if you have them, did anyone who was just on the potomac use the oxygenators in your livewells?
worrying about the brackishy possibility, i left mine turned off.
I left mine home but would turn it off there or in the upper bay...
I gotta ask why you need an Oxygenator ?
I use them also. I have found them to be benificial especially in hot weather. My livewells are 25 gallons each, so that's 5 gallons for each fish - I know guys, I've never had 5 fish in any one livewell, but someday that might happen. As an example: I keep two aquariums at home and the rule for those closed systems is general is 1 inch of fish per gallon. Five bass at 15" should require 75 gallons to sustain them. I think the additional oxygen produced from the units along with ice and frequent water changes is benificial for the fish. The units we are talking about do not introduce oxygen from the air but release additional oxygen molecules from the water and evaporate the hrdrogen. Some guys run the pumps all day when they have fish in there, that's also good unless you happen to be sitting in an area where the oxygen content of the water is low - also a possibility in hot weather. The chemical additives are an alternative, but I chosen not to go that route. The most harmful thing in the livewell, IMO, is the amonia produced by the captive fish. Frequent water changes are required to reduce the amonia content. Running the pumps all day does that, but I don't like the sound of the pumps running while I'm fishing - don't know it it bothers the fish, but it's just one more concern I've eliminated. Fortunately my boat has a livewell pumpout, so when I want to change water I do it after I fish an area before I move on, or pull back from the area I'm fishing and do it. That's why I use them, don't know the reasons the other's may have.
pretty much what bruce said, lol.
the livewell in my old boat only had a fill hose and overflow that went into the bilge. i bought one of these things to pull the slack of not having an option for aerate or recirculate. when i sold that boat, the buyer said he'd be using it only in saltwater, so i kept the oxygentator and put it in my current boat.
i've only heard good things about them, but they need to be kept away from salt, so i'm a bit leary of using them in the waters of the chesapeake.
I've seen them, but have never had the need for one.....as soon as I put a fish in the box the aerator goes on and stays on all day. As Bruce said, ammonia in the water from the fish is the biggest killer, so the livewell water should be changed thruout the day. Having a pumpout system makes it easy to do. With a limit of fish, the water should be changed out every few hours.
Most Livewell additives are mostly composed of uniodized salt, you can do the same by putting a few teaspoons of uniodized table salt in the livewell if you feel the need for an additive. Ice is good in the well when the water temps get into the 80's, just don't add too much and shock the fish....good thing to do is freeze a few 20 ounce plastic bottles with water and keep in the cooler, add one every few hours...some commercial ice will have chlorine in it that will do more harm than good.
If you have a good spray bar in your livewell and it is not clogged, and you run the aerator and change out the water, fish should be good in the well. :grin:
no pump out for me.
i have a nozzle for fill/aerate, a drain, and an overflow.
the only way for me to empty water from the tank is to run the boat with the drain open.
(i have to have the vacuum for anything to exit the drain or overflow).
makes for some high and spilly water when sitting with the aerator running. even if i have the timer set on low.
my livewells are the achilles heel of my boat. i have on in the rear and one in the front. not only do i have the overflow problems on both of them, but the front one is big enough for about two sunfish. i put a 90 degree fitting into the overflow that adds me a couple extra inches of water, but its still a little small for the whoppers i plan on catching.
:laugh:
Basscat7's right on about the ice thing. I didn't mention the chlorine problem (I figured everyone knew it was bad - not a good assumption). Freezing water in bottles is what I do, also. If you have well water you're probably ok, but us townies need to freezed it in bottles. You can let the water sit in a bucket for 24 hours and the chlorine will dissipate from the water, then freeze it and use that ice directly in the well, but that's a pain. Freezing water in bottles - it's reuseable, just pop them back in the freezer when you get home. I keep several in the freezer ready to go when the weather gets really hot. His point about watching the temp in the livewell to avoid shock is also right on. Recommendations I've seen say to keep the live well within 5 degrees +/- from the lake temp. On another point - has anyone installed the new livewell vents yet? Advertising says they vent CO2 from the wells. Haven't done that yet, and don't know if I want to.
Quote from: bassboogieman on April 15, 2008, 07:47:16 AM
On another point - has anyone installed the new livewell vents yet? Advertising says they vent CO2 from the wells. Haven't done that yet, and don't know if I want to.
the concept makes plenty of sense.
seems like you could save a few bucks and install a couple of clamshell vents on top of your lid facing opposite directions to accomplish the same thing.
Just catch enough fish to keep culling....every time ya open the lid to cull you'll let out all the CO2 :evil:
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I think I need the vents. :grin: :grin: :grin:
Oh, on another note - - - I managed to solve the problem of the disappearing water from my livewells when running the outboard (YEAH I have to admit, with a LOT of help from Doc). Water was going out the overflow at the top of the livewell. Plugged them up and problem solved. I would never have thought my livewells would drain via the overflows just from the tilt of getting on plane and the force generated by the extremely fast Triton boat :rolleyes: moving forward. Evidently it did, and is an inherent problem with livewells on the early boats. My old (newer and smaller) Triton did not have this problem.
Quote from: Basscat7 on April 15, 2008, 09:32:33 AM
Just catch enough fish to keep culling....every time ya open the lid to cull you'll let out all the CO2 :evil:
lol. if only.
bruce, my livewell problem is just the opposite of yours.
when left on aerate, the livewell fills up and pours out into the boat. only way to get the water to drain through the overflow is to start a vacuum effect from running the boat.
i'll be doing some livewell fine tuning on the potomac this week.