Livewell

[DavidD]

I'm going to build a livewell for my pontoon boat for what else? Crappie minnows! Anyhow for crappie minnows would a round livewell or square be better? Does anyone have a picture of there homemade livewell they would like to share?

[TAE73]

Round is better, keeps them moving. Square just gives them a place to hide in the corner and will die eventually.

[volfan]

I just use one of those square igloo coolers with a 12v areator. I have not had one bit of trouble with minnows. I fill it to about 2/3 to give them more water. This helps dilute the urea. This is what kills most minnows besides O2 depletion. I use a round well for shad. Seems they are more susceptible to the corners getting red nose than minnow.
My $.02

[Carl Palmer]

I'm going to build a livewell for my pontoon boat for what else? Crappie minnows! Anyhow for crappie minnows would a round livewell or square be better? Does anyone have a picture of there homemade livewell they would like to share?

David, how are you going to set this up? I've been thinking of a well for my toon but don't know of what would be best. are you going to use lake water to circulate through? or will you be using a closed system where you have to add the water?

[thudpucker]

I fill it to about 2/3 to give them more water. This helps dilute the urea. This is what kills most minnows besides O2 depletion. I use a round well for shad. Seems they are more susceptible to the corners getting red nose than minnow.
My $.02

A pretty knowlegable $.02's worth.

Would draining out a gallon or two from time to time, and replacing that Drainage with Lake water be useful?
It would seem to give the Minnows something to eat as well as flushing the 'dirty' water.

What do Minnows eat?
Is there a substance we can drop into the Minnow water to fatten them up while they are waiting thier turn to be useful?

[Carl Palmer]

A pretty knowlegable $.02's worth.

Would draining out a gallon or two from time to time, and replacing that Drainage with Lake water be useful?
It would seem to give the Minnows something to eat as well as flushing the 'dirty' water.

What do Minnows eat?
Is there a substance we can drop into the Minnow water to fatten them up while they are waiting thier turn to be useful?

Try some regular old aquarium food? Friend of mine keeps his minners in an aquarium in between trips and thats what he feeds them. Don't know if that is something that comes naturaly or if they eat it because they are starving.

[crappiechappy]

I vote for a round livewell. Although it may look funny, minnows will last longer. In a square one, they constantly hammer the inside wall in the corners, thus using a lot of there energy and eventually hurting themselves. Just what I've seen and heard. Not sure what to make it out of, but make sure it's insulated real good if you plan on fishing in extreme heat or cold weather.

[DavidD]

David, how are you going to set this up? I've been thinking of a well for my toon but don't know of what would be best. are you going to use lake water to circulate through? or will you be using a closed system where you have to add the water?

I'm going to add a pump to the back of the boat to pump water into the live well with an overflow.There will also be a aerator pump in the tank so if the boat happens to be in water that has silt or mud stirred up i can wait to hit open water to change out the water in the tank.There is also going to be a 3 way valve on the in coming water line to use as a wash down hose ect. I'll post pictures as soon as i get time to install the system.

[Carl Palmer]

I'm going to add a pump to the back of the boat to pump water into the live well with an overflow.There will also be a aerator pump in the tank so if the boat happens to be in water that has silt or mud stirred up i can wait to hit open water to change out the water in the tank.There is also going to be a 3 way valve on the in coming water line to use as a wash down hose ect. I'll post pictures as soon as i get time to install the system.

I would appreciate that. It sounds like it will be a pretty good setup.

[Darryl Morris]

Here's a thread with some livewell pics - http://www.crappie.com/gr8vb3/showthread.php?t=24123