DIY Bait Tank & bucket filter - live bait for Catfish

I have a new routine for gathering live bait for Catfishing. I cast net a couple places on the way home and dump the fish in my bait tank for the weekend on the river. I made this bait tank and bucket filter for less than $200. Now I have bait whenever I need it. Hope this video helps other folks out that want to make one of these. I should have made one years ago.

1.) filtering before the pump is always best I've learned... after the pump is usually no bueno But it depends on the setup
2.) having only one suction at the bottom can end up causing lots of problems
& 3.) you might wanna put a lid on it... lol!

As someone who keeps an aquarium, you might want to add Aqua Clear ammonia remover and charcoal to polish the water.

Thanks for the tip! I’ve done a lot of research on this, and it looks like it can take at least a month to cycle this. I think your idea may speed this up. Do you have a product in mind? BTW.... there’s going to be a large turn over in this tank. I only need fish to last 2 or 3 weeks at the most. I cast net for bait almost every night, and fish them all every weekend

1). Please explain why
2) what problems?
3) it’s got a lid... lol.

1. If using shad your filters will get nasty in a hurry. Having a filter before the pump is easy to clean.
2. It will clog.


I use LOTS of shad. My first thought was nice tank. And then second thought was it would be hard to clean and filter would get too clogged/too fast.

For perch and other non-shad bait it may be fine. IMO you will at least need a wire filter before the pump.