# Homemade shad tank



## Ouachita (Jan 30, 2009)

For those of you that fish with live shad you know the problem it is to keep them alive. They lose scales immediately, slime the water and start to die right after you cast net them. I have been looking around all winter for a shad tank I could make for my jon boat that could keep them alive for a trip. I found this design on another website and reverse engineered from the pictures since there was no parts list. I forgot to take any pictures of the build in progress. ](*,) Here are some of the completed pictures. 












I used a 500gph aerator I bought at Walmart on clearance last year and the rest of the parts are pvc plumbing parts from Home Depot.











I have 2" pvc coming from the pump. It has a cleanout on top so that I can put aquarium charcoal in panty hose to filter the ammonia from the water. The intake in the tank is 3/4" pvc with holes drilled in it. It is covered with a mesh filter I found in Home Depot in the koi pond dept.











The spray nozzle is 3/4" pipe with a saw cut in it for the spray head.






I am hoping to try it out as soon as the shad move back into the shallows so I can net them.


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## bassboy1 (Jan 30, 2009)

Nice. Looks to be 5 gallons? Let us know how that inline filter works. Does it filter as it goes up the incline? 

I am going to be building an 18 gallon or so tank out of a 20 gallon white plastic barrel I nabbed. I will be using the "Bubba" bait tank design.
https://seeinstripes.com/bbt.htm

It uses bonded polyester as the filter material, with a gravity feed filter (pump fills up the filter box, and the water trickles through the filter material, then drains out the holes, aerating as it enters. Those freakin' shad will die if you look at them funny.


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## Ouachita (Jan 30, 2009)

bassboy1 said:


> Nice. Looks to be 5 gallons? Let us know how that inline filter works. Does it filter as it goes up the incline?



I would guess it to be around 7 gallons. I will have to pour a 5 gallon bucketful in to measure it. The charcoal in the pantyhose mostly fills the 2" pipe so the water is forced completely throught the filter by the pump. The water sprays surprisingly hard despite the incline and filling the 2" pipe.


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## ben2go (Jan 30, 2009)

Any one know why shad die so quick?


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## OhioStateBuckeye (Jan 31, 2009)

because they realize that once they get caught its all over


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## Jerry60k (Jan 31, 2009)

They die so fast because of ammonia.A good trick until you build the aforementioned shad tank is to use 2 buckets when catching shad.Put them in 1 bucket for about 5 minutes then dip them out 1 by 1 into the fresh bucket of water.

Also that looks like a nice tank but shad will do better in a circular or oval tank,in square tanks they will all keep running into the corners eventually beating themselves to death.

Thanks for the tutorial.


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## Ouachita (Jan 31, 2009)

Jerry60k said:


> shad will do better in a circular or oval tank,in square tanks they will all keep running into the corners eventually beating themselves to death.


They do head for corners for some reason and then they get the bloody red nose. I thought about using a round 5 gallon Igloo water cooler but I wanted more surface area. This one has the most rounded corners I could find in the size I wanted. I still may make some rounded edges to attach in the corners. It will depend on how well this cooler works. The entire pump unit can be unscrewed from the top and bottom and moved to another cooler if necessary.


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## Jerry60k (Jan 31, 2009)

Didnt mean to sound like a know-it-all #-o You wouldnt happen to be a member of a high profile catfish website would you.Lots of info on the web.

Its like a tinboats.net for catfishing lol.


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## Ouachita (Jan 31, 2009)

Jerry60k said:


> Didnt mean to sound like a know-it-all #-o You wouldnt happen to be a member of a high profile catfish website would you.Lots of info on the web.
> 
> Its like a tinboats.net for catfishing lol.



Yes I am a member of that _high profile catfish website_. The corners on a shad tank are a good point though. They are definitely happier in a circular or oval tank.


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## BLK fisher (Jan 31, 2009)

Very nice job.


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## Captain Ahab (Feb 1, 2009)

If you can get the water in the live well to flow you will prevent the bait from banging into the corners - they will just face into the current for the most part.


Nice job


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## redbug (Feb 1, 2009)

I have heard that oval is the way to go, but like Ahab said you ca generate some current that may help and is easy to do. as far as the charcoal it will remove the ammonia and is a good choice you can purchase ammonia chips at a pet store that will do a better job.
Bassboy1, the poly fill you are gonna use will be a good mechanical filter but wont help much in the biological area until you get a bacteria colony going that takes several weeks and you must keep the water flowing 24/7. I would add a thin layer of ammonia chips to help.


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## manofvision (Feb 1, 2009)

Looks like a sound design. I might use your idea - can I ask what is the high profile catfishing link you are talking about. I'm into catfishing big time.


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## baptistpreach (Feb 3, 2009)

If this is out of line, please edit or erase it, but I think they're talking about catfish1.com . Its a great catfishing website, I love it (fishing for cats and the site). 

The reason shad die so fast is because they are ridiculously fragile fish. If only they didn't make such good bait!


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## bassboy1 (Feb 3, 2009)

redbug said:


> Bassboy1, the poly fill you are gonna use will be a good mechanical filter but wont help much in the biological area until you get a bacteria colony going that takes several weeks and you must keep the water flowing 24/7. I would add a thin layer of ammonia chips to help.


I figure this would be acceptable for shorter hops, and then have a correct bait tank on my 20 footer. I am not willing to overcomplicate on this one.


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