Your on the east coast so your bait is different then west coast baits.
Blue water tanks are considered a top tier bait tank manufacture. But I have no direct experience with them.
I think the answer to your first question depends on how much bait you plan to carry with you. As an example, I fish live ancohvies. My 50 gallon bait tank can easily hold 2 scoops, which is more than enough for a full day of Albacore fishing. Keep in mind we catch albacore on my 2320, 20-40 fish per trip average and chum heavy to keep the school at the boat.
Your pump size will depend on the tank size. But more importantly fill time needs to be addressed. Fill time for a 50 gallon tank that will hold anchovies should be about 5-6 mins.
Also, pump longevity and reliability should be a consideration. On the west coast many will purchase bait then run 2 or 3 hours to the tuna grounds, somtimes shorter. Your pump needs to be up to that task, nothing worse then running 2 hours to discover your bait is dead because your pump died. This happened to a buddy of mine back in 2019. He hailed me on the VHF 3 hours after buying 100 bucks worth of bait to inform me his pump had died, so did all his bait. He still caught about 12 Albacore tuna that day. But I caught 37 on my boat because my bait was healthy and alive. We fished within about 1/2 mile of each other all day. So you can see how much more successful we were with healthy bait.
My tank is 50 gallon big salt brand and it keeps bait healthy all day and can easily go 60 miles out and back and still have healthy bait even on a sloppy ocean.
When you mount your tank many west coast Parker owners suggest to push the tank as far forward as you can get it. So your pilot house door barely closes. These Parker’s are naturally ass heavy so more weight placed forward the better. Keep in mind with 50 gallons of seawater when my tank is full plus 400 plus pounds of commercial ice the boat will fell different.
I wrote a lot. But bait tanks are a serious topic on the west coast. I love my tank it’s the ticket to a killer day of fishing.
Here’s a pic of my tank in action, complete with a bloodydeck.
Bloodydecks.com is great place to start planning your bait tank selection and install.
Good luck
