building my very first bait tank need help

[tehburninator]

woo hoo! so... after much deliberation and the wet dreams of gay WSB and darting yellows and leaping dorados and an occasional change of underwear and sheets..........

scroll to the bottom for my question, or entertain yourself with my build

i caved in... the mechanic in me and my idle hands got the best of me...... i went a slightly different route then some of the tanks ive seen though

for example, instead of using a milk crate, i used a plastic crate from walmart i got a while back... it was my dog's toy box but she doesnt understand the concept of it so it was put away.... looks just like a milk crate, just inches smaller and much lighter due to lack of size and thickness of plastic, still have room for pvc pipe rod holders one in each corner, with the back two angled outwards for any attempt at trolling.. also adds a little upwards rigidity.

for the tank itself, i used a 3.5 gal bucket. the reason being the height. it's the same diameter as a 5 gal bucket, just much shorter, think... milk crate height, this will give me a little less height to reach over when grabbing fresh bait. though i am going to have to use a small hole in the lid, due to spilling and sloshing issues, i think i'll live.. the intake from the pump is a 3/4in and so is the exhaust, running the exhaust about 4 inches from the top of the tank and the intake aboust 2 in from the bottom of the bucket with a 90 elbow to direct water in a counter clockwise flow

for the pump im running a attwood 500gph tsunami pump... seems like a bit overkill for the tank to me, but i had a hard time locating the 360 that i was gonna run on a 6v... either way the 500 will be run on a 6v battery anyhow... now... i can do electrical rigging.. but im not too familiar with the pumps and their power input needed from the battery..... and im using just a sterlite locking tupperware for my battery box.

so question is... to run this 500gph pump on a 6v battery.... what ah rating am i shooting for?!!?!??! and where did you guys purchase your batteries besides from oex, nothing against them, just dont feel like driving through mission beach to get to them with traffic and all -.- actually stopped by the one in OS yesterday and they were closed... im a fail haha

i'll post pictures later on when i get some more work done to it

any other comments or ideas are more then welcome!!! thanks a bunch in advance

p.s. this set up so far is super super lightweight, i think it should be able to hold about 8-10 sardines comfortably enough for at least 8 hours

[Badtaste2k]

I picked up a 6v 7.6a at Frys for abut $20. it fits perfectly into an Otterbox 1060 to stay dry. 3/4inch inlet souds good, but you may have issues with the 3/4 inch outlet, It may not be large enough to release enough water. Don't forget you will also need to put some kind of filter over it to keep the sardines in but still let the scales out.

Sounds pretty good so far!

Good Luck

Dan

[tehburninator]

thanks dan, i'll throw some pics up later today or tommorrow morning when i get to it. i'll check out frys later today for the battery and maybe the switch. if i have to change boxes for the battery, shouldnt be an issue. trying to be as conservative as possible or else my gf will keel me quickly. the 3/4 outlet i dont use a screen because the sardine wont fit in one haha!!

[MrM]

What yak do you have? It might be easier for you to just drill out 1/4 inch holes and let the water spill out, and through scupper holes (if you your yak has them, back to my first question)

Just food for thought. Put up pictures of your progress if you can!

[tehburninator]

ok, i might make a run home for lunch to snap some shots for you guys, i have a tamarack 120. little 10ft sit on top, i was thinking of the drain holes instead of the exhaust tube, but prefered to have the water running out the back instead of onto the kayak (the hatches dont seal the best) and the thought of having anymore water then usual sitting on or in my kayak still gives me the heebie jeebies

[Badtaste2k]

Originally Posted by tehburninator

thanks dan, i'll throw some pics up later today or tommorrow morning when i get to it. i'll check out frys later today for the battery and maybe the switch. if i have to change boxes for the battery, shouldnt be an issue. trying to be as conservative as possible or else my gf will keel me quickly. the 3/4 outlet i dont use a screen because the sardine wont fit in one haha!!

Until that one stubborn sardine decides to try, get his head stuck in there and clog you up! I bought the switch at Frys but I had to get the waterproof booty for it at West Marine. They may have it there, but I didn't see one.

Dan

[min-va]

You can get a 6v 12ah battery for $16 on ebay.

[tehburninator]

i dont know why, but ever since i can remember... i hate ordering stuff online.... im one of those people who prefer to buy items with the items in my hand.... at time of purchase....... i'm an odd one...... i know

but what rating should i be looking for in a battery? and how does the ah rating affect pump operation and battery life?

im pretty mechanically inclined... just didnt pay too much attention when it came to electronics specs