CountryRN
Twelve Pointer
I am sorry if this subject has been covered in the past. I told a few on here that I was making a tank and would post some pictures once I finished. I am sorry this is long but wanted to give ya'll a detailed way to make your own tank. Commercial tanks sell for multi hundreds of dollars where I only have about $50-60 in the construction of this one. Keep in mind some of these supplies are scraps from around the house and may cost a little more if you don't have them available.
With rockfish season here, I needed a way to keep my shad minnows living. Unfortunately they are very fragile fish and require a bit of work to keep em swimming.
I obtained a 30 gallon plastic drum. You can get them online. This one had soap concentrate in it for one of the local carwashes. I traded a little fishing time to the man who owns the carwash for the barrel. It was a win win for both parties.
The plastic barrel I got has a couple "ribs" or lines around it where the plastic was a little thicker. I used the top rib as a place to cut to make sure my cut was at the same distance from the top all the way around. Then clean your barrel well to get all residual soap or chemicals out.
Cut a top for the barrel from plywood. I used 1/2 inch ply that I had laying around the house and gave it a couple coats of Tompson's water seal so that I will last a couple seasons. When It wears out, I want to replace it with a thick cutting board type plastic, but the wood top works well and gets me fishing for now. The screw in the middle of the board helped me to hold the top in place while placing the screws through the barrel into the top. I cut a section of 6 in pvc (also scrap from an old deer feeder) to use as part of my filtration system.
Trace the hole for the filter and then draw out the lines for the door. I cut my hole for the pvc pipe tight enough that it had to be forced in. My intent for this was so that friction would hold it in place, which kept me from having to come up with a method of locking it to the wood. It also makes it removable so that when I am ready to put the tank away in the off season, It will have a flat top. It just makes it easier for stacking more crap on top of it like a table; which seems to be main method of organization in my garage.
I used a $12 cutting board from Walmart for the caps to the pvc filter section. You will need to cut two caps for the pvc and then another circle of cutting board that fits very snuggly to the inside of the pvc. Hold the bottom section of cutting board to the pvc and drill pilot holes to let you place some screws through the plastic and into the wall of the pvc pipe. This bottom section of cutting board will need to have a lot of small holes drill through it for the water to trickle through and back into the tank.
Screw the top section of cutting board to the circle that just does fit inside the pipe to make your cap. Once my cap was in place I put two small holes through the side of the filter into the section of cutting board that fits inside the pipe. I used two removable pins (pop rivets) so I can access the inside of the filter as needed. The pins will be shown in another pic later.
Shad minnows have a bad habit of shedding scales when stressed. The scales have to be filtered to prevent them from clogging the fish's gills and killing them. I found a set of plastic strainers at Walmart for $1.75. With the handle trimmed off one of the strainers, it fits nicely into the pvc pipe to filter out the fish scales.
Now with your filter made, your top screwed on the tank, and the door hinged; you are almost finished. It's time to plumb your tank. Used a $19 bilge pump that runs 500 gallon per hour. 1/2 Pvc pipe is cheep and works well for this. The pipe extending up through the top of the tank has a few holes drilled in one side along it's length to provide a little counter clockwise rotation in the water. From what I'v read, shad do better if they have a little current to swim against.
The plumbing will run through the top of the tank and into the side of your filter, then 90 degree down onto your filter.
Run your wires up through a small hole in the top of the tank and to your 12 volt battery. I ran the wires (black and grey) to a 12v battery under my center console. I tend to like to catch my shad the evening before I go fishing. To prevent running my battery down through the night, I put quick connects on my electrical lines. I use an old 12v power supply with the connections to fit the tank so that I can run the pump off the house power. It works pretty well and was easy to hook up. I didn't include the cost of the 12v power supply in the estimated cost of the tank. I think you can find one online for $30-40 if you look around. This one has been on a shelf around here for a long time and just needed a use.
The silver wrap on the tank in the previous picture is a bubble wrap insulation from Lowes. I think the role was $15. I used a 3M 77 adhesive spray to hold the insulation to the tank. The reflective insulation helps keep the sun from heating the water so you don't "cook" your shad while out fishing. The silicone tube was used around the edge of the lid on the tank to keep from splashing water out when in transport.
I hope this has been helpful to anyone looking to build a tank. Shoot me a message if you need any other details or pictures.
With rockfish season here, I needed a way to keep my shad minnows living. Unfortunately they are very fragile fish and require a bit of work to keep em swimming.
I obtained a 30 gallon plastic drum. You can get them online. This one had soap concentrate in it for one of the local carwashes. I traded a little fishing time to the man who owns the carwash for the barrel. It was a win win for both parties.
The plastic barrel I got has a couple "ribs" or lines around it where the plastic was a little thicker. I used the top rib as a place to cut to make sure my cut was at the same distance from the top all the way around. Then clean your barrel well to get all residual soap or chemicals out.
Cut a top for the barrel from plywood. I used 1/2 inch ply that I had laying around the house and gave it a couple coats of Tompson's water seal so that I will last a couple seasons. When It wears out, I want to replace it with a thick cutting board type plastic, but the wood top works well and gets me fishing for now. The screw in the middle of the board helped me to hold the top in place while placing the screws through the barrel into the top. I cut a section of 6 in pvc (also scrap from an old deer feeder) to use as part of my filtration system.
Trace the hole for the filter and then draw out the lines for the door. I cut my hole for the pvc pipe tight enough that it had to be forced in. My intent for this was so that friction would hold it in place, which kept me from having to come up with a method of locking it to the wood. It also makes it removable so that when I am ready to put the tank away in the off season, It will have a flat top. It just makes it easier for stacking more crap on top of it like a table; which seems to be main method of organization in my garage.
I used a $12 cutting board from Walmart for the caps to the pvc filter section. You will need to cut two caps for the pvc and then another circle of cutting board that fits very snuggly to the inside of the pvc. Hold the bottom section of cutting board to the pvc and drill pilot holes to let you place some screws through the plastic and into the wall of the pvc pipe. This bottom section of cutting board will need to have a lot of small holes drill through it for the water to trickle through and back into the tank.
Screw the top section of cutting board to the circle that just does fit inside the pipe to make your cap. Once my cap was in place I put two small holes through the side of the filter into the section of cutting board that fits inside the pipe. I used two removable pins (pop rivets) so I can access the inside of the filter as needed. The pins will be shown in another pic later.
Shad minnows have a bad habit of shedding scales when stressed. The scales have to be filtered to prevent them from clogging the fish's gills and killing them. I found a set of plastic strainers at Walmart for $1.75. With the handle trimmed off one of the strainers, it fits nicely into the pvc pipe to filter out the fish scales.
Now with your filter made, your top screwed on the tank, and the door hinged; you are almost finished. It's time to plumb your tank. Used a $19 bilge pump that runs 500 gallon per hour. 1/2 Pvc pipe is cheep and works well for this. The pipe extending up through the top of the tank has a few holes drilled in one side along it's length to provide a little counter clockwise rotation in the water. From what I'v read, shad do better if they have a little current to swim against.
The plumbing will run through the top of the tank and into the side of your filter, then 90 degree down onto your filter.
Run your wires up through a small hole in the top of the tank and to your 12 volt battery. I ran the wires (black and grey) to a 12v battery under my center console. I tend to like to catch my shad the evening before I go fishing. To prevent running my battery down through the night, I put quick connects on my electrical lines. I use an old 12v power supply with the connections to fit the tank so that I can run the pump off the house power. It works pretty well and was easy to hook up. I didn't include the cost of the 12v power supply in the estimated cost of the tank. I think you can find one online for $30-40 if you look around. This one has been on a shelf around here for a long time and just needed a use.
The silver wrap on the tank in the previous picture is a bubble wrap insulation from Lowes. I think the role was $15. I used a 3M 77 adhesive spray to hold the insulation to the tank. The reflective insulation helps keep the sun from heating the water so you don't "cook" your shad while out fishing. The silicone tube was used around the edge of the lid on the tank to keep from splashing water out when in transport.
I hope this has been helpful to anyone looking to build a tank. Shoot me a message if you need any other details or pictures.