Live well Bait tank

[captainlakay]

Hello Parker owners, I have a 2015 Parker 2530 ext cabin planning on installing a live well bait tank 22 gal on the swim step. Has anyone tee off the raw water washdown pick up to supply water to the bait tank? Any tips, photos, recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Attached is the Photo of my raw water pump and plumbing

Capt Lakay
US Army

 

[afitzray]

I think a lot of livewell bait tanks have a bypass before the pump for the washdown pump. You'd need to verify the size of the fittings. And others can chime in on what they think is the best seacock set up.

(washdown connects to yellow, and tank connects to red)



You'll get a lot of opinions on brands. I'm not sure if there's much consensus there
https://www.westmarine.com/bait-tank-pumps/

On another note, I had my washdown pump in just about the same spot. I ended up moving it a little higher to get the fittings at the pump above the water line- just in case I ever forgot to close the seacock and something started leaking.

 

[warthog5]

Well Lets start at the beginning.
First...You want a Rule Dual port Livewell pump.. It will screw in on Top of your Seacock. The lower port on the Livewell pump will feed your washdown pump. The Upper Port on the livewell will feed the livewell.

The swim platform is Absolutely the Wrong place to put the livewell. Saltwater is 8.3lbs per gal. 30gal tank = 250lbs in the wrong place on the boat. You will loose bait trying to dig them out....Drop a bait on the deck and you can recover it... Drop one on the swim platform and it's gone.

I had a bulkhead fitting coming thru the aft bulkhead from the pump.. A short hose connects there and into the bottom of the tank. The tank is portable and dumps the excess over the side. I still have the tank I built for my 2530 and it's For sale, But I know shipping will be high.

Washdown pump =High preasure- low volume.

Livewell Pump= Low preasure -High Volume.


By the way....Good luck with that Sureflow aka No Flow pump. All manufactures use them...They are Cheap and if you get 2yrs out of them your lucky.

 

[captainlakay]

Thanks for the insight Warthog5. Where Did you mount the tank on 2530? Deck? Im trying to save space on the deck.

 

[warthog5]

Aft STB corner of cockpit.... Really wasn't a issue to work around.

 

[Bodick93]

I use a 40 gallon Moeller plastic tank I place on non-skid and run off the washdown fitting on a Y with 2 ball valves. I have it overflowing to the floor. Stinks having a hose to work over, but when I don't need it, it comes out saving deck space. I added two sets of 3 vertical rod holders mounted on starboard that come in really handy. I have my pie plates life sealed down for this reason, and still never had water on my tank, or the risk of it with hoses running across it fwiw. Just another option if you don't use it every trip. Not blingy, but very functional.

 

[pelagic2530]

I use a 40 gallon Moeller plastic tank I place on non-skid and run off the washdown fitting on a Y with 2 ball valves. I have it overflowing to the floor. Stinks having a hose to work over, but when I don't need it, it comes out saving deck space. I added two sets of 3 vertical rod holders mounted on starboard that come in really handy. I have my pie plates life sealed down for this reason, and still never had water on my tank, or the risk of it with hoses running across it fwiw. Just another option if you don't use it every trip. Not blingy, but very functional.

I did something very similar to that, but mine is up against my port side just aft of my pilothouse step. Since it’s against the side, the hose can run up underneath the covering board, and I installed a thru-hull fitting through the side so it can drain overboard. Works great and keeps water off the deck; something to consider if your configuration can support.

I don’t have a picture of the livewell, but you can see the thru-hull in this picture for position reference.