How To Make A Bait Tank From A Freezer

In this video I show you how to turn an old freezer into a bait tank. A freezer makes a great bait tank because it is insulated and will help to keep the water temperature cool in the warmer months. You can also use an aquarium heater to warm the water in the winter time if you need to.
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[@MNoutdoors100]

Amazing idea! I just made one earlier today and already have it loaded with creek chubs for bait

[@MrBogeyone]

I have a suggestion for you. In the feed stores they have a livestock watering valve. It mounts on the big galvanized water troughs. if you mounted on on your set up there, you would know your tank is staying at a certain level unless the water supply failed. I am going to try some of this but intend to build my own filter system and fill valve. Love the idea though. Thanks a bunch! Now to trap bait in our pond LOL.

[@jasejjohnson5386]

Been using the breathing machine as an aerator for years.glad to see someone else using one though.and yes they work great

[@cyndifrisby5933]

I love the idea of using an old deep freezer. Genius man genius.

[@lonermacias4153]

I finally found an old deep freezer to work on mine just need to find the other components. I just picked up fishing and we share the same River I'm in Texas near eagle pass. And still trying to find where the fish are at. Learning from you and a couple of other fishermen.

[@johnmills925]

Great idea Kris. An old chest type freezer does make a great bait tank for keeping minnows alive between fishing trips. Most of these freezers will have an adjustable temp control to optimize the water for the minnows or other bait fish that you may be keeping.

[@bigmacsmalegmailcom]

Good point about using the freezer to cool the water if it didn't get it Too Cold.

[@greatwhitenorth6228]

john mills yeah but is his even plugged in? and even at the lowers setting what would the temperature be? he'd have talked about temps if it was actually plugged in. would be cool haha literally cool if it could replace an expensive chiller

[@SouthWestIron]

What an awesome idea! So many projects so little time. Thanks again Kris.

[@parrotbill]

Great Bait Tank idea! That pond filter was designed to put at the surface of the water, you will get 10 times more aeration with the fountain spraying water up into the air. So I would put it in the middle of your tank so it doesn't spray out of the tank, and you can put it a little lower in the water to adjust how high it sprays. It works the same as a water fall bringing twice the air to your tank with constant splashing. If it were me, I would inject as much air in the water as I could, so I could hold more bait without stressing them out. But that's me. Oh yea...those are Bio Beads in a bag, they grow Bio Microbes to feed on and help break down the fish poop, so when you wash them out with a hose, you wash the microbes away and it has to start growing over. Just dunk it in clean rain water (not chlorinated city water) to clean the loose crap out, but don't spray wash and tumble in your hand under the hose. I use to work in the saltwater tropical fish trade and we had to have very elaborate filters you don't need in freshwater.

[@shortnanxious6088]

Oh you are a brilliant Aquarist. ... Love your ideas and setup

[@thomasrutherford239]

Awesome video. I’m setting up one as soon as I find a freezer. Great videos and ideas. I really appreciate them.

[@zachdoestech8989]

I love watching your videos! Keep up the good work!

[@melvinnewcomb8455]

got it,Mark! Thanks for taking time to answer.

[@markduffield9872]

Great idea, great video! Thanks Kris!!

[@JorgeRamirez-tp7kv]

Great video kris ! I love watching your videos

[@Juanelo1946]

Kris, your baitfish are huge! I enjoyed the underwater views. This is an ideal setup you made for yourself. The aerator is obviously very powerful. Great job my friend!

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

Juanelo1946 Thank you! You'll be having a cameo appearance in my next video! Haha

[@subs3964]

@@muddyrivercatfishing how big is your tank

[@Dritydom619]

Thx hop u are having a good sunday

[@SmokeumPeacepipe]

just a tip here, dont wash that mesh sack of ceramic bead things with hose water! the ceramic is home to colonies of bacteria that help break down the waste chemicals from the fish like you talked about, and when you wash it with the hose or tap water, the trace amounts of chlorine in that water kill all the beneficial bacteria and this throws off the nitrogen cycle in your tank, potentially harming your fish. some say it is best to rinse just the filter pad off in a bucket of water from the tank, and just leave the ceramic alone.

[@BassSniperTV]

what if you have well water?

[@bigmacsmalegmailcom]

BassSniperTV In my opinion, great! Much better than chemicaled up city water that would kill several fish with every water change. So I started getting water from a friend who had a well. No dead fish. Got a Pure™ brand water filter for my crappy city water. No dead fish!

[@TheBSideDJ]

well water is OK, but the principle stays : never clean the whole filter to keep a decent amount of benificial bacteria in the filter .... No bacteria means no breaking down of toxic ammonia.. simple.

[@michaelh7429]

Have one too....same pump..lol....works great....keep you lines tight

[@rickkania8398]

Thanks for the vid, that's great idea, I will try that myself.

[@milkyxring82]

Hey thanks for the idea im gonna put it to good use

[@uglyfrog7263]

ParrotBill, good comments. Muddyriver, another great video, keep them coming.

[@juliansilva7213]

Awesome video!

[@brianevans3387]

Terrific! Great footage!!!)

[@dieseldoctor2221]

Really cool project if you use alot of cut bait thanks kris keep those videos coming.Hey reall enjoyed the video where you made the big cat fish raft lol!!!

[@sfcsfc4518]

Lol! that's cool! first time i seen that! good idea

[@stepheno.2730]

Sweet set up brother👍

[@jermiejoelhernandez7465]

Love the videos you post

[@michaeljohnston777]

Love it!!

[@brianhinkle635]

Hey just wanna tell you I like your videos. And if I may make a suggestion, I and I'm sure many other people would love to see Muddy River get together with Cats & Carp and Steve Douglas to do a video. That'd be awesome!!!!!!!!

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

Thank you! We're working on it, but it's pretty tough to organize. Hopefully soon!

[@summitsledhead2000]

nice vid man ...good info thx. keep up the good work

[@jeffyoung2089]

Great information!

[@Firstmajortomlikestoticker]

Great job

[@samtaylor8368]

That's cool I have a bait tank to but it's only about 30 gallons it's nice having fresh bait

[@terryhancock]

I like watching this

[@djdave011]

You Da Man, Thank You

[@kimrippey1361]

good idea

[@thelitlifeofethan1048]

yo i watch your channel alot nice vid bro

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

thanks!

[@southernfryedyankee]

Hey man, LOVE your vids. I too have a chest freezer but how do you combat rust on the inside?

[@jeffery19677]

Great video! I was looking for a way to raise catfish fry in my backyard prior to putting them back in my pond. I think this would work great for that, too. Have you ever considered wild harvesting catfish fry and stocking a farm pond?

[@bankpolefever]

Kris is this a farely easy setup. I have 2 50gal aerators , my freezer is half the size though. How much is the pond thing you have in there

[@Fishing-Kayak]

I usually just buy two cheeseburgers from a gas station and throw one in a cheap Chinese trap , and pull it out after I get d ok me eating and getting my kayak all ready. I usually have enough bait to cover the few hours

[@greatwhitenorth6228]

I jumped around a little do you keep the freezer plugged in? nice under water action shots 👍🏼

[@rifleman1873]

Good idea

[@kevingreene8034]

Nebulizer good idea ima use that this spring

[@dalegreenleegreenlee8085]

Cool a good way to fish with out paying nothing for bate

[@montyrackley612]

Are you raising minnows or just keeping those bought alive until use?

[@danielgonzales7324]

Gonzo 46 Hola Kris, really enjoy your videos and great info. 2 questions: how have you kept the inside from rusting? what is the flow volume of the aereator/filter? Thank you

[@ianviator6556]

PReety cool

[@Cole-ic9ss]

Pretty sweet dude

[@miltonthacker1586]

Got a quick ? On the bait tank do u keep the freezer plugged in and the temp down to cool it in the summer time weather?

[@Stating_the_obvious69]

Did you fill it with water from your hose? Or from the lake? Did you use a starter for the tank or just throw them in?

[@mrcrackernuts]

I have a non working deep freeze I plan on making a bait tank. It's the same size as yours. Do you use any kind of water treatment chemicals in your tank like better-bait? Also, do you set your deep freezer temperature to a cold setting. My compressor is out on my freezer and does not cool. I'm going to keep it under a covered lean to on my shed but I am in the south US so it gets really hot here.

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

mrcrackernuts I don't have mine plugged in and it stays cool even when it's 104 degrees outside. As far as chemical treatments, I don't use any. I just make sure to let the water sit in the freezer overnight so the chemicals in the water dissipate and the water temperature acclimates so the fish don't go into shock

[@ZWATER1]

Ty

[@WanjiJibei]

just a suggestion, don't rinse the biomedia (white filter stuff) in tap water (unless you run on well water). the biomedia holds bacteria that can help stabilize/control the nitrogen cycle. local tap water contains chlorine that can hurt the fish and kill the bacteria. just looking out for u man :)

[@WanjiJibei]

+Tony Wang (iAquariums) u can clean the sponge in old fish water after a water change

[@ryanjofre]

A good ole old school canister filter would be perfect for these tanks.

[@WanjiJibei]

true

[@ryanjofre]

I have a new ole Red Sea Merlin Plus 60 sitting in my room. I was gonna use it for a bio-ball reactor in my nano reef. This is what it was invented for.....high volume nitrite/nitrate cycle......with the quartz media they originally designed it for this really rock a high waste volume freshwater Live bait tank. It takes a while to truly build up de-nitrfying bacteria population but their are things to speed that up as you surely know.

[@kdigiacomo]

Tony Wang **We never clean the bio media ever, the darker it is the better it is. When it turns dark that's a good thing. Only need to rinse/ wash the filter off only with tank water, obviously never with tap water.

[@tracealvarez3605]

Make a video about the poles that you use and the best brand that you think works best for bigger fish

[@walleyeheadztackle5415]

With the freezer working and the water staying cold does this work? I had issues with mine clogging

[@marksharrar108]

If I could ask a couple of questions, Do You need to have two aerator's? What do you use for conditioner for your water? My water is city water and I would need to condition it for the bait fish to live. Thank you and I enjoy your video's very much

[@ericvanauken1704]

Will it work if you just use the pond aerator?

[@sam111880]

Nice video , I am curious thinking about doing a fish tank out of a 20 gallon plastic container bin. My cellar is usually always around 50 to 70 deg give or take some deg year around. So wondering the size of the aerator and filter you recommend in your opinion. Just brainstorming so any opinions would be cool. Not wanting to do alot just bred a few types of fish for fishing at this point or away to save shiners to

[@sam111880]

Do you ever need a chiller or additional equipment being in a warmer climate it looks like. Or does the insulated freezer chest work alone most of the times. I image you need more then just the correct food, aerator/ filter to keep temp exceptable but whatever your doing looks good , fish look big / growing well

[@Tr1Hard777]

idk if you care about the nitrates but if you clean the filter to much you will have to start over but that's mainly for fish you want to keep health not feeders for the most part

[@jamesfarmer5257]

Yeah pump off a pool works very well

[@rayandcindycozad1836]

id like to know what temp do u put it on i have used a freeezer before thank u great ideals

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

+ray and cindy Cozad I don't have it plugged in. The insulation in the walls of the freezer seem to keep the water at a good temeprature

[@ssearl3231]

Carp are beautiful fish

[@benjaminjackson2026]

Have you tried it with minnows yet? I have 2 pounds of minnows in a 100 gallon water tank. How long is the little hose to the flower

[@timyeager1433]

Nice

[@JohnFichtner]

What about the water temperature? I'm trying to figure out how to keep my water at about 55 degrees.

[@backyardburnouts8846]

Turn the fridge on 😂

[@fernandoc3444]

Why dont you have a million subscribers yet

[@calvinmire4047]

Do u use carp for catfish bait and is it any good pray all is good God bless u and family

[@PopPopJoe]

My bait tank is also outside. I am starting to get algae in the tote. Any idea on how to control this issue?? Tank is in the sun 1/2 the day.

[@lonniehollifield8629]

Thats a good idea,Wonder if if were to get hot if you could start the freezer?

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

Lonnie Hollifield I have heard of people doing it, but I haven't had to. It gets up to about 105 degrees here in the summer and the water still stays cool. those freezers are well insulated

[@walleyeheadztackle5415]

Good setup. How often does the filter need to be cleaned? Or replaced and does lowes sell the replacement filters how much do they run

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

+Walleyeheadz Tackle I clean the filter depending on how many fish are in the tank. If it's really full, then probably once a week. Right now my tank is half full and I'm cleaning it every 3 weeks. I couldn't find a replacement filter at lowe's and I'm still using the original one. I just spray it off with the hose and it's good to go.

[@kathystrong9247]

muddyrivercatfishing

[@stevenritz492]

Do you have the freezer plugged in?

[@HighTailOutdoors]

black is for your media fish need that. rinse but don't scrub it. the white ceramic looking stuff is what filters your water you can also make your own with lava rock

[@724riff]

excellent setup ,,,,,, a few questions though . were in the hell did you get those small ass carp they look ideal for my intercoastal fishing in fl , and do you maintain the PH level and temperature somehow ? I wanna try that for mullet and finger mullet pinfish whiting and such that would be idea

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

We have a ton of those small carp here in our rivers. Our main river system is the Rio Grande river and it only flows several months out of the year. While the river is flowing, I look for them in inlets, or irrigation canals. Once the water is shut off, the river starts to dry up and you can catch them in deeper holes where they are trapped since there is no longer any water flowing through the river.

[@PopPopJoe]

did you have to seal up the seams inside the freezer to prevent leaks??

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

No, it held water as is

[@scotthall1923]

do you ever clean the sides of all the allege? when I ran typical fish aquariums I would often have to use a scraper and scrap all the allege off the sides. I just rigged a green scotch Brite pad to a pole and scrapped the sides clean. do you clean your sides at all?

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

+Scott Hall yes, I use a sponge and it wipes off fairly easy.

[@paulcoulter7181]

How is the freezer holding up?

[@HawkEye-cm5wb]

I'm wondering if I can make something like this for shrimp and finger mullet, with a divider in the middle, that way I always have a good amount of bait on hand.

[@buckmaster9849]

hawkeye93ify that would be handy

[@chrism651]

can you use saltwater or fresh water?

[@johnbushong8267]

What water do you use for your livewell? Is it just from the hose or do you treat your water?

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

John Bushong just from the hose but be sure to let it sit over night so the chlorine can dissipate

[@maaforever]

great idea but I have a question how you get the water out to clean the freezer ...you try to make a whole in the down of freezer with switch to get the water out? ...

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

maaforever I just syphon the water out. When I get around to it, I'll add a valve on the bottom so that I can attach a water hose and drain the water into the garden

[@tanisalawson]

you could use pennies to help keep the water clean but it might work it is worth a try because most people let pennies lay around there house.

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

Tanisa Lawson kind of like a bait tank piggy bank! Cool!

[@SuperFourwinns]

Really some great ideas. Good video!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@grantwebb2516]

How often do you feed them

[@chandlerchapman8157]

What are those carp used for?? I'm thinking of starting one but don't know what fish I should get?

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

Chandler Chapman carp make excellent catfish bait whether they're alive or cut into fresh chunks.

[@GrumpyOldFart81]

Mine has a freezer drain plug in the front right bottom you could put a water valve there so you don't have to pump your water out and also won't raise your electric bill unless your dady maga bucks

[@patrickunderwood7615]

Is the pond aerator too big for minnows?

[@Springervillian]

you turn on your freezer on to keep them cool

[@ReptileRob]

What kind of pond aerator is that?

[@matthighlifeful]

Would be cool to change the thermostat on the freezer to actually maintain a nice constant cool temp without freezing

[@davidwinsett8433]

Just a couple of questions. 1) where do you get your stock at? 2) Rough guesstimate on how many fish per freezer do you normally keep?

[@alexleinen3115]

I myself hit small creeks, ponds, but I prefer to use a net snd get bait from where I'm fishing.. be sure to check state laws first

[@1412497129489rr]

i dont think the fountain filter is suppose to be submerged possibly I mean it is a fountain and it doesn't make any bubbles when its under and does when its a fountain. and it keeps backing up and getting dirty super fast. not having the lilly pad floating might be wrong to.

[@tarafauna4088]

hey buddy the bag with ceramic tubes are to be clean with tank water

[@thecatdaddyexperience1222]

Yo how do you know of that pumps sucking in water or what? You can’t adjust the flow on it

[@melvinnewcomb8455]

Why do you need the bubbler if the pond filter has aerator in it?

[@sam111880]

Ever try to raise anything other then fish like shrimp , lobster , shellfish , or crab in that thing or do you stick to just fresh water

[@derekwolford3948]

Are you able to keep those fish alive year round, even in the hottest days of summer?

[@coreygrim]

I'm sure it's been talked about but how often do you change the water in the freezer? I have the same set up as you and was just wondering how often I should change the water.

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

once it starts getting a little too cloudy, I'll change out 3/4 of the water. If you stay on top of keeping the filter clean you shouldn't have to change the water too often.

[@coreygrim]

+muddyrivercatfishing thank you.

[@johnnyappleseed1023]

Can u just use any water to fill it or does it need to be filtered

[@muddyrivercatfishing]

Johnny Appleseed I use water from the hose but it needs to sit at least 24 hours before you use it or you can buy additives at a pet store to remove the chlorine

[@scottmctaggart7070]

What's the minnow type ,shiners