Cleaning a Livewell

[Hitek]

What is the best thing to clean a livewell with? I have had problems with fish dying in this boat since I have had it. It has caused us to miss out on some winnings at some tournaments! Any help would be appreciated!

[crappie cowboy]

Callshy,i Use Baking Soda I Wet The Wall And Floor When Rub Soda
Allover, Let It Sit Awhile Then Fill The Tank Add More Soda To The
Water And Scrub With A Brush And Rinse Well.
Spider Rig Man

[Hitek]

Thanks for the advice. We have never had any trouble in the past keeping fish alive. This new boat is just giving me a headache!! The fish we have been catching have not been over 8 feet deep!

[crappie cowboy]

I Think Ifyou Follow Moose's Advice You Will Solve The Problem Cause He Knows About Aquariums,moose Is Very Intelligent,he Knows His Stuff And Is Very Informative.

Spider Rig Man

[TAE73]

Thanks for the advice. We have never had any trouble in the past keeping fish alive. This new boat is just giving me a headache!! The fish we have been catching have not been over 8 feet deep!

I see that also that you fished the CUSA Classic, Charlie told me that they also lost some fish. And that other where loosing fish also. If this was your first time having this problem, it might have not be your fault.

Do you pump new water in all day or do you recirculate the water? I have been told to put water in the livewell first thing in the morning and recirculate that same water all day. If you are putting water in during the summer mid day, u are putting warm in. That would be hard on the fish, also try adding frozen water bottle to keep the water cool.

[ReelFun]

I agree with Moose. However, I use baking soda and it works well.

[crappie cowboy]

Callshy, What Kind Of Boat Is It And What Are The Livewells
Made Out Of?..........spider Rig Man

[Roberta]

IF you use the bleach solution, you may want to include some aquarium chlorine remover in your last batch of rinse water. Even a small amount of chlorine can kill fish.
We fill our livewell at home before we leave with our ice cold, chemical-free well water and we rarely lose fish. If we do, it's usually because of injury or the sun beating down on the livewel lcover. I try to keep it covered with a damp towel if we're out during the hottest part of the day. - Roberta

[Big Crappie]

What is the best thing to clean a livewell with? I have had problems with fish dying in this boat since I have had it. It has caused us to miss out on some winnings at some tournaments! Any help would be appreciated!

My daddy has a Ranger that we used to fish out of and in everything we've ever done, we thought bigger was better. Wrong! We replaced his 500 gph recirculating pumps with 750 gph. When we first tried it with fish in it they were doing flips which in essence was swimming them to death. We've now gone away from recirculating systems and simply just fill our livewells to capacity early in the morning and then we turn on the power bubbles (12v) and let them run. This has worked good for us and I feel like their more lively at the weigh in for us. But this time of year I do something a little different and that is that I have a bilge pump mounted on a hose about 15 feet long and I fill the livewell with water from 10 - 12 feet deep where the temperature is the same. If I ever start to see foam build up on the surface, which is rarely, then I will change the water. I do the same for my minnows as I sometimes will haul as many as 5 pounds on a trip.

We had one fish that got weak on us Friday and had to make the run to weigh it in. Saturday we didn't have any problems. It may have not made any difference, but Friday I didn't take the time to pump water with my pump on the hose, but I did on Saturday.

I know that Ranger livewells are constructed alot better than the one I have, so if your problem is not chemically caused, then I would look at the pump confirguration and what it's doing to the fish!

Good Luck at Old Hickory!!!!!!!!!!! and congradulations on the little one!!!!!!!!!