What makes a good kill tank?

[wethooters]

No, no ice needed, I'm from Victoria...

It was fitted during construction and if was doing again I'd insulate it.

Nick, I found my kill tank stayed cooler after I glued the closed cell foam under the lid. Buy a yoga mat from the rubber stores and cut to fit between the lid frames. Works a treat.

Cheers

[nickg]

Good idea hooters! Cheers

[Mr__Bean]

Mine is the same as NickG's, maybe a bit bigger (hard to tell from his photo).

I have tried using an ice slurry in it, but to no avail. Being made from aluminium it is one of the best metals for temperature conductivity and the ice melts far too quickly for it to have been of any real use.

Even tried big blocks of ice but these soon melted away also.

If you do put one in, make sure you use the really big diameter bung and decent diameter pipework other wise you will have trouble with big scales blocking up your plumbing.

Only other recommendation is to use a flush fitting handle if it is in an area of your floor that you frequent, and make sure it opens towards an area on the floor in which you land the fish. After removing the hook it is just a matter of slipping it into the tank with your foot and getting the next bait down again.

If you are going to fit a gas strut then make sure you use stainless fitings, my cad plated ones only lasted one season.

- Darren

[dnej]

Darren,
Do the fish keep well in the salt water type tank,or would you have preferred to go ice slurry,if you had a choice.
How do you hook up the plumbing.Sorry to be a pain
David

[davez104]

Ice slurry would have to be the go, the pro's do it that way with fish destined for market, so your gonna need something insulated.

Dave.

[-spiro-]

Mr Bean you got a pic of yours? and diameter size?
Chris

[dnej]

Gees Chris,I hope you are talking about a kill tank.
The mind boggles
David


Mr Bean you got a pic of yours? and diameter size?
Chris

[Mr__Bean]

Sorry guys no pics, battery flat in camera.

But here are the details:

1000 long by 600 wide and 450 deep to the bottom of the well.

I has a large 38mm bung like this that has the body mounted backwards so it fits flush onto the side of the tank.



Behind that is a 25mm (inside diameter) aluminium pipe welded in that goes straight out through the transom.

The tank can be filled by putting your hand in and unscrewing the bung and it can be drained by moving off with the bung out.

Mine is a West Australian boat and over there these are mainly used to store live crayfish as they are brought into the boat. For me it is an initial holding tank until the fish has settled a bit and is then gutted, rinsed off and despatched to the esky in a clean state.

I don't use it to try and keep them live as it has no recirculating water and as mentioned earlier I have had no success trying to use it for a slurry. But when not full of fish it is somewhere to store your buckets of thawing bait and burly etc (all the stinky stuff).

Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

- Darren

[dnej]

Darren,
Thanks.So if you didnt replace the bung,it would overflow,yes?
David

[pilchardjones]

david,
my kill tank is same as nickg and mr bean's and it really works a treat. but i would not leave fish long term in it. when we get a fish we bleed it and throw it into the water in the kill tank. after about 20 mins or so we just get all the fish out and put them into an esky. this way your esky stays fairly clean.
the lid of the kill tank is fitted with a spring to hold it open and you just kink the spring to let it close.
this was built into the boat at the time of boat construction.
the kill tank is the one at the top of the photo below.
steve

[pilchardjones]

2

[dnej]

Boy,
Didnt we cover some ground on this one, and ended up with some great info which will benefit everyone. Thanks guys
David

[Mr__Bean]

David,

My floor is about 4-5 inches above waterline when at rest so it doesn't overflow.

It will spill a bit if it is full and travelling through rough water though.

- Darren

[Jitlands]

I hear that down in South Aust they use old 44 gallon drums for thier killin???

[-spiro-]

As stated this has turned up to be a good thread. So thanks for all the info.