Uncle Gordy's Bait Tank

[Catfishnut]

Wow nice set up, great work!

Addy,

Thank you very much! Coming from someone with as many posts as you have, I really take your opinion seriously and your compliment makes me feel very good about my project so far.
I am really enjoying this project very much and I am glad that I found this forum. I am learning quite a bit from all of you and I really feel like I identify with you all very well. This is one "hobby" that I have a great passion for, and I see that you all have the same mindset.

Gordy

 

[addy1]

I love your soaker hose aerator.
I have a pondmaster 100 air pump rated for ponds up to 10k gallons, max depth 11.5 feet with an air flow of 9150 cubic inches per min. I have not set it up yet, I got it to help keep a hole in the ice for the winter. I am heading to town tomorrow will see if they still have soaker hose available (they get rid of summer stuff this time of year).

I have well water, but it has dirt and small rocks in it not minerals.

Well your bait tank is set up beautifully, can just imagine what your pond will look like.

 

[Catfishnut]

Every morning when I go out to work on my setup in the driveway, I have some friendly visitors come and inspect what I am doing. I am so used to them that I don't always think about snapping their pix, but it was a bit chilly today and I was just outside to think about the next step in my project when they dropped by, so I asked them if they would mind having their pix taken for this forum. They didn't say no, so here are my friends...

By the way, I could be hammering, running the skil saw or the radio and they just don't seem to mind one bit. There are twelve ladies in this group, and they come everyday in the morning when the sun is just right. Today, there was another group of about the same number over to the west, but they didn't come up close to the house. They are new to the neighborhood.

Gordy

 

[fishin4cars]

That's pretty darn cool! Do they actually let you get that close to them or were you using a lot of zoom on that last pic? I would seriously love to live somewhere that wild turkey's and deer and or other wildlife would just roam through the yard!

 

[HARO]

Larkin; you may want to re-think that!!

 

[Catfishnut]

That's pretty darn cool! Do they actually let you get that close to them or were you using a lot of zoom on that last pic? I would seriously love to live somewhere that wild turkey's and deer and or other wildlife would just roam through the yard!

No zoom here. Actually, they usually come closer. They were a little skiddish today because there have been some deer hunters around making noise. I don't usually approach them with my camera, I just keep on working on my project and they come right up within ten feet. As long as I don't act like I am interested in them too much, they just browse around and eat my seed tops from the grass (I leave the grasses/weeds go to seed for them to enjoy at this time of year). The noise of my skil saw doesn't even phase them. I could even be tossing scraps about and walking from here to there and just doing what I do and they just look at me for a moment and keep on foraging in my yard,

When I started walking towards them to take these pix, they seemed a little nervous. That was out of the ordinary to them, I think. So, they maintained their safe distance. I really did not want to push in on their "bubble", but I wanted some nice pix to share with you all.I think they allowed that ok. You can see what they are from the photos. I think they are getting comfy with me being here at the same time every day, and that helps. Good to maintain a routine.

Gordy

 

[Catfishnut]

View attachment 39128View attachment 39129Larkin; you may want to re-think that!!

Yes, I agree. You don't want to push in on the "bubble" for these gals! Turkeys usually just run away. These might kick your tail! Ha Ha Ha

Gordy

 

[addy1]

How neat we have turkeys, but they tend to stay out in the back field, real skittish.

 

[Catfishnut]

By the way, my avatar picture... That is me standing below the root ball of a large cottonwood tree that came down the river during the last flood here in 2009 and lodged on the sandbar.

Just a neat photo op.

Gordy

 

[Catfishnut]

just the photo

 

[addy1]

Now you need to cut off the stump, drag those roots and stump to your pond, that would make one neat pond decoration.

 

[Catfishnut]

Now you need to cut off the stump, drag those roots and stump to your pond, that would make one neat pond decoration.

Ha ha ha! I will need to build a bigger pond, Addy! This fella is pretty big!

But, wouldn't the fishies just LOVE it? They could hide everywhere in this one!

Can you imagine being out in a boat when this tree whistled past you at 17 mph? If it caught your boat, you would be toast! The whole tree is not even shown in the photo, it was a full length cottonwood tree, 60-75 feet long and WHOLE. Leaves gone mostly of course, due to the river's washing action. The rest of the tree is buried in the sandbar out in front of me.

Gordy

 

[addy1]

Yeah that would be a little scary! in other words get off the water if it is flooding

 

[Catfishnut]

I made some more progress on my setup today. It was nice outside (63°F) so I got the allen wrench out and started assembling the framework for the filter tank housing. I still have quite a bit of work to do on this part of my project, but it is more the tedious little items that I have to contend with now.

The material I am using is extruded aluminum, an industrial fabrication material. The company that manufacturers it calls it "80/20" or "The Industrial Erector Set". If anyone remembers, back in the 50's/60's and into the 70's, they used to sell kits as toys geared towards boys called erector sets. These kits were like LEGOS, but much more realistic and even high-tech. Everything was metal. It was all assembled with metal structures and bolts, nuts and screws and even electrical motors and winches and pulleys and all sorts of fun things. The kit came in a big, red, metal box. As a kid, you could make anything with it!

Now, as an adult, I play with a little bigger and more expensive pieces. These items just fasten together with T-nuts and short bolts and special corner fittings and brackets. You can see some of them in these pix.

The pix attached are just the raw skeleton framework. It will end up being lined with styrofoam panels (4"x4'x8') and have a set of two doors on one long side and some sort of protective outer panels around the rest of it. I am not certain what I will use for paneling, but I want it to be rigid and removable. Maybe just some cheap, vertical panel siding that I would paint. I wanted to steer away from wood products because of the moisture concerns, but if I can get something very inexpensive, then I can afford to replace it if it starts to rot. I was kinda leaning towards the low end plastic or fiber glass shower panels, maybe even with some sort of a design pattern to make it look nice, rather than just painting it. A red brick pattern or maybe an outdoor pattern, like ivy or trees. Hmm? Got to save some play money and go shopping I guess.

Gordy

 

[Catfishnut]

I forgot to add.

The whole framework is 54" x 102" x 72" (4.5' x 8.5' x 6'). It is a little oddly sized so that I could install full 4' x 8' styrofoam panels inside the framing and leave the framing exposed to attach the exterior protective and decorative panels to the framing.

I will be able to fit all the filter barrels, the Zeolite and carbon filter tubes, my aerator pump, water pump, lighting, heaters if needed, and temperature controls and an electrical control box with a PLC if I decide to get that elaborate.

Gordy