Could this setup be used in a boats Live Well?

Yes with an air stone. But it won't cool the water.

I looked up one of these rigs on ebay for the heck of it...$350-400...No thanx My 02 setup costs way less than that!! My O2 setup doesn't cool water either btw. I just change out the water now and then

I thought seriously about adding oxygen then decided I did not want to risk a flash fire. I don't know how it could happen in a bait tank but if it can it would happen to me.

All you need is air. Scuba tank?

for a cheap alternative, and an easy hook-up if your bait tank is equipped with an Oxygen infuser pump (keepalive) is the Oxygen (control valve) and the convenient Oxygen bottles available at any hardware store (less than $10).
The pump normally "Atomizes" outsize air into your bait tank. and quickly dissolves in the water. so there no need for an air stone that wastes O2 and allows the Oxgen/air to bumble up to the surface and waste into the outside air (which can be a hazard if a flame is in the area- just makes things burn faster).

I found the control valve in a kit with MAPP gas (Bernomatic Cutting, Welding, and Brazing Torch Kit (WK5500OX) from ACE Hardware ($60) ). Remove the control valve, and hook it up to the hose running to your Keepalive Oxgen infuser pump.

Then freeze salt (non-iodized salt is what I prefer) water in a 2 liter bottle, and drop those into the bait tank (if you are not going to change out the water) to keep it cool. However the temperatures are now cool enough that I'm able to keep shad alive (still adding shad saver to the bait tank) without the need for exchanging water, or adding ice bottles (as long as I don't over crowd with larger gizzards).


[img:left]http://s115.photobucket.com/user/michaelastewart/media/KeepAlivepumpwithO2.jpg.html?sort=3&o=25[/img]

Oxygen in the water is all that most people think about, well maybe cooling the water also. Your aerators in the live well should provide adequate oxygenated water unless it is over filled with fish. You need to be concerned about ammonia. Cramming several fish in a small area, add the stress and the ammonia can build up quickly. Need to cycle clean water in throughout the day or add a chemical that will remove the ammonia.

Most of those waste products occur shortly after you net the bait.

You can significantly decrease the amount released into your bait tank, by first emptying your net into a bucket of fresh lake water. After a few minutes, hand-net the bait ( 4 or less at a time) out of the bucket, and empty into your bait tank.

You can greatly decrease the amount of waste, and injury to your bait, if you drop a bucket (rope handle wash tube with a swim-noddle under the lip so it will float works great for this) down into the lake, and instead of lifting your castnet of bait out of the water, work them into the bucket and open the net (with bait under water in the bucket). Wait a few minutes, and hand-net the bait out of the bucket into your bait tank.
It's surprising how much longer Ballyhoo (marine) or threadfin shad (freshwater) and other fragile bait fish last when I do this. I can't control how much bait I'm going to load into the net when I retrieve it, but this keeps them from being treated like a bunch of pebbles in a rock tumbler (brushing up against each other, removing scales, slime and causing injury/damage).