrub pad and here you are playing with bait tanks



Sorry, man. Come to the house and I'll get you out a couple.


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## j_seph (May 24, 2012)

T.P. said:


> Sorry, man. Come to the house and I'll get you out a couple.


Used some pine cones but I'll come by and pick up some shad Saturday


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## T.P. (Jun 10, 2012)

I've had 20 or so bream and 30 or so gizzards in the tank for a little over a month and a half. Everything is good so far, water temp as of today is 68*, I'm sure it will get higher as the summer months bring constant high temps.

I haven't had  much of any changes in water clarity so far. For a couple days water visibility was to where I couldn't see the bottom of the tank but it cleared right back up. No where near like when I was keeping bait in a black plastic 110 gallon stock tank with little filtration-the water turned green to the point of you couldn't see the bait anymore and even with a 90% water change, the water would turn green again within 12 hours.







About a week ago I lost about a half dozen fish(the only ones I've lost) so I added a bubbler after I noticed the fish were gulping for air on top of the water. It has gotten all the fish back to swimming near the bottom.






 Also my homemade venturi type aerator was working great until I filled the tank full then it quit sucking air. I assume the pressure of the tank being full made it stop working. It worked great when it was 6" deep but wouldn't work at all when it was 24" deep...? So it's been removed.


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## Gadestroyer74 (Jun 10, 2012)

This is some really interesting reading great work !!


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## fishingga (Jun 10, 2012)

Get a dannco venturi.  That will fix your problem.  All venturi are $30.00 last time I ordered.   Call him and he will get you the right venturi for your pump size and setup.

www.danncollc.com


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## T.P. (Jul 7, 2012)

Still doing fine with a water that is clear as a bell and 75*.


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## AStrick (Jul 7, 2012)

Great work! I am working on a home tank also.
Job gets in the way of fishin and home projects,,lol
Tank seems to be working fine for ya. Read your  post and shut mine down, back to the drawing board,, thanks for the info,,
atleast now i have a plan!


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## JimC (Jul 7, 2012)

T.P. Can I come over and test it out see how well them breams will catch... That's one heck of a bream hole.


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## T.P. (Jul 7, 2012)

JimC said:


> T.P. Can I come over and test it out see how well them breams will catch... That's one heck of a bream hole.



JimC.....Them bream will almost jump out of the tank when they see you coming. One will jump 6" out of the water to eat the food as I pour it in.


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## Jeff C. (Jul 7, 2012)

Awesome tank T.P., glad to hear it is working well. 75* sounds good to me with these temps


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## Hyper Sniper (Jul 8, 2012)

That is just plain AWESOME T.P. What a killer tank setup. You have done a great job and I wish the best for you and your bait, Nice Job!


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## T.P. (Oct 17, 2013)

Happy trout!


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## steelshotslayer (Oct 17, 2013)

That's a really done rig


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## sinclair1 (Oct 17, 2013)

T.P. said:


> Happy trout!



That's nice TP.


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## specialk (Oct 18, 2013)

I wouldn't let your little yote pups get near there, they might fall in and drown.....

















seriously, real nice setup you got there bud!


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## David Parker (Oct 18, 2013)

posting so I get the little flag when I check for new posts.  Can't see the photos here at work but want to check out the operation when I get home.  Happy trout are a good resource!


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## Arnie Davis (Oct 18, 2013)

They will be happy until a 4/0 hook is shoved through their nose. 
Looks like "death row" to me and nicely done at that.
Congrats to you sir


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## Msteele (Oct 18, 2013)

You need to put something over the top if you haven't already.  After a while a few will try to jump out.

Where did you get them?


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## Dustin Pate (Oct 18, 2013)

Looks like somebody is about to go after the big fish!!


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## T.P. (Oct 18, 2013)

Msteele said:


> Where did you get them?


These came from The Bait Shop in SC.


Dustin Pate said:


> Looks like somebody is about to go after the big fish!!



Thinkin' about it..


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## gsp754 (Oct 18, 2013)

Be honest, how many times have you dropped a line in there and tried getting one to bite. lol


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## T.P. (Jan 7, 2014)

Cold trout!


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## StriperrHunterr (Jan 7, 2014)




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## BT Charlie (Jan 7, 2014)

Ice fishing.


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## dug714 (Jan 7, 2014)

my old mans chaser water was built like this


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## dug714 (Jan 7, 2014)

the fridge with the copper tubing.


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