Minnow Tank in new garage

[David Waters]

Ok, I am building a new house with a separate garage. I will post pictures later. I am getting serious about my minnow use. I am currently buying minnows at $12-$15 a pound when I go, according if I am using shinners or minnows. I have decided to put my own minnow tank in my new separate garage. I plan to buy minnows from the wholeseller.

I was trying to figure out the best thing to use for a tank without getting increadibly expensive. I got my builder thinking about it. He has done some serious landscaping before putting in ponds with fish and stuff. Anyway, he came up with the best idea so far.

One of the best insulators I know is concrete. my grandfather has a concrete fish pond in his back yard and his goldfish live great in it. I don't think he has lost any fish in several years. The builder has a good freind in the vault business. I am going to purchaswe a vault that caskets are put in. It is going to be a smaller vault about 5 feet long. It weighs several thousand pounds, but I don't ever plan on moving it. I have the perfect corner for it and am having a guy I know fabricate a lid for it. It will be inside the garage. Not central heat and air, but wil have a wall unit with air and heat.

Man, I can't wait to move in the house. It has gone up so fast in the past 2 months. The electrician is next to do his work. Then the brick will start this Friday and insulation and sheetrock start the next week.

More about the inside of the garage. ANy input and thought form board members would be nice.

I am using 1/4 inch plywood for a ceiling, not sheetrock. I am putting siding on the INSIDE of the garage walls. THis is the same siding you use on the outside of a house. Very durable. All the way around the garage I am putting a 4' section of pegboard 2' off the ground. This will be along one wall next to my boat so I can just hang my rods on teh wall with ease. Also, I am putting wall socket plugs in the seiling above the boat to plus my chager and vaccume and stuff like that. I put a drain in the floor just under where the back of the boat will be. That wil be nice. WIth the plywood ceiling and the siding inside, I will be able to wash out the inside of the garage with a hose. I put a storm shelter and a bathroom inside the garage. My grandad is building me a worktable as we speak. WIll sit away from the wall and will be moveable.

I have the roof extended off the back of the garage to give me a back porch where I will put a stainless steel double sink for fish cleaning, and an area to hang and clean my deer. The garage has 3 garage doors so I can drive through and turn around. That 21" boat is really heavy and don't like moving it or backing it up that far.

If anyone has built a garage and wishes they did something different, I would appreciate your comments. Especially with the inside of the garage.

[David Waters]

garage

[David Waters]

another pic

[ShilohRed]

How will you drain the water in the vault?
Around here most bait shops have block tanks. But the best one for winter minnows has an old Aqua glass shower unit. It sits out side and his monnows out last the ones that are inside during the winter time.
I like the ideal of the peg board. Also can hang baits form it also.
If it were me, I would also add a floor drain in the middle of it. That way if you need to clean out a livewell in the winter time its there.

Also dropdown power for charging batterys. Just pull on down and plug it up. Pull again and it rolls back up.

PEte

[Barnacle Bill]

I like the way you think. Build a garage to accomodate all your fishing needs. Then as an afterthought, add a house for the family. LOL Are you going to be able to drain the tank for cleaning? It seems when people around here build a house on the water, they build a nice pier first, then the house. Never have figured that out, but I like it.

[Tunica]

we use concrete tanks also. To drain the tanks just put in a submersable pump. Works for us


Ken

[percher]

FM built a nice fish cleaning station in his crib. I've never seen anything nicer. I'm hoping the wife will let me build on soon. Here's a link to a post with a couple pictures. Other posts have better pictures but you can search for em if yor interested. seeya, Don
http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=7621

[Crappie Reaper]

Have a gas line run into the garage area for a ceiling mounted gas heater with blower. I had one in a three garage setup in Wichita and it was a wonderful thing. I could work in the garage on the coldest of days. You don't want duct coming from your main system as it takes away from the rest of the house. Just something you can control when needed.
You're probably about three weeks away from beginning trim work. With the painting experience that I have, I would suggest talking your painter into priming/sealing the walls before texture is applied if you are going to texture your walls. I promise you, it creates an even paint when all is said and done. If it is sealed after the texture, you will still be able to see the drywall joints after the paint job is complete. They will appear slightly flatter than the rest of the walls. Look at some other homes that have already been painted. If they have a texture on the walls, walk to the side of one, and look at the whole wall with the sunlight hitting it just right, you can make out "dull" areas of the paint job. They will appear as horizontal and vertical streaks.

As for an interior minnow tank, you might consider having some kind of exhaust fan installed for warm weather. So as not to have everything in your garage, inclucing vehicle interiors, from smelling like a bait shop.

I am a Painter/Trim Carpenter. I do nothing but top notch work. Make sure the Carpenter you are using doesn't leave a bunch of bad joints in his trim work. Also, ask if he "scribes" his shelving so as to not leave large voids at shelf ends that will require massive amounts of caulking from the painter. If he is worth his salt, he will at times require 4-5 trips to the saw to make a shelf fit properly. It's a pain, but it does cover imperfections of squareness left by the framer/drywaller.
PM me if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them. Too bad I do not live closer, or I would give you a decent discount and make your new home shine.
CR

[Barnacle Bill]

Its too bad you don't live closer. I'd give you a double stainless sink that come off a tug boat.

[SteveJ]

A friend of mine who does a lot of minnow fishing on the Tenn-Tom has a old chest freezer outside that he keeps his minnows in year round. But he does have water running into it most times. Should have good insulation.