Questions about a livewell project

Im planning on building a live well into the middle bench seat of my 1542 boat and I have a few questions.

The top hole in the end of the well will be the fill/aerator and the lower hole a overflow, The fill hole will be connected to a pump/timer pulling fresh water in through the transom.
My question is about the overflow. I also plan plumbing it out the transom. Does it have to exit the transom above the water line ?
Also Im putting a drain in the bottom of the live well. Where should it exit the boat ?
I may have this all wrong and need some expert advice. My goal is to be continuously bring fresh water into the live well as it gets very hot down here in Se Arkansas.
Thanks in advance for your input.
Jon

Overflow should exit above the waterline. As for the drain mine has a line going from the pump to the drain in the bottom of the live well and somewhere under the floor this line has a tee in it which goes to the top fill line in the livewell which has an aerator on it. When I fill the live well I plug the drain hole in the livewell and fill it thru the top hole in the livewell I can also fill it without the plug in the drain but when I shut off the pump the water will drain back out. This is the way it came from the factory.

Nice to see somebody else from Arkansas! Were finally getting some rain! Ok back to subject. You could tie your drain and overflow into the same line. and just put it into a bilge pump exiting the boat

Rippen Lips said:

Also Im putting a drain in the bottom of the live well. Where should it exit the boat ?

Click to expand...

Rippin

I dont agree that the overflow needs to be above the waterline. I'd go w/ younggun and tie the overflow into the drain, an X" extension can be placed on your drain to act as the overflow and removed when you want to drain it. You would not need to add a bilge to drain the livewell, only one to fill. Good luck.

yea... Overflow in my opinion is best going out above the waterline. Actually, I don't even have an overflow in my livewell. It's only 10" deep and I need that water to go as high as I can get it sometimes with the size of the fish displacing the water

But in reference to you saying you want to continually pump in fresh water - I don't agree with that. Here in GA the water temps in a lot of places are in the high 80s to low 90s. I've had the best luck with fish in my livewell by doing the following:
1 - fill up livewell at the my first fishing spot (and not at the ramp so I don't fill it full of gas or other oils from other boats)...
2 - put in a reusable plastic freezer pack (they are less than $1 at Walmart). I freeze it, put it in the cooler til I get to the lake, then just throw it in the livewell and start filling it up. This will usually get water temps that are 83-86 in the morning down to around 78*.
3 - When I put my first fish in the livewell (if I'm lucky enough to get one..), I'll pour about 1/4 of a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide in the water and turn the pumps on. I've actually got 2 separate systems, and both pump in fresh oxygen. 1 - Rule Oxygenator: https://www.pbsboatstore.com/Rule-255.htm?feed=Froogle and 2 - TH Marine Pro Air System - https://www.thmarine.com/products/Aeration-and-Plumbing/Aeration-and-Livewell-Systems/Oxygenation-and-bubbles/Pro-Air-System

I don't like recirculating "fresh" water in... in my opinion, I don't want to pull water in from only 6-12" under the surface of the water... to me, that's like putting a fish in a sauna. Put them in the livewell and cool them off. I used to use Rejuvenade or Please Release Me, but ever since I started using straight H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), adding the ice pack and leaving the pumps on, I haven't lost any fish.