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FoldCatOne · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:36 pm Post subject: Oxygen For Keeping Bait Alive

I was given a refillable 20 Cubic Foot oxygen bottle with the valve and associated welding gauges still attached. Is there a SAFE way to attach a piece of rubber hose to the gauge nipple and run it to a high capacity bubble stone so that I could aerate a 10 gallon water cooler (10 gallon coolers now available from Home Depot $39) and really keep shrimp/bait fish ALIVE. I would imagine the valves would only have to be merely cracked open with 1-2 pounds of pressure going through the hose and stone. With the bottle just cracked, the O2 should last a good long time. I wonder how long it would take to empty the bttle. Maybe just run it every once in awhile to refresh the dissolved oxygen in the water.

robul · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Posts: 2677

yes.. use a point four stone.. $$ but the best..

FoldCatOne · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:06 pm Post subject:

What is a Point Four Stone and where would I get one - BASSPRO???

Drake · Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 4:53 pm Post subject: 4pt stone

Texas Trolling Motor had them a week or two ago.

2salty4U · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 10:57 am Post subject:

Ditto on the Point Four oxygen diffuser. But it won't do much good unless you have the right oxygen regulator. I use a pediatric regulator, which can be set anywhere from 4 litres per minute down to 1/32 litre per minute. There are 28 litres in a cubic foot of oxygen. You'd have 560 litres in a 20 c.f. tank. If your regulator is set at 1 LPM, your tank would last about 9 hours. (560/60 = 9.3). If your regulator is set at 1/32 LPM, it would take 32 minutes to use one litre of oxygen. Multiply that time the number of litres and divide by 60, and you have the number of hours your tank will last (32 x 560 = 17,920 / 60 = 298 hours).

Best to check the LPM settings on the guages that came with your tank. There's a big difference in how long your oxygen will last.

Also, temperature and depth both affect how much oxygen can go into solution. If you use a 10 gallon drink cooler, that increases the depth of the water you are oxygenating. So, the 10 gallon drink cooler is a good choice (because of its depth and the fact that it has no corners) If you cool the bait water with a plastic bottle of frozen water, that will also increase the amount of oxygen that can be absorbed into solution.

frayed · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:00 pm Post subject:

I have a question for you fellas. I have the O2 tank and stone from South Tex Trolling Motors. Works fine, and have never needed to come off the lowest setting, which I think is 1/32. Makes your bait perky and keeps shrimp from dying off. Tanks lasts a long time.

Others have said that the real key is the stone, as it makes really tiny bubbles that effectively aerate the water.

Couldn't one just use compressed air with the stone and turn up the regulator a couple of notches to compensate for the reduced oxygen levels in air relative to industrial oxygen? Or heck, a pump with the stone?
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Capt Mike Singleterry · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 2728

Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 3974

Capt Mike Singleterry · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 2728

frayed · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:21 pm Post subject:

Naw, just wondering aloud if O2 is necessary. In the big scheme of things (cost of bait, fuel, insurance, boat, time away, etc etc) an o2 refill is peanuts. But I was thinking that if you ran out of 02 you could just hook up one of those cheap pumps and use air (20% oxygen v 90% or whatever for compressed o2).
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Capt Mike Singleterry · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 07 Mar 2006 Posts: 2728

delliott00 · Posted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 4:10 pm Post subject:

I got one of these:

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/4113/Aquatic-Eco-Systems-Air-Diffusers-Flat-Ceramic

Also got a medical O2 regulator for pediatric use (which allows you to dial it way down) on ebay for ~$25 I think.... And some tubing and a small brass thru-hull to plumb into my livewell.

But I still need to get a small medical O2 bottle. Robul helped me find all the other stuff, I should be set for ~$100 all-in once I get a small tank....

Hey Robbie you find any good deals on ebay o2 tanks lately? I got sidetracked and never did pull the trigger on any....

-Dave

texmike · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:55 am Post subject:

porkfetus wrote:

you sure could. I have two scuba tanks that didn't pass the visual that you can use for that very purpose. just don't put more than about, say 1500 lbs in them.

Not to rain on the parade here, but if I understand this right you are carring these in your boat/vehicle, right? If using at home or storage be sure to CHAIN them down. Something to keep in mind. You better lash then down really well. At 1500 psi in them if you knock off the valve at the where it screws into the bottle you will have a rocket on your hands. That's 1500 psi per square inch. Like Mike said use a pump. Much safer. A standard O2 bottle is made of forged armor plate. It will hold 2340 PSI per square inch. I've seen them go off. They go through walls and anything else in their way.
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Rebecca of Sunnybrookfarm · Full Grown Flour Bluffian Joined: 01 May 2008 Posts: 3974

Lost Cajun · Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 11:37 am Post subject: