bait tank?

[don'thaveaboat]

Ok I am looking around for a bait tank I have figured I am getting 2 one around 5 gal for bream,pinfish,finger mullet,etc and one for big mullet,big pinfish,bass(yes flathead bait),carp,redfish,flounder,freshwater drum,etc. I will start with the 5 gal. I am looking at getting a 5 gal water cooler like they have at sports games and a normal bubbler like this http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...set=ISO-8859-1 what do you guys think of that? Then I am looking at the 17.5 gal coolers they have at costco for 40 bucks with a keep alive o2 infuser. Do the keep alive things have a single pipe for the water to come on threw? I want to make a filter for it I have made many different filters/protein skimers for my fish tanks I figured I could make one for a bai tank. Does it need to be a cicrle? I will be keeing some darn gig baits in it. Remmember in the big tank I will be keeping huge shark baits big jacks,mullet,bluefish,spanish,etc alive for black tips and maybe just maybe one day a mako.

[rarhomes]

Baits tanks are tricky and bigger is always better. As a rule it's 1 bait per gal. So at best a 5 gal tank even with re-circulating water will only hold about 5 small baits. A round tank is always better than a tanks with square corners (baits don't beat themselves up so bad). You also need to be careful about mixing different kinds of baits, they tend to kill each other. You are gonna have to play around a bit to see what suits your needs. Also one last tip - pinfish are very hardy and don't move a lot compared to a mullet, also baits like runners and speedos need to keep moving and like fast water. Baits like runners, big mullet etc. you better figure 1 bait per 10 gals. and don't even consider a Spanish mackerel or bluefish in a tank less than 50 gals.


Good luck.

Capt Rick

[don'thaveaboat]

Originally Posted by rarhomes

Baits tanks are tricky and bigger is always better. As a rule it's 1 bait per gal. So at best a 5 gal tank even with re-circulating water will only hold about 5 small baits. A round tanks a always better than tanks with square corners (baits don't beat themself up so bad). You also need to be careful about mixing different kinds of baits, they tend to kill each other. You are gonna have to play around a bit to see what suits your needs. Also one last tip - pinfish are very hardy and don't move a lot compaired to a mullet also baits like runners and speedos need to keep moving and like fast water.


Good luck.

Capt Rick

Well here in freshwater and on the pier we keep plenty of bait in 5 gal tanks. Most use normal 5 gal buckets with bubblers to keep mullet,small crabs,small pinfish, and finger mullet and in frshwater I have always used a 5 gal bucket for bream for flatheads I use a doson and it keeps all day.

Thanks for the info though.

[rarhomes]

Originally Posted by don'thaveaboat

Well here in freshwater and on the pier we keep plenty of bait in 5 gal tanks. Most use normal 5 gal buckets with bubblers to keep mullet,small crabs,small pinfish, and finger mullet and in frshwater I have always used a 5 gal bucket for bream for flatheads I use a doson and it keeps all day.

Thanks for the info though.

I think pinfish and bream will be your best bet. Here is another tip that might help you out. Keep um out of the sun, a shady spot is best - also throw in a ice cube every now and then, it slows them down.