# Question about homemade Livewells using a bilge pump...



## LMBDave (Feb 1, 2011)

Whats up guys! This is my first post on TB! Ive been visiting this site for a while getting ideas and stuff for my bass boat project, but i didnt sign up until today because my boat isnt an aluminum boat, its a 12' fiberglass tri-hull Olympian. But i finally said screw it and signed up anyway. I couldnt find a forum like this for fiberglass boats.

Anyway, on to my first question. For those of u who have built a homemade livewell out of a cooler or rubbermaid container and used a bilge pump to circulate and aerate the water, how do u get the water into the livewell? and how do u drain it? A detailed description and/or picture of the plumbing for ur livewell would also be greatly appreciated. Basically im trying to figure out a way to rig up a SINGLE pump to not only circulate water in the livewell, but also fill the livewell and empty the livewell. 

Cheers! :beer:


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## wasilvers (Feb 1, 2011)

You could do it with some creative plumbing and a self priming pump, or just use a normal bilge pump and extra length of piping. Then to fill it, you dump the bilge pump overboard and put the hose in the livewell. Then to pump it out, put the hose out to the water. It wouldn't be too hard (says the guy who has two thruhull on his boat because the first one wasn't good enough :roll: ) If you do some searching there are some good pictures of guys doing this. Then you can always use the bilge as a real bilge in case of emergency/rain.

Edit: Try this link...
https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9469&p=97938&hilit=livewell+overboard#p97938


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## Oldgeek (Feb 2, 2011)

Here's my idea on how I'll do my livewell. I found an old cooler at a garage sale...big but kind of nasty to use for a cooler. I cleaned it out and plan to leave my bilge pump in the open. I have a long hose that I'll put in the cooler to fill it and drop the pump overboard, then to empty it, I'll drop the pump in the cooler and the hose overboard. Okay, so it is sort of redneck, but it should work fine. I will probably do something nicer later in the year, but early on I just want to get the boat fishable. Should work right?


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## zerofivenismo (Feb 2, 2011)

I did the same as the previous guys mentioned. I bought the bilge pump/aerator setup at Cabelas.

Welcome aboard! =D>


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## russ010 (Feb 2, 2011)

I did a project on this a couple of years ago.. https://www.tinboats.net/index.php/Projects/building-a-livewell.html

This can get you running in the right direction and give you a few more ideas


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## LMBDave (Feb 2, 2011)

russ010 said:


> I did a project on this a couple of years ago.. https://www.tinboats.net/index.php/Projects/building-a-livewell.html
> 
> This can get you running in the right direction and give you a few more ideas



Oh ok yah I've seen that before, and essentially that's what I want to build, but there's gotta be a way to rig up the plumbing so that u only have to use one stationary submersible pump...or maybe perhaps we forget the bilge pump idea and start thinking along the lines of an external pump...all I'm wondering is has anybody built a livewell that fills itself, circulates, and drains itself, all using one pump? And probably a bunch of tubes, hoses and valves. Also I want to avoid drilling holes in my boat so I want to build a livewell that doesn't require an overflow.

I like ur design by the, I will most likely be building something very similar.


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## LMBDave (Feb 2, 2011)

Here's a design i came up with...not sure how realistic of an idea it is, but as of right now i cant really see anything wrong with it...what do u guys think?


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## russ010 (Feb 2, 2011)

How are you going to pull water in from the outside? 

I get what you are trying to do, but I don't see that drawing water in... that will work for pump out, but not sure about pump in


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## LMBDave (Feb 2, 2011)

russ010 said:


> How are you going to pull water in from the outside?
> 
> I get what you are trying to do, but I don't see that drawing water in... that will work for pump out, but not sure about pump in



Should have numbered the valves hold on a sec...

Here we go.






So to pump water in, u will open valves 1 and 3 and shut valves 2 and 4.

To Circulate water, open vales 3 and 4 and shut valves 1 and 2.

To pump water out, open valves 2 and 4 and shut vavles 1 and 3.


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## Brine (Feb 2, 2011)

:WELCOME: LMBDave,

I used one pump in a 120qt cooler. To fill, I drop the pump overboard, put the pump in to recirculate, put the hose overboard to drain. No holes in boat. I have a pic in one of the recent livewell threads.


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## Ictalurus (Feb 2, 2011)

I also run the cooler set up. I fixed my pump inside the livewell with the spray bar and have an additional pump that plugs into a cigarette lighter (12v now) that I fill the livewell with. It also serves as my bilge, haven't used it for that yet! I tried making a setup with valves and such, found it better to have less in the livewell, fish get stuck behind piping and all that. Now with all that being said, what I use most often is the cage type thing that hangs over the side of the boat.


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## perchin (Feb 2, 2011)

I understand your idea, but you'll burn up a pump trying to suck air untill it starts pulling water. For $12 dollars, you could just buy an atwood 600gph pump from Walmart to fill the livewell. Just throw it over the side long enough to fill your livewell then put it back in storage while fishing.


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## bassboy1 (Feb 2, 2011)

perchin said:


> I understand your idea, but you'll burn up a pump trying to suck air untill it starts pulling water. For $12 dollars, you could just buy an atwood 600gph pump from Walmart to fill the livewell. Just throw it over the side long enough to fill your livewell then put it back in storage while fishing.



This. A self priming pump will cost much more than 2 standard livewell pumps.

I generally rig my installed livewells with a drain, that merely has a plug in it. The aerator is just installs through the bottom, and the hose pipes up to the top, to the spray bar. 

I install a 12v plug somewhere near the livewell, and have another pump/section of hose to fill. When filling or draining on the water, just plug the pump into this plug, and fill or empty. Use the drain plug to empty it on the trailer.

Take a look at the 1648 Alumacraft in my sig for that (using a cooler). I'm doing another like that with a slightly smaller cooler in a boat I'm working on now. 

If you want a true livewell tank, and not a cooler, send a PM to Jr Branham. He has recently picked up a livewell tank, and I'm sure he wouldn't mind telling you where he got it. 

Dawson


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## bAcKpAiN (Feb 3, 2011)

I left a long hose attached to the pump and had it coiled in the bottom of the cooler attached to the spray bar for recirculaton. When I wanted to fill it I just tossed the pump overboard and turned it on. It pumped water into the cooler through the spraybar. I had a large 1" thru hull going through the cooler as an overflow so when it got full it would just overflow over the side through 1" tubing attached to the fitting. When I needed to move with the gas motor I pulled the bilge pump in and tossed it in the cooler to recirculate. In order to be able to have the hose in or out I just cut a notch out of the top corner of the lid.

This isn't the nicest looking setup but it worked for me in a pinch (made it the night before a tourney with what I had on hand). It worked so well I just kept it until I got a different boat with a livewell in it.


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## LMBDave (Feb 3, 2011)

Ok so it wasnt until i actually took a look at a bilge pump in person, that i realized the flaw in my design. I didnt realize that the pump actually needs water in it before it can start pumping water. So i reevaluated the situation and ended up deciding to go with dual pumps, 1 to pump water from the lake into the livewell, and the other to circulate the water and pump water out. Just like russ010's livewell. I'm going to experiment a bit with the plumbing before i decide on the final product. ill keep u guys posted. thanks for all the advice.


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## BaitCaster (Feb 4, 2011)

Fiberglass!!? Shame on you! [-X :LOL2: 

Here's a pic of my livewell and aerator. I fill it up with the garden hose or with a bucket.


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## Ictalurus (Feb 4, 2011)

Baitcaster, did you plug the gravity fed hole on your livewell? I was looking into those and wondered how much water enters the livewell when gravity fed?


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## BaitCaster (Feb 4, 2011)

Ictalurus said:


> Baitcaster, did you plug the gravity fed hole on your livewell? I was looking into those and wondered how much water enters the livewell when gravity fed?



yes, the hole came with a thru-hull fitting and plug. I took out the fitting when i was working on the tank. I have never pulled the plug whil on the water,. However, hear that very little water comes into the tank.


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## Brine (Feb 4, 2011)

Should fill to the same level of the waterline outside of the boat.


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## Ictalurus (Feb 4, 2011)

Brine said:


> Should fill to the same level of the waterline outside of the boat.
> Should fill to the same level of the waterline outside of the boat.



I figured that, I guess I need to ask how high/low his boat sits in the water.


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## LMBDave (Feb 6, 2011)

Here's the cooler i decided to go with for my livewell build. Found it on craigslist for $25!


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## Brine (Feb 6, 2011)

That looks like a winner to me.


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## LMBDave (Feb 7, 2011)

Brine said:


> That looks like a winner to me.



bad news, got it home, put it in the boat and its WAAAAY too big hahaha...super bummed. But on the bright side i scored a huge cooler for $25 bucks when it should have cost me $100+ for something this size.

back to square one.


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## LMBDave (Feb 7, 2011)

Yah...thats not gonna work #-o


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## Brine (Feb 7, 2011)

:roflmao: 

Yah... I know that feeling. However, I'm not sure on how you plan on using the livewell, but if it's for keeping 5 bass alive in a tournament, I would make sure you have something that will hold at least 25 gallons of water. If that's the case, I would rather see the cooler sticking up and out of the deck, than 5 fish floating upside down at the end of the tourney. .


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## LMBDave (Feb 7, 2011)

Brine said:


> :roflmao:
> 
> Yah... I know that feeling. However, I'm not sure on how you plan on using the livewell, but if it's for keeping 5 bass alive in a tournament, I would make sure you have something that will hold at least 25 gallons of water. If that's the case, I would rather see the cooler sticking up and out of the deck, than 5 fish floating upside down at the end of the tourney. .




True, but this thing severely interferes with the design ive come up with for the rod boxes i plan on putting in. Im gonna try to find a cooler that is taller than it is long.


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## LMBDave (Feb 13, 2011)

Decided to go with this 23gal recycling container for my livewell.


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