LIVEWELL issue in Stratos

[chukher]

I have a 88 181pro. I have cleaned out the livewell and made sure the fill pump worked and also the recirculator was working and fished a tournament here in Florida. we put 5 small fish in the well. The water temp was 85. I put rejuvinate in about 4 times in 6 hours and I closed the livewell drain and made sure the pumps kept running but all the fish died. any suggestions on what might have happened? I am afraid to fish another tournament because I dont want to kill any fish.

[MBragg8]

Rejuvinate alone won't do it.. Water temp probably got them. Better add some ice, Frozen 2-liter bottles or check out http://www.koolwell.com

Need to keep livewell tem in low 70s.

Been using the koolwell system myself now since first of June and haven't lost a fish since. It's a bit pricey but works and lets face it... losing fish costs you money..

[fishnfool38]

#1 What did you use to clean the livewells?

#2 Adding rejuvenade 4 times in 6 hrs The only time I add rejuvenade is after I change my water out, which is about 3 times during the day just when I notice bubbles accumulating or smell any ammonia!

Fill wells first thing add rejuvenade and cool the temp down 10 degrees from surface temp, run the recirculation pumps occasionally. And if you want the best thing since sliced bread for the fish get them on pure oxygen such as http://www.fishflo2.com/products.htm you have never seen fish this happy the good thing of it is you can cut the pumps off except to change the water, this still needs to be done!

[Jim285pro]

Did you keep adding the rejuvenade because the water was no longer blue? Did you fill them up and cut off the fill pump and only run recirculate? How hard was the water churning?

[21XDC]

My guess is you used recirc the whole day.... I don't reccomend this. You should use "auto" or "fill" on the flapper levers .... And run the pumps full time or auto also.

The fish live all day, everyday for years and years in the lake water. As long as your moving new lake water in the wells all day, There should not be a problem.

[Javelin389]

If you try to recirc the water all day, you're killing the fish. You have to change it out, at least, every 1-2 hrs. I still find it best to run the pumps and let them bring in fresh water.

[Imavol]

Javelin389 is right if you run the recirc pump all day without changing the water they will die you have to change the water out. Anytime the surface temp gets above 80 you really need some ice to cool the water down. Frozen bottles work good also you can add some Hydrogen Peroxide to the water to increase the oxygen content about 1 to 2 oz per 30 gl. I also saw that someone is making a livewell vent now that goes on the top of the livewell lid has anyone used one of these I was thinking about getting 2 for my livewells.

[flukeman]

I can not believe the number of people who think it is OK to recirc fish all day. We had a guy do the exact same thing to his fish up here and our water is only 75 degrees. The only time I recirc is shallow scummy water, when I am running, or pull my boat out for the weigh-in. I also can not believe the number of people who do not run pumps timed or continuous all day.

It sounds like your only problem was recirculating too long.

Too many times guys are trying to preserve rejuvenate, or their batteries are weak, or they are too cheap to fix faulty pumps. Yet they will spend thousands on baits, reels, and rods. After your personal safety, those fish should be the next most important concern.

[Jim285pro]

Im not sure where you guys are reading to not recirculate all day. I fill them up and add rejuvenade, Ice, and recirculate on manual, change the water out half way through tourny, add ice every2 hours. In the spring I dont add ice. In my experience if you keep running the livewell on fresh water in the summer adding Ice is useless because your always pumping fresh hot water in and you will increaase the temp of your livewell. I have never lost a fish from livewell exhaustion or stress.


How in the world could you recircualte too long?

[Javelin389]

Running the recirc all day is fine, it's just the recirculating the same water all day is what will give you problems. Personally, I don't mess with ice or anything else. I fill up the livewells, keep the pumps on the timer, and add fish. Never had a problem except when a pump failed And this is in 85 deg water to. But all lakes are different and have different oxygen content to. There's an article floating around somewhere that describes proper fish-care. Tells all about the ammonia the fish put off and everything. It was pretty in-depth.

[21XDC]

I think using ice is a joke... Ever go to a fish store and buy fish? Put into a bag and take home? Float the bag for 1/2 hour to get the temp right before you dump the fish in?

What do you think a cold water bass does when dumped into a hot lake? Temp shock kills fish, even after they swim away.

No need for this guys.... Just keeping new lake water brought into the livewell all day is the key.... They live in that water 24-7.

[Jim285pro]

Comparing wild bass to grown in a tank aquarium fish is a faulty analogy . Fishery biologists have done studies on catch and release and cool water lowers metabolism and holds higher levels of dissolved oxygen. FLW uses all these techniques to keep fish alive and have a 99.8 catch and release survival rate as a result. I understand your point about keeping fresh water in there all the time and its lake water and thats where the fish lives but understand this, Your pump is pumping water from near the surface where the water is hotter than lets say 20 ft. deep. In the summer time the majority of the fish are holding at deeper levels, the ones who stay shallow are in the coolest shade they can find. Im not saying the fish are at deeper levels because of the cooler water, I believe they are there because thats where the shad is. All of that being said cooling your water off with ice will bring your water temp in your livewell closer to the temp where the fish was living in before he was caught so If shock in Temp change is what kills fish then your temp in your livewell is more of a shock than mine.

[21XDC]

I frog fish in a foot of water and the bass thrive in these hot waters. Yes, My livewell water is the same temps. My anology is spot on. Most fish get released in the shallow warm water, We all don't use a release boat.

[Jim285pro]

We all have our opinions If your fish are staying alive then great Mine are too.

[21XDC]

Yep... And I have only been fishing T's for 28 years... How old are you? J/K

[Blue Steel]

Jim..gotta agree with Mike..no ice...fish a Big tournie,as you come up to the scales and aerate your fish,feel the water in the tanks....Lots of thoughts about this subject but..again, I'm with Mike

[Jim285pro]

Just going off of what fishery biologists say. Your the first group Ive heard from that do it that way. Like I said if your fish are doing well and not dieing thats great. My fish are getting the treatment recommended by the top pros and biologists who study it.

http://assets.espn.go.com/winn...e.pdf





Modified by Jim285pro at 9:38 PM 8/4/2009

[MBragg8]

Jim, I've got to agree with the ice to cool that livewell down. Maybe we just do things different here in East Tennessee...

Id just like to be able to add fish to the livewell to begin with!!

[Jim285pro]

I guess so. They probably dont like Tennessee football either. They probably gator fans

[21XDC]

I do think ice may help some if your just keeping the water slightly cooler, But I think too much emphasis is being put on ice and chemicals.

I think keeping fresh lake water on the fish all day is more important..

I don't watch or follow any sport teams, I'm sort of one dimentional I guess.

BTW... Bass live in Florida ditchs...