Bait tank & raw water wash down

S

Scuba Too

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 25, 2016
Messages
273
Fluid Motion Model
R-29 CB
Vessel Name
Blue Honu
MMSI Number
367783950
Can the raw water wash down in the cockpit of the R29 be used for a bait tank? Is the flow rate appropriate and will the pump hold up for extended operation?

Thanks,
Eric
 
My suggestion on this would be to talk with Johnson directly who makes the pump and confirm with them. For your reference, we install the 5.2GPM wash down pump if they want to know specifics. Here is the contact listed on their website.

SPX FLOW LLC.
5885 11th Street
Rockford, IL 61109-3699
USA

Phone:   +1 815 874 5556
Customer Service / Order Entry + 1 800 541 1418
Contact: Mr. G Pardus
johnson-pump.americas.marine@spxflow.com

Best regards,
 
The factory confirmed that the pump could be used for a bait tank.

Eric
 
Eric

I am considering a similar project. Are you planning on modifying the plumbing or just running the in line to the bait tank off the raw water washdown connector in the cockpit? Also which bait tank are you considering?

Thanks
Sean
 
I use it for the bait tank on my R27 swim step and it works great. Never had a problem. The flow rate is too high so I installed a T with a value to vent excess flow vs creating pressure trying to restricting flow. The only thing if you're trying to wash a bloody deck there isn't enough pressure for the hose and tank so you have to temporarily shut off the tank flow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
So this is a complex problem if you hope to keep your bait fish alive for an extended time. You will need a source of water at the same temp as bait fish environment, aeration, a directed flow in the tank and a drain to continuously drain overflow. Bait fish like to swim in a particular direction- water flow should be circular in that direction, water quickly loses oxygen from sitting and fish "breathing". Water continually needs to be refreshed from biologic activity of fish and continual warming from sides of your tank. There is a risk of water overflowing into your boat if you do not carefully monitor flow or your drain plugs with fish scales and debris.

There are aerators available that turn aeration and flow on and off sporadically. The electronics is hard to protect from salt environment (they don't last long).

Regards blood on the deck see-

gallery2.php?g2_itemId=35203

Grey plastic garbage pail held down with bungees serves this purpose as fish bleeding station. Keep putting in Ice. Large holes in the bottom keep fish cold and let them bleed while out of cock pit. Downsides are few. Will attract sharks if you stay in one place too long with many fish.
 
Sean,

I plan to just run the hose to the bait tank. It looks like it'll fit under the reversible stern bench in the cockpit but I haven't checked the clearance when changing the direction of the seat. I've used Seafit in the past (link below) though I'm not keen on drilling holes in my new boat yet. I'm looking at various options.

http://www.westmarine.com/buy/seafit--b ... cordNum=17

Eric
 
Eric

That looks to be the same tank I am considering. I think it is called a Kodiak Pro-flow elsewhere.

Kodiak is recommending a 500 GPH pump for their 22 and 27 gallon tanks. The raw water washdown pump is rated for 5.2GPM or 312 GPH. On the other hand that flow is enough to fill a 22 gallon talk 14 times in an hour and a 27 gallon tank 11 times an hour, which seems more than enough and perhaps even too high?

Sean
 
Hey Sean,

Yeah my earlier tank was a Kodiak. It looks the same. I did see that Kodiac recommends a fill time of 5-8 minutes (http://www.kodiakmarine.com/choosing_bait.html) or 7.5 to 12 times an hour. Based on this a 50 GPH pump can handle up to 42 gallons. Of course the hose will act as a restrictor so some loss of flow will occur. A 22 or 27 gallon should be fine and may need some of that flow diverted as no re-Gret mentioned.

Eric
 
Eric

How did your live well installation turn out? Please can you post pictures.

Thanks
Sean
 
Hi Sean,

I haven't installed one yet. It'll probably be a couple of months before I get to this.

Eric
 
I'm now well into the planning phase of this project and I have hit a snag.

Yesterday I checked out the washdown pump to see if there were any potential issues using it as the water source for the bait well.

This is the pump:

http://www.spxflow.com/en/johnson-pump- ... -pump-kit/

There is a problem - noise. When I use the pump connected to the washdown hose it is very noisy. The pump is described as 'whisper quiet' in the brochure, but in practice it sounds like it is making a fast hammering sound which is being magnified by the hull. Definitely not want you want if you have it on all the time to run the bait well and you don't want to either scare the fish away or listen to an unpleasant background noise all day. I don't know if this is the pump itself, or something to do with how it is set up to create pressure for the wash down.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Will the noise reduce without the flow restriction created by the wash down nozzle? Guess I could have tested this with a piece of hose, however didn't have one and I can't get back to the boat for 2 weeks.

Also I am contemplating hooking the outflow into the 1 1/2 hoses that drain the cockpit out under the swim step. I'm thinking of installing a fitting next to the wash down outlet and then running a new hose which will be connected into the cockpit drain using a T junction. Is this a bad idea for any reason?

Thanks
Sean
 
If the cockpit drain gets plugged you might overwhelm your bilge pump and sink your boat. Not likely as you might notice water where it is not supposed to be, but possible.

TK
 
I'd like to revive this thread and see if anyone can share their bait tank install on the swim step, for those with diesel inboards.....R or C.

I am planning an install and curious about simply replacing the raw water pump with appropriate size, and if plumbing it that way, would be appropriate?

Wouldn't your engine cooling be affected while running, if the bait tank is utilizing the same small thru-hull? Of course I am trying to avoid adding a thru-hull. But it seems in SoCal I need bait. My fishing success has been very limited with plastics only.

Severum
 
Bumping in hopes of some bait tank installs out there….anyone willing to share?

Severum
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

  • Tugnuts.com is the community hub for Ranger Tug, Cutwater, and Solara owners. Since its inception in 2008, the Tugnuts forum has grown into an active and thriving community of more than 9,000 members. It serves as both a meeting place for the best boating community online, and an invaluable archive of information.

  • User menu
Back
Top