Boosting Air Supply to Minnow Bucket for Summer

[Rojo]

Well, we all fish minnows in the heat at one time or another. Maintaining a good supply of dissolved oxygen and dispersing ammonia can be a challenge in the heat. I decided to put the to bed once and for all. The Bucket is a standard Marine Metal Insulated Bait Bucket. The pump, also standard Marine Metal 12 Volt pump. The Stone, here is where we deviate from the norm is a large Ceramic Micro Bubble disc I bought from Amazon while experimenting with bait storage combinations. I ran this stone on my last trip with 2 Quiet Bubbles Air Pumps on it, new batteries in both air pumps, but the disc still was not full (bubbles completely across the face of the disc). Ceramic stones can be Low Pressure or High Pressure. This one is intended for aquarium use but requires a higher CFM of air supply. The plug and socket set is Blue Sea Systems, a brand I have confidence in after installing it in my boat shop the last 12 years. Any one would work I think.



Using a 7/64th drill bit I held the pump where I wanted it and drilled the top 2 holes in the bucket thru the mounting shock absorbers on the pump. Afterwards I opened both holes to 9/64ths. Using 2 #8/32 by 1in Pan Head screws installed from the inside I screwed the pump to the bucket. The screws will self-seal in a 9/64ths hole. With the pump in place I repeated the process for the 2 lower mounting holes.



Installing the plug was fairly straight forward except I had to cut the rings off the wires. The wire lug screws are not removable. The LED Positive lead is soldered to the lug, be careful not to break it off like I did, had to fix it before proceeding on. I found removing the seal ring was easiest by depressing one lug at a time to slide it over. The finished plug came out well.



I wanted to be able to un-plug the socket to clean if needed so I added a pigtail to aid in later removal. It also made wiring a breeze.



You can see in the picture I just ran both air outputs to one hose then down to the Air Stone.
The bucket rolls with micro air bubbles now. I installed 2 sockets in my boat so I can move the bucket around. I also tested to bucket plug in the power outlets in my Fishin' Expedition, worked great there too. I shot a short video but will have to figure out how to upload. I didn't need any Foam Off when I tried the stone with the 2 battery pumps. Also the water never got cloudy with 75 shiners in it.

[BuckeyeCrappie]

Nice job!

[Danny Lang]

Nice bucket job there, I have one also made in a cooler, works very well. Just stays in the way. But keeps my minnows alive though.

[DockShootinJack]

Good work as usual

[Rojo]

I should say here to anyone who doesn't know how to take care of a ceramic air stone, you remove the stone from the water while air is still pumping. Turn your stone over and let the air pump blow out any water & accumulated debris before storing. Soak your stone in water for 1 hour before resuming use. A stiff bristle brush works to scrub the ceramic too.

[DockShootinJack]

I sure didn't know this

[shipahoy41]

Wow. I learned a lot in this thread. Thank you.

Mike

[Jamesdean]

Thank you for all the info. Very informative. I'll be putting that to use in the future for sure. But I have a question for you. If you use the ceramic air stone in a more permanent set-up, like say a holding tank at home, how often should the stone be cleaned???

[Rojo]

After reading several different website instructions I kinda formed an opinion of scrubbing with a fine stiff bristle brush. I too have a permanent installation of one of these stones, it's really producing fine air bubbles, I have not cleaned it yet to supply "Known" advice but will check it in another week operation. Nothing I read gave a hourly, daily, weekly, etc suggested maintenance schedule. Pentair brand stones is the stones our local hatchery uses and if I was holding several thousand emerald shiners I think I would go that route. These round stones came from Amazon

Amazon.com

Diffusers & Accessories | Pentair AES

I'm buying and holding 3-4 pounds of #4 shiners at a time. The big thing with these really Diffusers than stones is they have Low Pressure and High Pressure stones. It takes both outputs from the 12 volt pump pictured to product fine air bubbles across the whole disc face.

On a slightly different note, the dentist office that I take care of their boats replaced the air compressor in their office. I got the old one. Well it produces 5cfm at rated pressure oil-less air. This compressor would do an entire bait shop air supply needs effortlessly. I am thinking of setting up a tank for Shrimp & croakers too, maybe even freshwater shrimp. Here, everything eats a shrimp.

[Ketchn]

high end minnow nest for sure , really nice bro