Bilge Pump Heat Output

Planning on making a portable "baitwell" for my 1648. Will be used primarily for holding minnows for half a days worth of fishing or so. Thinking of using either a 25 or 36 quart Igloo marine cooler for the conversion. After looking at various bilge pumps and coming up with different plans on plumbing, I've decided to go with a kit instead of DIY.

https://www.amazon.com/Marine-Metal-Super-12-volt-Aeration/dp/B0014454J8

I'll rewire the bilge to a 12v cigarette plug as I have 2 sockets on my boat. Only concern is minnows are pretty finicky with warm water temperatures. Wondering how much the 500gph bilge pump this kit comes with is going to warm up the water in the cooler? It'll be easily removable to pump fresh, cool river water into the cooler as needed. But really don't want to have to be constantly doing that all day instead of fishing. Thoughts??

Freeze a milk jug full of water. Put it inside the tank when you fill it up. Have another one in your cooler if you're planning to be on the water for more than 4-5 hours.

Hmmm, don't know if this helps, but I keep a 100 gallon bait tank at my house all winter because I trap and keep shiners for ice fishing (I ice fish a LOT). In building my setup I discovered that using a magnetic pump generates much less heat than the standard pumps. Now keep in mind I am pumping 1000gph with that setup so it's quite a bit more than a livewell in a boat, but maybe they make mag drive bilge pumps?

+1 on the frozen jug - 1/2 gallon size should work just fine for you in a cooler

Thanks. Good ideas on the ice. I keep frozen 16oz drinking bottles and 2-liter soda bottles in my freezer for fermenting homebrew. I ferment in my spare bathtub and use the frozen bottles to keep the water at a certain temperature. Should work just as well in a bait tank.

I use a 350GPH bilge pump in a 96 qt cooler to transport rainbow trout fingerlings 7 hours from the mountains to the coast. Doesn't seem to heat the water very much, if at all.

I've got the DIY version of that setup in a 48 qt. cooler. I keep it under my carport and stocked with minnows from early spring to early-mid summer for crappie fishing. I have mine running on a timer so it cycles 6 minutes off and 1 minute on. It provides plenty of water circulation and oxygenates the water enough to keep 6-8 dozen minnows alive (5 dozen as I type this). I'm pretty sure the cycle helps keep the water from getting warm from the motor. I've used ice to keep my bait water cool, but you have to be careful not to over do it. If you get the bait water temp substantially different than the lake water, the minnows will go into shock and die when you drop them in that lake water.

Here's the timer. Even though it advertises the cycle as 7 min off and 1 min on, I timed mine and it's 6/1.

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/big-foot-minuteman-3-bait-and-livewell-aerator-timer/pid-12739?N=876431623&affcode=42&kwid=ps_cse&cid=PLA_007370166&kwid=productads-plaid^102028096638-sku^007370166-adType^PLA-device^c-adid^51684504678

What size cooler would you guys recommend? Don't see me using this as a livewell at any point. Only plan to use it for a few dozen minnows at a time for a days worth of fishing or so. Deciding between a 25qt and 36qt igloo marine cooler. Want something big enough to keep bait alive but don't want to clog up the floor of the boat too much.

I'm sure extra chilled cooler space can always be put to good use on a fishing boat 8)

onthewater102 said:

I'm sure extra chilled cooler space can always be put to good use on a fishing boat 8)

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Come on now, already one dedicated to that :beer:

I'll mess with some measurements tonight to see what would fit best. Afraid a 500gph pump might put out too much of a spray and stress the crap out of minnows in a 25qt cooler. But don't want to go with a 36qt if it's going to clog up my floor too much. Decisions.......

Yea, I've got a 500 in my 48 qt and if it wasn't on a timer it would be way too much circulation for the minnows.

Thanks!!

Ended up going with this and a 36qt. It's 360gph and you can adjust the intensity of the spray. Should be a lot more gentle than the 500gph with spray bar.

https://www.marinemetal.com/products/12-vt-air-pumps/fish-saver/item/fish-saver

BigTerp said:

Thanks!!

Ended up going with this and a 36qt. It's 360gph and you can adjust the intensity of the spray. Should be a lot more gentle than the 500gph with spray bar.

https://www.marinemetal.com/products/12-vt-air-pumps/fish-saver/item/fish-saver

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I almost went with one of those back when I was planning my bait tank.

Got everything wired up and gave it a test run yesterday. Worked great!! The output of the Fish Saver is adjustable from an umbrella type spray to a more intense spray. Even at the most intense it doesn't seem like it would be to much and beat any bait up in the tank. I wired the pump to a 12v plug since I have 2 receptacles in my boat. Also installed a cheap digital aquarium thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature. The 36qt cooler seems like the perfect size. Should be able to hold a few dozen minnows easily but not too big to compromise too much of my floor space. For filling and emptying I'll get a length of 1/2" tubing to attach to the pump as needed.



Video of it in action. https://vid463.photobucket.com/albums/qq356/peck1524/VID_20150408_215254_zpspzwpnl9w.mp4

One of the stories my dad likes to tell is how about 5 or 6 years ago he spent $50 on some nice bait fish from these guys:
https://www.jonesfish.com/content/golden-shiner

Bought a bunch of big golden shiners to take fishing the next day with a bunch of friends.

Took the bait over to a friend's house and they put them in a big cooler full of water in the garage and rigged up a bilge pump on a car battery charger to run to aerate the water.

Friend got up the next morning and the whole house stunk and couldn't figure out why. Walked out to the garage and it was even worse. Opened the lid on the cooler, and found the bilge pump had essentially boiled the $50 in bait fish overnight.

Terp, what do you plan to use for your minnow water source?

JMichael said:

Terp, what do you plan to use for your minnow water source?

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Well water from my tap with a little bit of Stress Coat added. Have 2 dozen in my bait tank now since yesterday afternoon. Can easily hold 4-5 dozen. Been running a Marine Metal Bubble Box to keep it aerated. Water was at 55 degrees this morning. Changed about 3 gallons this morning and the minnows are VERY lively. Seems to be working well so far.

Was gonna say make sure you don't use chlorinated water but well water don't have that problem. LoL I use tap water but I have a filter that removes 100% of the chlorine along with other things it removes.

Thanks. Yeah, I used to keep a small saltwater tank. So water chemistry for aquariums I'm pretty familiar with. It was pretty cool, but quite the pain in the butt.

I still have 16 minnows in my bait tank. Going to try and keep them until the weekend when I can get out fishing again. Planning on changing about half the water every evening to keep ammonia levels down and the minnows alive. We'll see how it works out.

I usually change out the water in my 48 qt cooler every couple of days or so, depending on how many minnows I have in it. I just had about 7 dozen in it for a couple of days and was having to change it daily. I'd like to come up with some sort of filter so the water didn't have to be changed as often. Maybe I can set it up like an aquarium. LoL The minnows have to be replenished every week but my freezer is slowly filling up with some nice crappie. :mrgreen: Good luck with your minnows and your fishing.