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.

 

[Bodick93]

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. View attachment 40470

I like it. I was just concerned about trim. That is a great option.
Since I started using the transom livewell pressurized, it kept 36 croakers alive. I haven't needed it since, even though the transom livewell "should" be too small on paper.

 

[captainlakay]

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.

Do you have a photos of your moeller installed on the deck and the plumbing? Thanks

 

[Bodick93]

No, but I will pop it down out of the garage tomorrow and snap a few.
It is this one. Note it doesn't come with hinges for the lid or any fittings. I may have even bought a few drain plugs. 100% worth it to me though, to be removable.





We have been spade, seabass and flounder fishing lately, so nice to have the room. I just throw a rug on the gunwale and bring it in/out as needed. 20 or so gallons of well water keeps it locked in while on the trailer and headed to the bay/ocean. I trailer with rods in the rod holders. I'll put a few pics and the weight in here tomorrow.

 

[Bodick93]

I bought heavy brackets for the rod holders with the intention of stainless but they were crazy high, so I just used zinc and sprayed them with CRC anti corrosion spray . Not only does it add the bait tank, but 6 sturdy rod holders for the trailer trip, 2 cup holders and 2 tackle trays. It weighs 32 pounds as seen. It is very stiff, and it's easy to just grab the rod holders and move it to and from the boat.

I run it off the washdown pump, and just set my watch to alarm every 15 minutes, where I just click it on. I figured the washdown pump wasn't meant for 100% duty cycle.

The non-skid mat is just some synthetic shelving liner from Home Depot. The mat combined with 20 gallons or so of water keeps it in place during a 2hr trailering, while holding 6 rods. The non-skid stays in the bait tank when not in use.

I drilled extra holes in the top so it could drain to dryness when you tilt it on the side. The drain plug alone doesn't quite do it. Also needed to drill drain holes in the cupholders and trays.

There is a pic of the adjustable spray nozzle inside.

Rev. 0 had the rod holders and starboard bolted to the ends. That was horrible, bashing your ankles, while having lures/hooks near your face as you walk by.
We use it for croakers when cobia fishing, and the rod holders are priceless if you need to clear the gunwale quickly. Two of us usually take waaaay too many rods.

There is plenty of room for beautifications and improvements, but function-wise it is perfect for our needs, and probably have less than 250 bucks in it (before COVID price increases).

Sleeping lab puppy pics added as bonus material. He went to sleep and was snoring in the 20 minutes it took to piece this together.







[

 

[captainlakay]

if I use the shurflo dual port or rule, can i still use the 90 degree pipe that's already screwed on the the seacock then connect the pipe and dual port pump with hose? or Do I need to remove the screwed in pipe and screw the end of the pump? Thanks ALL.

 

[warthog5]

No.... That unscrews and the RULE dual port Livewell pump screws in where the 90 deg fitting came out. It will look like this. Do NOT buy Sureflow!

 

[lougio]

No.... That unscrews and the RULE dual port Livewell pump screws in where the 90 deg fitting came out. It will look like this. Do NOT buy Sureflow!

Why not Sureflow? I'm running a Sureflow Bait Sentry 1100 for a 65gal Blue Water tank. It may be a little noisy but they work great.

 

[pelagic2530]

Why not Sureflow? I'm running a Sureflow Bait Sentry 1100 for a 65gal Blue Water tank. It may be a little noisy but they work great.

That’s been my experience with the Bait Sentry models as well. I had one last for 7 years, admittedly we didn’t use it often. Warthog has had inferior experiences with them, so he recommends Rule, who I also have not had any major issues with other than float switches. Different strokes, I suppose.

 

[captainlakay]

No.... That unscrews and the RULE dual port Livewell pump screws in where the 90 deg fitting came out. It will look like this. Do NOT buy Sureflow!

Warthog5: thanks for the photo. I have the materials to install my 22 gal west marine plastic bait tank. Bought it on marketplace. Also have the 800 gph rule tournament series dual port. Question: if i turn on the switch at the panel switch on the dash, does the pump fills the livewell and washdown turns on but only spray water when squeezing the nozzle? Can-one of the other only works when the switch turns on?

 

[SharkBait]

if you have 2 switches they should work independently

 

[captainlakay]

if you have 2 switches they should work independently

I will only use the rule 800gph dual port to supply water on livewell and washdown or add another pump?

 

[pelagic2530]

I will only use the rule 800gph dual port to supply water on livewell and washdown or add another pump?

You’ll need two pumps- with the Rule dual port, only the top port is on the discharge side of the pump. Think of the lower port as a built in tee fitting- it just allows you to pull water for another pump from the suction side of the livewell pump, without having to install an additional tee fitting.

You will need to have a washdown pump as well, which is a different type of pump designed for low flow, high pressure as opposed to the livewell pump’s high flow, low pressure. The washdown pump will pull suction from the lower port of the dual port pump.

 

[warthog5]

What Pelagic said.

The dual port allows the use of 2 pumps to do 2 different things with Only 1 hull penetration.