Add Extra xygen to Live Wells

OK, I took one of those D-Cell battery operated bait keeper's and attached it to my battery compartment storage wall. I drilled a small hole just big enough for the rubber tube to go through and into the live well it self. Put some silicone around the tube after getting the tube to the right depth in the live well to seal the hole I made. Re-attached the small stone on the end of the tube and added the weight back to the line to help keep it down in the bottom of the live well. Now add two new D-cell type batteries and your all set...Next time you catch fish to put in your live well and have the automatic re-circulate pump going. You also have the bait aerator gizmo switched on to help add even more oxygen into the live well for the fish. I first used one of these Bait Aerator's hooked up and run into a cooler on a John boat I had restored and it kept 6 big white bass and several bluegills alive for 6 plus hours. The batteries last for several trips of fishing and just make sure you carry a fresh set of batteries in your boat and you shouldn't have any more problems keeping your catch alive. This is a cheap way to help keep your fish alive until your weigh-in or time to do some fish cleaning. :)

Hey Clyde, hope all is going well, good post.
I am curious, since it is getting that time of year, what are everyone's tricks of the trade for keeping fish alive in the wells all day on a hot one. I've heard about the ice bottles and rejuvenator. What else you got?!?!?

A ton of water changes + the ice. I have thought about the vents, but I don't fish a ton of tournaments in the summer.

I also use the frozen 20 oz water bottles in my live wells as well and rejuvenate.....

[QUOTE=MsgMills;328654]I also use the frozen 20 oz water bottles in my live wells as well and rejuvenate.....[/QUOTE]

I use frozen 2 liters, recirc, pro-air and rejuvenade. It may be overkill but I hardly ever lose a fish.

I saw a Pro's Pointer on one of those fishing shows about this topic. He adds rejuvenate and a couple of cap fulls of Hydrogen Peroxide to his live well. He fills them up in the morning so to get the coolest water before the sun hits it and runs the pumps to keep the water oxygenated well before his first cast. He also mentioned the frozen water bottles, bags of ice and changing the water often.

Just buy a DC motor type Air Pump and do the same thing. That way you can run it off your 12 volt batteries in your boat. You will get a lot more air out of one of these aquarium type air pumps than you can with those battery operated air pumps.

I have 2 of the battery ( 2 D cells) type air pumps that I use for my minnow buckets. Now I have to replace the Alkaline Batteries all the time.

My bass boats live well is too small to hold very many fish. And it' has a Rule Water Pump that is run though the bottom of the transom to pick up lake water and pump it up into my livewell. There is an overflow pipe at the top of the live well that allows the excess water to drain back out of the boat.

I have thought about just adding anohter on/off toggle switch to the steering counsol's control panel and running an DC air pump to the live well. It would help add some oxygen (air) to the livewell. But for me it's simply easier to just pump up some fresh water from the lake into my life well.

My problem is when I catch 25 crappie and try to keep that many fish in a 5 gallon sized live well. I really need a much larger live well. Something that can hold 20 gallons of water instead of five gallons.

You could also get an DC to AC converter and use it to run an AC power aquarium type air pump to the live well

My main point is to save having to buy those D cell batteries as that can get expensive over time. Why not just use the starter battery. It's recharged by the motor evertime you run down the lake.

Another trick to think about is adding a frozen water bottle to the water in the live well. Cold water holds much more dissolved oxygen and will reduce the fish's metabolism and thus you get less fish pee in the live well over time. Fish pee = ammonia or urine = dead fish. So cooling the water down helps keep the fish alive longer in the live well.

Another trick I used with success is to add an extention intake pipe to the hole in my boat's transom. This allows me to take in water from 10ft below the boat. The water at the surface is the warmest water in the lake. Water below 10ft is ten deg F cooler and better for the fish.

If you catch a fish at 18 ft they are coming out of very cool water as compared to the surface waters and air temperatures in the summer months. So if you cool the live well water down it can help the fish survive longer.

They also sell these devices that can make oxygen with electricity. They hydrolize the water and creates pure oxygen right inside the minnow bucket.

Some pro Crappie Tournament anglers have oxgyen tanks in their boats that are used to keep their big crappie alive and it also helps keep their minnows alive too.


[quote=MsgMills;328485]OK, I took one of those D-Cell battery operated bait keeper's and attached it to my battery compartment storage wall. I drilled a small hole just big enough for the rubber tube to go through and into the live well it self. Put some silicone around the tube after getting the tube to the right depth in the live well to seal the hole I made. Re-attached the small stone on the end of the tube and added the weight back to the line to help keep it down in the bottom of the live well. Now add two new D-cell type batteries and your all set...Next time you catch fish to put in your live well and have the automatic re-circulate pump going. You also have the bait aerator gizmo switched on to help add even more oxygen into the live well for the fish. I first used one of these Bait Aerator's hooked up and run into a cooler on a John boat I had restored and it kept 6 big white bass and several bluegills alive for 6 plus hours. The batteries last for several trips of fishing and just make sure you carry a fresh set of batteries in your boat and you shouldn't have any more problems keeping your catch alive. This is a cheap way to help keep your fish alive until your weigh-in or time to do some fish cleaning. :)[/quote]

The oxygenator is a real good and inexspensive option to the battery units. They make 100% pure oxygen. I have one of the portable units, I got at Gander Mtn at Bowling Green for around 75 $.It hooks directally to your main battery, I ran a switch to mine,but it only comes on when it is in the water. Go to keepfishalive.com to see in action. I was leary at first but these things work. the fish seem to hover over mine. I fill the liveweel up first thing in the morning and then only have to add fresh water every hour or so, as to get rid of any waste and also add their U2 formula, have not lost a fish since using this system,and I had a very bad problem before as my liveweel only has pump in not recirculate. As for water temp as lone as they have Oxygen in the water the temp does not matter, unless it is 100 or more. The reason to add ice is that Oxygen disolves slower in cooler water than warm, so you dont need to add ice with this unit. All my fish have been very active and livley even after all day in the livewell. It is a good unit and worth it and you have no old batterys to throw away. I also tried on of the other kind liked mentioned above and it did not do as good a job as the Oxygenator .