Boat livewell question

[BottomBouncer]

My boat has a pretty good size livewell, but it does not recirculate. I have to keep turning it on and off. Would I be taking a chance of messing up my boat by drilling and adding another pump that recirculates the water? Also, how hard is it to add a timer? I wouldn't want to leave the pump running and kill my battery...................that wouldn't be good:rolleyes:

What do you guys think?

[catfishhunter33]

every one can be a little different due to the location of the tank and the layout of the floor.if you have good access under the flooring then it is not too bad if you really think it thru befor you start.the big problem is routing the lines to avoid an air lock.some pumps are designed to help eliminate this but will really depend on the location of tank/fittings etc.

as far as timers,thats the easy part

[BottomBouncer]

My tank is between the driver and passenger seats. It's about arm length deep and about 18"x18". Drilling those big holes is the only thing I'm concerned about, but I guess silicon should take care of sealing it.

[DavidWS10]

If you decide to drill the holes and use silicone for sealant, you should probably opt for an aquarium grade silicone. The standard silicone you pick up at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc., is lethal with fish. You can get the aquarium grade silicone at almost any aquarium shop. If you are in the Cincinnati area, Jason at Aquatics and Exotics in Mt. Healthy can hook you up. For outside of Cincinnati, just about any reputable aquarium shop can help you out.

[Lewis]

If you just want to add a recirculating pump,why would you have to drill any holes?I am assuming that you already have a fill pump for your livewell?
If you have the space somewhere on your boat adding a timer is no big deal.There are several on/off switches available with or without a timer.All you really need to do is run 12 volts(hot and ground) to your livewell from a switch.
For my boat,when I added a recirc pump,I bought a standard bilge pump and attached it to the bottom of the livewell with small stainless steel screws.I installed a piece of hose to the pump outlet,and fashioed a spray bar out of 12 inch long piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe with 1/8 inch holes drilled in it with a PVC cap glued on the end.
It does a great job,and it was very cheap.

[MadCatter]

Is your livewell fill pump in the livewell or at the back of the boat with a through hull .. if its in the livewell, why not just add a cheap Y valve that you get at a plumbing shop, this would allow you to use one pump for everthing thing .. just by flipping the Y valve knob .... then you could use a spray bar set up on one side of the Y, keeping your fill/empy line on the other side

I have always been in agreement with the rule .. the fewer holes in a boat the better:D :D :D :D

[BottomBouncer]

The pump is at the back of the boat. I would drill and add another pump so that I don't have do worry about the well over flowing because it can not drain fast enough when the pump kicks on.

[MISFIT]

lewis' idea is a good cheap way to recirculate the water.i used that system on my last boat and have a portable well rigged the same way.it works great.

[mrfish/OH]

I've been seeing alot recently that says using an air pump and an air stone is actually better. They are recommending a high quality stone, with the air set so you can barely see bubbles coming off it. This is what the guides are using in the tournaments in the James River with big tanks. Some are also using compressed air- like divers use. I saw a pump at the bait shop at Santee. I think the stone was $20 or $30 and the pump about $60. Anyway, it was just under $100 and seemed to make sense & also wouldn't be hard to install. ;)
Supposedly it keeps fish & bait much better than recirculating.

[BottomBouncer]

Any ideas on where to check out a system like that around here?

[mrfish/OH]

Wouldn't seem like it would be too hard to come up with a quality stone & tubing from an aquarium shop. The pump might take some researching. I'd guess offhand a few of the online tackle shops that cater to saltwater anglers would have them.

[mrfish/OH]

I do have the link to the shop where I saw them. It was Randolph's Landing (click here) (http://www.randolphs-landing.com/) in SC. Maybe if all else fails, you could get it from him. If my memory serves me, the pump was made in Dayton, OH

[MadCatter]

Give this a try it is the infusion pumps http://keepalive.net/portable.htm

I rigged up my own, it works pretty well ... I used my regular circulation pump .. I put about 6 inches of 3/4 tubing on it .. I drilled a small hole in the tubing, in the hole I ran a smaller piece around 1/8 in. .. I placed the small tubing into the larger .. the water running past the smaller tubing creates a vacuum sucking air into the larger tubing this puts out a pretty good stream of air bubbles shot straight into your water without all the noise of the spray bars :D :D :D

[BottomBouncer]

gettin' creative huh? nothing like DIY projects...........except when they don't work:eek:

[MadCatter]

you might want to try it .. it works pretty well .. I don't know where you are from but I have seen online the pumps are available in various places in OH .. Every invention on earth was at one time a DYI project:D :D :D :D One thing about circulation pumps .. most that I have seen tend to warm up your water pretty fast ... do to the heat exchange between you electric motor and the water...

[BottomBouncer]

I probably shouldn't worry about it, half the time my well ends up being a cooler.:p

[MadCatter]

They are nice to have .. and do a pretty good job most of the time, plus you can always use them for a spare bilge pump just in case murphy's law ever catches up to you on the water:D :D :D

is there anyway that you could put a bigger overflow pipe in the system you already have, this might allow the water out faster than your pump can put it in.. Just a thought, that way you would just have a bigger hole than what you have now instead of 2

[BottomBouncer]

I think the hole is already about 1 1/4".

[MadCatter]

what about a smaller gpa pump ... it might let you drain as fast as you fill ...

[BottomBouncer]

I think mine is only a 650.

[mrfish/OH]

Here's a link I got that has the airstones. At least that's what I was told, and I see they have DC pumps too. Click on the Aquarium link.....
Click here for link ! (http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v1/index.icl?referer=http://www.brotherhood-of-catfishermen.com/discus/read.php?file=/66/61062.html&lm=1043810079&eflag=2)

[BottomBouncer]

Thanks:cool: