hl&sinker wrote:

This is for transporting bulk minnows, correct?
Adding Oxygen helps but for me its about the water temp and the container. Container should have no corners or flat sides and darkness helps keeping shiners from spooking. Water less than 55 degrees holds more oxygen and slows the minnows metabolism so the minnow dose not create waste that creates a toxic level of ammonia. Though there is the extra step of aclimating the cold water minnows to the bait tank.

Yes, transporting live minnows or any kind of live fish. Water quality, minimal safe dissolved oxygen – Not being argumentative or obnoxious by any means, but you might want to rethink the vital importance of insuring a constant supply of oxygen for live fish transport. I searched Google and found this for you.

Transportation of Warmwater Fish Equipment and Guidelines
Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, SRAC Publication # 390

Water quality is an important factor to manage while fish are crowded and stressed in hauling.

The major parameters that limit the loading density of fish are adequate oxygen levels and buildup
of toxic waste products such as ammonia and carbon dioxide.

[Less major parameters, but important parameters are] Temperature, pH, loading density and trip duration affect the severity of these problems.

Visit:
[PDF]Transportation of Warmwater Fish: Equipment and Guidelines
http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/aquaculture/pdf/390fs.pdf
1. Cached
by GL Jensen – ‎1990 – ‎Cited by 4 – ‎Related articles
Poor water quality, overcrowding and improper tempering cause serious fish los- ses. The ultimate goal is to pro- vide healthy fish that survive after stocking.

You might look at the importance of oxygen like this… How many minutes can you survive without a continuous supply of oxygen.

The vital importance of oxygen is clear whether you’re a man, a catfish, shad or minnow. The shape and color of the live transport box is less important than water quality inside the box.

I watched Breaking Bad series on Netflix a while back, all of it.

Jesse, the dope head kid is a real mess. Clearly Walt has a special interest in Jesse.

My favorite is Saul Goodman the lawyer, “Call Saul” has a jingle to it. Saul is a real opportunist, like an ambulance chaser on TV advertisements, but Saul specializes in the underworld culture. He is always so optimistic.

Tuco, the psychopathic Mexican, he’s special too.

And, “The 2 Cousins” from South America run a close 2nd after Tuco in the anti-social, psychopathic cast of characters albeit they are mutes.

Walt, he’s cool, he knows his chemistry and deals with pressure well.

Hank just loves is DEA job and his gun, he’s a pro.

Hank accepts his fate kneeling in the desert like a real man, no crying, no whining, no pleading and no begging for mercy, he knows the routine… 1 head shot, 1 kill.

I liked the “House of Cards” too. It was low energy fiction compared to the real time political drama unfolding daily 24/7 on the TV news for the last year, and will get even more exciting in the next few months before the elections November 2016. The run for the White House 2016… but this political drama is not fiction, it’s really exciting hour by hour, day by day and the winner shall absolutely rule “we the people” and the world beginning January 22, 2017.

c_w wrote:

So your saying this whole post has been a fraud??

You never lost a fish using a Oxygenator?

You never lost the winning bass in a massive tournament bag?

Your whole point of this was to lie and repost some third party research on a product that you have never used?

I hope the moderators take care of you and your spam. This is the same stuff you posted last year. What is your underlying motive here?

Some folks are not in tune with fishery science and deny thst science. This fishery research can be very intimidating for some fishermen because it doe’s not comply with the sales literature and often scientific material can be way to complicated for some fishermen. Some fishermen do poorly with science and totally reject it. Know what I mean cw? Others with similar mind sets and attitude vehemently reject current fishery science like this too.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

c_w wrote:

Read your first post. Maybe you can’t remember what you cut and pasted but it’s right there. You call out bass boats and your lost winning fish. You said a salesman lied and sold you an Oxygenator? Now you say you didn’t and your actually $100 short on your estimated cost?.?

To be clear, oxygenators were evaluated scientifically by professional fishery biologist working for Texas Parks & Wildlife Depart, Inland Fisheries Division. This research is a 3rd party evaluation of this popular livewell oxygenation product. I can certainly see that this 3rd party scientific published scientific research may easily be considered “calling out” the AquaInnovations livewell oxygen generator.

I can certainly see where this research can be very offensive, a real downer for some bass fishermen and live bait fishermen that bought and used oxygenators. They were simply sold on the fact that the salesmen claim that they generate 100% O2.

And, it is a fact that the electrolysis of water does generate pure 100% O2 and 100% pure hydrogen.

Marketing and salesmanship is the sales magic that catches the fisherman. What the salesman or sales literature does not say is that the oxygenators do not generate enough 100% oxygen to insure minimal safe DO Saturation for a livewell full of bass or bait, especially in the summer.

Like Nancy Pelosi said about ObamaCare a few years ago, trust me, don’t read it, buy it and then we will see if it will works. And many people bought it, tried it and found that ObamaCare is not as it was advertised and is not working at all for them after they bought it. They were not informant buyers and believed the saleswoman.

Here is the TP&WD Inland Fisheries Division testing and research that really busted the electrolysis type livewell oxygenators.

I can see where a less scientific fisherman would call this a “rant” too. AquaInnovations Oxygenator – How Effective is It – by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 2-14-2012 http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/the-oxygenator-how-effective-is-it

Oxygenator salesmen and bass boat dealers will never mention this 3rd party evaluation even when ask directly about this. Try asking, see what the oxygenator salesman says.

TP&WD simply scientifically tested the Aqua Innovations livewell oxygen generator and then published their research findings on the internet, that’s all they did. These fishery experts found that the O2 generator simply did not generate enough oxygen to satisfy the oxygen demand for heavy load of fish and that the generator was basically less efficient that water pumps or air bubblers.

More fish in a livewell consume more oxygen, less fish consume less oxygen. All fishery biologist know this and a few fishermen also know this too.

So I guess you might say the oxygenator was scientifically exposed by a couple of fishery biologist at Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Inland Fishery Division.

People that sell and have bought livewell oxygen generators might call those fishery biologist that tested and published their findings about the Aqua Innovations livewell oxygenators “whistle-blowers on a real rant.”

The fishery facts about the Aqua Innovation oxygenators are certainly not conducive to sales for sure, especially after a potential customer knows the TP&WD side of this equation through unbiased 3rd party scientific testing by State fishery experts.

These biologist could definitely be called whistle-blowers and I guess you could call this a TP&WD research a “rant” after reading their published research.

CW, Presenting fishery science and published scientific facts here is not “calling out” anyone, don’t be confused.

Sure, it all adds up, it’s based of current fishery facts, not fishing product literature designed by salesmen to sell products and daily hatchery live fish trans[port practices, it’s perfectly logical and keeps fish alive and healthy for hours during transports.

It’s all only a click away with a simple Google search. The bew fishery science is not the old old fishermen’s myths about keeping fish alive in boat livewells and bait tanks that we have heard and been told by Popi, Dad, our fishing buddies and the local boat salesmen for years to date. And a bass presented DOA in the Ranger boat livewell with the oxygenator humming perfectly at the 4 PM weigh-in last July.

And you don’t have to be a college educated fishery biologist to grasp the vital importance of insuring minimal safe water quality in any livewell or bait tank every time when you are transporting live tournament bass or live bait fish any time of the year, especially in the summer like right now.

It is vitally import to know and understand what a Livewell really is and the minimal safe water quality requirements for any livewell – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livewell

“A livewell is a box used to transport live aquatic animals; shrimp, baitfish and mature fish, saltwater or freshwater species. A livewell should be made of materials that are non- toxic to aquatic animals. The shape may be square, rectangular, oval or round. The box may be insulated, portable, have a drain and lid. Maintaining minimal safe water quality standards in livewell water is essential and necessary to insure a safe habitat for all the captive animals during transport. When transporting baitfish, shrimp or mature fish, maintaining dissolved oxygen saturation (DO Sat) is the single most important water quality parameter that must be controlled. Livewell oxygen–injection systems and LOX systems insure O2 enriched livewell water. Pure 100% compressed welding oxygen is injected into the water with a precision dose adjustable high-pressure oxygen regulator, oxygen tube and diffuser. Commercial and sport fishing oxygen-injection systems are designed to insure 100% DO Saturation or greater whether the bait or fish load is 1 lb or >1000 lbs. Minimal safe EPA water quality standards for steady state environments (rivers, lakes, ponds, etc.) is 5 ppm DO.

Dissolved oxygen is the single most important factor for keeping bass alive, and an understanding of factors that affect oxygen levels will better enable anglers to keep their fish [aquatic animals] alive. At a moderate water temperature of 70˚F, 100 percent oxygen saturation is 8.8 mg/l of oxygen, whereas at the higher temperature of 80˚F, 100 percent saturation is 7.9 mg/l. Both of these 100 percent saturation oxygen levels are suitable for keeping bass alive. Without injecting oxygen into the livewell, it is very difficult to supply enough oxygen to keep alive heavier tournament limits. Oxygen injection has long been used by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) hatcheries to maintain the health of fish being stocked into reservoirs. Fisheries staff regularly transport or hold fish in ratios equal to or greater than one pound of fish to a gallon of water. However, boat manufactures do not offer oxygen injection system options… Proper installation and operation of an oxygen injection system will ensure oxygen levels remain above the preferred level of 7 mg/l even when livewells contain heavy limits.”
If any livewell [or live bait tank], ice chest or a plastic 5 gallon bait bucket cannot maintain continuous minimal safe water quality for live fish or live bait — it is called a “death well.” Bass and live bait will die or become red-nose and sickly during transport.

A “death well” is common on boats every summer. Death wells often cannot maintain nor insure minimal safe water quality required to keep heavy limits of bass alive during transport in the summer. The proof is mortality at the weigh-in, gills flared and no gill movement and the dreaded “dead fish punishment.”

You have totally missed the point. It makes absolutely no difference what the box (livewell) is made of, the brand, shape, color or price. What makes the difference is the fisherman transporting the live fish that is operating the well, your ability to maintain minimal safe livewell water quality continuously inside that box loaded with fish for the duration of the transport, 5 hrs, 8 hrs, 24 hrs all day…

Maintaining minimal safe livewell water quality is relatively simple provided you know how to do that. The shiner bait dealers know about the vital importance of water quality because he deals with it every day and his livelihood is dependent on his ability keeping his shiners alive and in excellent health.

He sells live shiners to fishermen every day, puts the live fish in a small plastic bag with a quart of water, fills the gas space inside the bag with a quart of oxygen, seals the bag and the customer transports that bag of live shiners 2 -3 hours or more to his fishing spot miles away and none of those shiners die or even get sickly in that little bag with 1 quart of water in it that the bait dealer provided.

How in the world can a lonely shiner bait dealer make that work so good and keep all those shiners alive and healthy so well for the fisherman every summer? … the shiner dealer is an expert when it comes to water quality in that little plastic bag full of shiners because none of those shiners die or get red-nose or sickly for a 2 -3 hour transport in that little bag of water.

That can be hard if not impossible to understand. How and why that shiner dealer can keep all those shiners alive and healthy for hours for the fisherman in that little bag with a quart of water requires some creative thinking and understanding beyond what the average fisherman understands about the importance of water wuality and the minimal importance of brand of boat livewell or brand and cost of a bait tank.

Creativity – An Overview/Thinking outside the box https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Creativity_-_An_Overview/Thinking_outside_the_box

Are you familiar with the 9 Dots Puzzle? Check it out too – http://www.brainstorming.co.uk/puzzles/ninedotsnj.html

This is a great exercise for developing creative thinking capabilities. It is also a great “bar game.”
J
ust for clarity so there is no misunderstanding… most bass boats have 2 livewells. One 1 ($150) oxygenator in each bass boat livewell are 2 ($150) oxygenators. Two oxygenators for 1 bass boat with 2 livewells actually cost $300… right? Not $200.

I was short $100 on that estimate, that’s all. Thanks for the heads up on the total cost for 2 bass boat oxygenators.

Pretty interesting topic for the fishermen interested in the fishery science and factual approach to live fish transports don’t you think?

And all this live fish transport information is only 1 click away on Google for folks that are interested transporting live bass and live bait fish successfully all day in hot July-August weather.

NO, had 1 daughter that was stillborn years back.

Why do you ask?

No, I’m not a salesman, I’m a consumer. I did a quick click on Google and I did find this… thanks for the tip.

Oxy-Breath probably did not sell well and looks like it may have been rebranded to sell better.

I didn’t know dead Billy Mays, rest his soul. He may not have made any money with Oxy-Breath but, a guy called Billy Bob sure took his idea and ran with it.

Billy Bob did a slick re-do and made this product successful.

The new name is “Boost” and it’s sold at Amazon.com – (2) 22 oz cans of “Boost” only cost $21.99 https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=oxygen+in+a+can&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=7263626647&hvpos=1t2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6209297062374009301&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027802&hvtargid=kwd-91441539&ref=pd_sl_5eyr701kgi_e

Billy Bob simply changed the name of the product, increased the volume of product in each can from 16 oz to 22 oz and reduce the retail price per ounce dramatically.

Billy Bob sells his product mail order through the internet on Amazon… Billy Bob was brilliant, he turned a marginal product into a successful product.

I’m not Billy Bob, I’m AllanM.

Impressive!

Well I thought this thread was kind of strange all along….and now this?
[/quote]
This was actually for Klawitter, he says that his shad are dying is 10 minutes and he can’t keep them alive.

Wallystudent, are your shad dying in 10 minutes too?

In your opinion, what do you really is happening that is killing your shad so quickly in your bait tank?

You probably need a better bait tank, a bigger water pump or maybe a better net or probably just forget trying to keep shad alive if your shad are dying in 10 minutes. That’s hardly worth the effort to even net them. What’s the point of even trying to keep them alive.

I would imagine the shad are probably to sloppy and lethargic to fish 5 minutes after you catch them and as you said they are dead in another 5 minutes. Got to fish those shad fast before they die.

Maybe plastic bait would be the better option for you? Surely a lot less trouble.

I have some friends that, like you, just can’t keep shad alive, period.

c_w… thanks for asking. I appreciate your help and all your suggestions. Sharing knowledge, information and experience is the beauty of fishing forums like this.

New technology and applications can be scary, out of the normal, definitely out of the ordinary and mundane, really bizarre and clearly intimidating to some fishermen.

Who would have ever imagined a fisherman transporting live fish and bait fish his livewell could ever be as successful as any state and federal fish hatcheries or even the lonely shiner dealer that routinely transport live shiners every day. These people are the real experts, they transport live fish every day for a living.

Their fish don’t die, get sickly and never catch a dose of the red-nose disease in their live haul boxes on 2 wheel trailers.

I use 1 homemade insulated livewell, 10 gallon water capacity, 500 gph water pump I drop over the side (only to fill well and a couple partial water exchanges daily, a 5 gallon plastic bucket could replace my pump easily and it cheaper, no battery or electricity necessary), 16’ welded aluminum boat with 40 hp Yamaha. No temp gauge on boat, no need for it. My livewell temperature the same as the environmental water temperature I’m fishing in, absolutely no temperature shock possible.
I do use salt to reduce osmoregulation stress, that’s very important and salt is cheap… 50 lb. bag of salt cost $5. I do like cheap, cheap is great for the fishing budget and cheap salt works great.

I do pay close attention to the relationship of my stocking density and especially my livewell water quality. Stocking density directly affects livewell water quality.

I have learned that the water quality inside the box (livewell) is far more important than the size, shape, brand or cost of the box (livewell) regardless of the stocking density you transport. If you cannot insure just minimal safe livewell water quality the fish or even gizzard shad will always get sick and die, that’s simple enough. Unsafe livewell water quality in any livewell any time of year causes mortal problems for a few fishermen every summer. The question is – what does minimal safe livewell quality really mean to the average guy and how can the average guy make his livewell water quality “safe” all day in the summer if his fish or bait fish are red-nose, sickly and dying?

Biologist transporting live fish (employed by fish hatcheries) know how to insure excellent transport water quality, they are the real experts. How they do that so easy?

I do understand that most fishermen claim they never have any livewell mortality or water quality problems like this in the summer. These are the guys that are successful and really know how to manage water quality. These are the guys that put the live fish in the livewell, they never look in the box all day, they never think about fish dying in their livewell all day during transport. They know their fish are living fine all day.

Now that may not be impressive to most fishermen trying to transport live fish successfully in the summer, it is to me. I love new science and success.

Just love Googling the net. A little time clicking that mouse reveals more real facts and scientific information on this matter.

Boys, I have no ax to grind at all, just passing on factual 3rd party published research based on scientific methodology for what that‘s worth. This is definitely not sales advertisement you may like or dislike, but it is what it is – fishery science facts.

Maybe TP&WD has a bone to pick those fellows, they did the independent research on the oxygenator and they published their factual findings. I did not make this stuff up, it comes directly from Texas Parke & Wildlife Department Inland Fisheries Division scientific research.

Yes, looks like your right on… a real summer livewell problem for some fishermen is dead fish and that problem is predictable every summer.

Yikes, you are equating scientific facts and published fishery science to a “rant”… I am so sorry your having a real bad day. I sure didn’t mean to upset you or hurt your feelings with the science.

TP&WD Inland Fisheries Division and independent tester of some fishing products by educated fishery biologist really shined the light and busted these livewell oxygenators that generate 100% pure oxygen. The biologist simply tested the oxygenator scientifically and published their test results, the true the facts without the slick advertisement and infomercials, that’s all the fishery experts did. Oh what a bitter pill to swallow for some folks that believed the sales pitch and spent the money on it.

The scientific cause of this problem is usually fisherman’s failure to insure minimal safe water quality in his boat livewells all day, but this is normal every summer. This problem is ancient, it’s not cryptic and has been here forever for most fishermen trying unsuccessfully to transport live fish/live bait fish every summer. It’s been a real public relations problem for bass fishing tournaments 40 years. It is not a problem and never has been a problem for any State DNR or Inland fisheries Departments and absolutely does not threaten any bass fishery in the United States.

Have you read this by chance?

Keeping Bass Alive in Hot Weather Tournament anglers encouraged to consider oxygen injection in livewells Texas Parks & Wildlife Inland Fisheries News Release. Media Contact: TPWD News, [email protected], 512-389-8030 June 15, 2011 “Dissolved oxygen is the single most important factor for keeping bass alive,” said Randy Myers, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Inland Fisheries biologist from San Antonio http://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20110615b

“Modern bass boats typically have two ways of maintaining oxygen levels in livewells. One is to continuously exchange water in the livewell with lake water. The other is to mix air with water… Unfortunately for the fish, neither method can maintain sufficient oxygen in the water when the weight of fish in the livewell exceeds one pound of fish for every gallon of water and water temperatures are high…”

Summer livewell hypoxia will kill your fish in your livewell every summer if you cannot or will not make the effort required to insure minimal safe DO Saturation all day in your boat livewell containing a load of tournament fish – that is a scientific fact, not a fisherman’s opinion.

Fishery science trumps advertisement here again, advertisements and infomercials and the old fishing myths that do not work in the summer.

The fishery biologist say that summer livewell mortality problem are 99% caused by the fisherman’s failure to maintain minimal safe water quality all day in his boat livewell containing a full load of live fish, to be more specific, the fisherman’s failure to maintain minimal safe dissolved oxygen saturation in an overstocked livewell … the fishery experts claim the fish killer is not the livewell but the low/no dissolved oxygen in the livewell water.

Chronic sustained hypoxic and slow suffocation in summer aerated livewells that are overstocked with fish is the major cause of summer tournament mortality say the fishery biologist… tournament fishermen call this a heavy winning load of fish.

I chuckle… My tournament fishing buddies all tell me that the real raw meat of this summer livewell problem for them is losing that 1st place tournament money because 1 fish died in their livewell. One dead tournament fish laying on it’s side in the livewell in the afternoon is most disgusting and very disturbing when you open the livewell lid and realize that you have just become a tournament loser in the blink of an eye “because a damn fish died,” Especially after a tournament official has checked and certified your boat livewell as a “functional livewell.” and then you have just lost the 1st place money because your livewell failed to keep all your hard caught fish alive for a little 7-8 hour boat ride… and then you are hit with the “dead fish punishment” at the end of a hard fishing day at the scales.

Another quick Google adventure looking for more real facts:

A “functional livewell” must insure and maintain minimal safe water quality all day for all the fish in your captivity for the duration of the all day transport in you bass boat livewell. If your livewell is not capable of maintaining minimal safe water quality with a load of fish in it… then it is certainly “not functional” at all.

Look, see for yourself…
Livewell – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livewell

Just so we can all compare apples to apples and there is no misunderstanding about what a livewell is and what a livewell must to do when fully loaded with live fish for an all day transport.

What if during a hot summer tournament day your boat livewell water pump and aerator is humming as usual, certified a “functional livewell”, working perfectly all day and fish still died. That summer livewell mortality problem is common to every fishermen that uses livewells and bait tanks to transport live fish and live bait every summer when the water temp hits that magic water temperature – 80F. Summer livewell water quality problems and mortality is normal and predictable bases on 80F environmental water temperature.

This is a non-issue for many fishermen, even PO’s a few fishermen and salesmen to see science like this, yet they will look at it anyway, whine and argue against the fishery science calling the science SPAM and rants.

This is absolutely never problem anytime of the year for plastic bait fishermen and fishermen that do not need or use livewells and bait tanks any time of the year and do not fish C&R tournaments.
Most tournament fish that present dead at the scales die because the boat livewell was really not functional .

A functional livewell can and does insure and maintain safe water quality all day regardless of the stocking densuity. A non functional livewell cannot maintain minimal safe water quality.

Check it out and see: Livewell – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livewell
Clearly the science tells us that as soon as the environmental water temperature falls below 80 F this fall, winter and spring, things livewell survival will improve and get better until next summer comes again.

So, like it or not, there exist a lot of fishery science and scientific base fact on this subject available for anyone to visit for anyone interested and folks that are not interested.

Personally, I’d much rather read the research provided with fishery science facts and publication than the oxygenator sales literature now that I researched, know and understand the difference.

I like the scientific approach and new livewell technology that really works all day, every day, in any livewell, every summer.

iowa_josh wrote:

But they totally make bubbles! What percent of the bubbles are hydrogen? Also if you add salt, doesn’t the whole thing turn toxic?

Nanobubbles – http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/nanobubble.html are not like micro bubbles, macro bubbles and regular bubbles in general. Nano’s are a very different kind of bubble.

When water is broken down into gas molecularly by electrolysis the total gas volume generated is 33.3 % oxygen (non-explosive gas) and 66.6% hydrogen (explosive gas). The oxygen concentration is 100% and the hydrogen concentration is 100%.

A Google search reveals this: You decide between the science and the oxygenator advertisement and infomercials.

GENERATOR – ELECTROLYSIS TYPE

OXYGENATOR™ – OXYGEN GENERATOR – ELECTROLYSIS TYPE

Aqua Innovations Oxygenator™, O2 Marine Technologies, distributed by T-H Marine is an electrolysis device primarily sold and used in freshwater livewells and bait tanks. This small D/C battery operated electrical oxygen system requires (2) AA or 12 volt batteries, some units require daily maintenance after each use, new units are advertised maintenance free.

SCIENTIFIC FACTS: “The Oxygenator-How well does it work?” “How Effective is It?” Tested by Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries Department.
TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers AquaInnovations Oxygenator 2-14-2012 http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/the-oxygenator-how-effective-is-it

When fish and live bait are densely crowded into livewells and bait tanks and excited during capture, handling, transport and captivity; it is absolutely is essential to provide dissolved oxygen (DO) faster than it is consumed by all the fish/bait in the livewell. This is not the normal steady state environment for a wild fish. The traumatic capture (netting, hooking struggling to extreme exhaustion), livewell confinement and hours of transport in livewells with poor water quality conditions. This is an absolute ongoing crisis, continuous fear and high adrenaline production for the captive fish… the worst day in a fish’s life. Then comes the cortisol downer.

*The TP&WD dissolved oxygen test were done with NO fish in the livewell water consuming oxygen. Add 1 fish and the dissolved oxygen level in the livewell water plummets drastically. Add 15-20 lbs. of fish and the oxygenator simply fails to supply a safe amount of pure oxygen to maintain minimal safe live transport DO saturation resulting in high mortality and morbidity – THE DEAD FISH PENALITY.

FACT: Although the Oxygenator does deliver 100% pure oxygen as advertised, it simply does not deliver enough pure oxygen continuously when fish are added to the livewell.

CAUTION: The gas space between a closed livewell lid and the water surface can become enriched with 3 different gases; oxygen, hydrogen, (an explosive gas like acetylene and propane) and pure 100% chlorine gas (an explosive gas) if the electrolyzed livewell water contains any salt or livewell products that contain salt. Incorporate any potential ignition source (electric wires, any live electricity) inside the livewell… EXPLOSION HAZARD / FIRE HAZARD.

Electrolysis breaks down fresh water molecules into pure hydrogen gas (H), pure oxygen gas (O2) plus deadly hydroxyl ions. If the livewell water contains any salt or livewell chemicals that contain salt, chlorine gas is always produced. Chlorine gas bubbles are visualized around the emitter as small greenish-yellow color gas bubbles (seen with back lighting). Hydrogen and oxygen bubbles are colorless.

In freshwater livewells, two thirds (2/3) of the gas bubbles produced at the emitter is pure hydrogen gas (an explosive gas) and only 1/3 of the bubbles you see are pure oxygen. Although the generator may not produce enough oxygen for all the fish or bait in the livewell, the total stocking density; it is designed, advertised and does produce [some] pure 100% oxygen by electrolysis of water. That is the sales point.

Oxygenator™ has no moving parts, makes no noise while older emitters require maintenance with special equipment after each use. Everything dies in the livewell if the oxygen live support system fails to produce or deliver enough oxygen.

Summer conditions and overstocked livewells may exceed the Oxygenator™ capabilities to provide minimum safe DO saturation levels while the unit is working perfectly as advertised.

Water electrolysis produces some pure oxygen and twice as much pure hydrogen; 1:2 ratio respectively. The small volume of pure oxygen it does generate is neither regulated nor controlled by the fisherman. The small volume of oxygen generated is strictly limited, regulated and controlled by a thermometer that measures livewell water temperature.

The actual DO saturation produced with the Oxygenator™ has nothing to do with the DO saturation required to meet and sustain the minimal safe livewell oxygenation for 8-10 hours of intensive transport in overstocked summer livewell conditions.

Reduce disappointments and eliminate any unreal expectations, ask a boat dealer and Oxygenator™ salesman before the purchase – Will the Oxygenator™ provide and ensure minimal safe livewell oxygenation in the summer, keep my live bait and all my tournament fish alive all day?

Livewell oxygen systems must produce, maintain and sustain minimal continuous dissolved oxygen saturations (100% – 175% DO saturation) in a bass boat livewell, tournament weigh-in holding tank, release boat transport tanks containing a heavy limit, many limits of tournament bass (15-30 lbs fish or 400 lbs of live fish) in July/August tournaments all day long.

ELECTRICAL CURRENT may cause physiological and psychological stress impact of transporting live bait and tournament gamefish in water that’s actively being exposed to sustained low electrical current (electrolysis) in water unknown, out of sight and out of mind.

NEGATIVE AFFECTS OF ELECTROLYSIS are well know by fishermen…how electrolysis breaks down metal and electrical components on boats, motors and boat trailers. Why zinc anodes are absolutely necessary to counteract the negative effects of electrolysis.

The hallmark selling point is: “The Oxygenator ™ makes 100% pure oxygen,” Period. But, sellers will never mention if it makes enough oxygen to sustain an overcrowded livewell full of fish or live bait all day in the summer.

Technically the Oxygenator™ does qualify as a livewell oxygen system. The Oxygenator™ costs as much as a livewell water pump or small air compressor, bubble stone and air tube.

If the generator fails to produce and or sustain the minimal safe Dissolved Oxygen Saturation all day for all the catch, your gamefish and bait may die while the generator is making 100% oxygen, operating perfectly as advertised. Like when your mechanical aerator or livewell water pump is working perfectly, humming away while the tournament fish or bait are suffocating and dying as you watch in your summer livewell.

Know the facts and limitations about the Oxygenator™. Expect very limited pure oxygen production and low dissolved oxygen (DO) saturations in livewells full of gamefish and live bait every summer because the oxygen output is controlled and cycled on and off strictly by livewell water temperature. When the unit is new and functioning correctly in late fall, winter, early spring weather, the small volume of 100% oxygen may satisfy the biological oxygen demand for a small fish or a few live baits when environmental water temperature is within 40 F – 65 F.
Failure to generate enough DO is a seasonal problem like aeration, exhibited every summer when the surface water temperature reaches 75 F – 90 F. Like all mechanical aeration and water pumps, you cannot ensure minimal safe livewell DO saturation with air or the Oxygenator™ in heavily stocked livewells. Water pumps only pump water and air pumps only pump air… air and water is not oxygen regardless of how mush air and water you pump in the summer.
The water temperature sensor (the brain of the electrolyzer is a thermometer) cycles the unit on and off intermittently, the amount of oxygen that’s generated is strictly controlled by livewell water temperature not by the oxygen needs of livewells full of fish or live bait.

Add ice to cool the water and the unit cycles less generating less oxygen whether the well contains (1) three pounds of fish, (10} five pounds of fish or (15) fifteen pounds of live baitfish.

Unlike standard professional fish transporters dissolved oxygen standards for transport DO protocols, livewell stocking densities are not a consideration for oxygen production and is of no concern with the Oxygenator™. That major design feature, a real plus to save electricity and battery power, can be absolutely deadly in the summer.

You can not increase the volume of 100% oxygen the unit produces and delivers which exposes an extremely limiting water quality factor like you’ve experienced with mechanical aeration: insufficient safe oxygenation.

DISSOLVED OXYGEN SATURATION RATE: Oxygenator™ literature claims to generate 80% DO saturation in 20 minutes in freshwater livewells, [no fish or bait in livewell water consuming oxygen, livewell stocking density -0-.].

This sounds great, right?
How do you think 80% DO Saturation in 20 minutes with an Oxygenator™ squares with any standard aerator or livewell water pump?

FACT: With no fish or bait in the livewell [livewell stocking density -0-.] and the standard mechanical aerators livewell pump running perfectly, 80% DO saturations or greater are easily reached within several minutes in summer livewell water. Even Mr. and Ms. Bubbles’ air pumps and bubblers can and will achieve 80% DO saturation under the same conditions in a few minutes in livewell water devoid of live bait and fish.

Oxygenator™ is popular with these freshwater boat manufacturers, OEM and by Bass Pro, Cabela’s and other major Big Box Fishing stores.

Triton Boats
Ranger Boats
G3 Boats
Nitro Boats
Champion Boats
Skeeter Boats
Tracker Boats
Stratos Boats
Bass Cat Boats
Crestliner Boats
Legend Boats
Crestliner Boats
Starcraft Marine
Procraft Boats
Weld Pro Aluminum Boats
Yar-Craft Boats
Phoenix Bass Boats
U2 LIVEWELL ADDITIVE

Oxygenator™ U2 instructions boldly state
DO NOT USE THIS DEVICE IN SALTWATER LIVEWELLS OR BAIT TANKS and DO NOT USE SALT OR ANY LIVEWELL CHEMICALS or LIVEWELL WATER CONDITIONERS THAT CONTAIN SALT.

Most livewell additives and chemicals contain salt, electrolytes that aid osmoregulation.

U2 and Salt Water U2 livewell additives are the only additives recommended for safe use with the Oxygenator™ by the manufacture. U2 literature stated the formulation contains essential electrolytes.

“Electrolyte solutions are normally formed when a physiological salt is dissolved into a solvent (water).”

What are the “essential electrolytes in livewell chemicals and formulations? Combinations of primary ions compose physiological electrolytes. Ions of Sodium (Na+), Chloride (Cl−), Potassium (K+), Calcium (Ca2+), magnesium Mg2+), Hydrogen Phosphate (HPO42−), and Hydrogen Carbonate (HCO3−). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrolyte

Before you turn on an Oxygenator™ it is essential that you KNOW beyond any doubt whether the livewell chemical or additive you added to your livewell water contains any salt compounds.

If you are ever in doubt if any livewell additive contains salt, taste it. If you detect a salty taste, the formulation probably contains salt… Don’t turn-on your Oxygenator™.

CAUTION: Many livewell chemical manufacturers claim their fish saver livewell formulations and chemicals consist of “food grade” ingredients and may be used on food fish. Many of these products are clearly not FDA approved for use on food fish for human consumption and should never be used on tournament gamefish that are released alive after the tournament. Tournament catch and release gamefish are used for food fish for many fishermen, their wives and children.

Upon your request, any ethical livewell chemical manufacture should provide a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) or complete list of formulation ingredients upon your request. All the ingredients in the MSDS should be FDA approved for use on food fish for human consumption. It’s a public healthy issue and ethical statement regarding any concern for fellow fishermen and families that may catch and eat that fish you released yesterday after the tournament – The fish that you soaked 7-8 hours in the chemical bath in your livewell.

A FISH HEALTH FACT: Hydrogen gas combines with other elements (metabolic waste) in livewell water forming noxious and very toxic hydrogen sulfide that becomes corrosive when exposed to salt, (hydrogen chloride).

If you find more scientific information published in the net about oxygenators (electrolysis type) please post what you find.

Bass_attack wrote:

Dont hold tournaments in the late summer. Problem solved.

You’re thinking like the B.A.S.S. National Directors, thinking specifically about how they changed the Bass Master’s Classic Tournament… here’s what they did that was a dramatic public relations game changer.

Historically the Bass Master Classic tournament was always held in the Dog Days of Summer the beginning of August every year. B.A.S.S. always had substancial acute and delayed mortality problems every summer generating negative tournament publicity about dead floaters after the tournaments. The Classic tournament went on like this at the hottest time of the year for decades, since the early 1970’s. The tournament bass kill reached a high point and just a few seasons ago the Bass Master Classic made a dramatic move and basically eliminated the summer tournament bass mortality problems associated with the Bass Master Classic. Fish kills had become a major public relations problem for B.A,S,S. especially related to the Classic tournament mortality event held in the Dog Days of Summer.

How did B.A.S.S. reverse this bad summer fish mortality PR image and still have catch and release with live fish presented on the stage for all to see the prize fish?

B.A.S.S. simply changed the date of the Classic event from the hottest Dog Days of Summer the first week of August when the lake water temperature is in the high 80’s F – low 90’s F to the absolute coldest days of winter in late February when the lake water temperature is coldest in the high 30’s F – low 40’s F and the summer tournament bass mortality PR problems were no longer an issue… that all there was to fixing the summer tournament mortality problems.

So, can summer bass tournament mortality really be corrected, dramatically reduced? You bet it can, B.A.S.S. did it for the Bass Master Classic.

There are many different types of bait oxygen systems. Google “types of bait oxygen systems” plenty of good info there.

Are you knowledgeable and familiar with oxygen gas fire safety and high pressure oxygen equipment safety?

Google: “bait oxygen equipment fire safety.” Oxygen is not air, there are real safety issues using oxygen.

Great, and you?

nhamm – Common red-neck vulgarity is unnecessary, are you referring to sphincter ani externus (big word), that flat plane of muscular fibers, elliptical in shape surrounding the margin of the an anus?

Get a grip on your fragile feelings, relax.

mplspug wrote:

Here’s something simple. Not sure how much it would help, if at all, but I’ll throw it out there.
Why are livewells light and not dark or black? White stresses fish out. If used in conjunction with a properly aerated livewells I bet it would help. Fish could be released less stressed after spending several hours in a livewells.
As the saying goes, if it saves just one fish…
Ever notice how fish in fish baskets and cages on docks seem to be very active, healthy and survive longer?

mplspug wrote:

Here’s something simple. Not sure how much it would help, if at all, but I’ll throw it out there.

Why are livewells light and not dark or black? White stresses fish out. If used in conjunction with a properly aerated livewells I bet it would help. Fish could be released less stressed after spending several hours in a livewells.

As the saying goes, if it saves just one fish…

Ever notice how fish in fish baskets and cages on docks seem to be very active, healthy and survive longer?

Well that is certainly simple enough to fix with a can of black or dark purple spray paint.

But, why is the inside of most livewells and the popular bait tanks white inside? Don’t the people that make these livewells and bait tanks know that white is bad and causes unnecessary stress?

Maybe mattgroff should try painting the inside of livewell. Losing the money because of 1 dead fish is so disappointing, especially when it cost you 100/s of dollars and embarrassment because you failed to keep a fish alive.

Great suggestion; we need some volunteers to paint their livewells now, test this hypothesis and report back on their findings during the Dog Days this summer.

Now I am so impressed with your ice chest bait tank I think I may have wet myself. This is a Eureka moment – you have made yourself a real special bait tank, and all those baits live for days and days in that little 48 qt. ice chest… you have made yourself a bait tank that many fishermen wish they could have, a livewell/bait tank that really does keep bait fish alive.

Great idea, great bait tank invention, thanks for sharing your expertise on the forum.

How many minnows are in 1 scoop and how much does 1 scoop of minnows actually weigh?

I’m guessing 1 scoop of minnows may be 20 minnows and weigh 2-3 ounces.

You’ll get over losing the money in short order. When you lose the next tournament because 1 bass died in your livewell again, consider this fact: there are much better ways to manage and insure optimum livewell water quality all day in your boat. The degree/amount of fish care you are willing to provide is always a personal decision, but better livewell technology that insures and guarantees great livewell water quality all day does insure a tournament edge, but that edge is not FREE like air.

Winning the tournament money is the point, the only point and 1 dead fish penalty often insures losing. What’s it worth to provide the best bass care possible and be a winner? You decide.

Interesting thread, great opinions, chatter and banter. Enjoyed the exchange.

Triplea,
Oxygen is probably not a very good option for your bass on your bass boat.

That is certainly 1 way to do it, probably works great in the fall, winter and spring when the water is cool and the ice chest is not overstocked. Do you use any fish chemicals?

TP&WD precisely identifies mattgroff’s low oxygen livewell problem scientifically, and provided a scientific solution that will resolve the problem, “…oxygen injection guarantees against low oxygen causing mortality.”

Choosing to resolve/fix /correct this low oxygen summer livewell problem is yet a completely different matter, the fix is not free like air. You have to buy the oxygen system and the oxygen gas, an oxygen injection does not come with the bass boat like aerators and livewell pumps.

The solution is the type of gas used to oxygenated livewell water – oxygen gas, not air.

All the air in the world will never fix mattgroff’s low oxygen problem. More water pumps and bigger water pumps changing the livewell water 50 times an hour will never fix his low oxygen problem.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/didyouknow/inland/livewells.phtml

Dissolved oxygen is the single most important factor for keeping bass alive, and an understanding of factors that affect oxygen levels will better enable anglers to keep their fish alive.

Livewell recirculation systems are incapable of maintaining oxygen concentrations higher than 100 percent saturation, even in the absence of fish.
When anglers are fortunate enough to have a heavy limit, they should be mindful that their fish are at severe risk of mortality because of insufficient oxygen.

Oxygen injection has long been used by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) hatcheries to maintain the health of fish being stocked into reservoirs. Fisheries staff regularly transport or hold fish in ratios equal to or greater than one pound of fish to a gallon of water.

I Googled: “fishing oxygen systems” and found many pages of information. I looked for web sites that provided solid scientific information. There’s also plenty of the normal yada-yada sales info, infomercials, fishermen’s testimonials to filter through, aerators, air bumps/bubble rocks and water pumps advertised as oxygen systems and so on.

Some are really out in left field; I found an ozone (O3) generator guaranteed to provide plenty of oxygen (O2). Its sold as the “O2 Wizard.” Check it out, it’s a hoot. I bet bass fishermen will buy it.

mattgroff’s question, “My question is what do some of you guys do to help keep your fish alive in the well all day?”

I bet your tournament officials certified your boat livewell a “Functional Livewell” before you blasted off that morning, your livewell water pump was humming perfectly right? And you thought everything was fine, yet your fish suffocated in that livewell from lack of oxygen and cost you some bucks and disappointments… you simply failed to insure minimal safe oxygenation in your livewell water and failed to keep your fish alive, your water quality in your livewell was deadly – not enough oxygen, right?

This may sound elementary and silly to a seasoned tournament fisherman, but let’s pause and go back a moment and begin here because here is where your problem begins.

What is a livewell, specifically what is a “functional livewell?” Answer to that is right here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livewell

The short answer is “fix you deadly livewell water quality problem and don’t suffocate your fish in your livewell. If your fish need oxygen well, how about giving them more oxygen.”

Or don’t give them more oxygen, give them more water or more air and repeat the suffocation problem that changed you from being the winner to a loser because 1 fish died in tour livewell.

If you’re really interested in fixing your bad livewell water quality problem, do it. If you don’t want to fix your water quality problems, don’t – it always your personal choice to fix it or not to fix it; so here’s some fishery science for you:

Oxygenation of Livewells to Improve Survival of Tournament-Caught Bass by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers and Jason Driscoll TPWP, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 6/2011
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/didyouknow/inland/livewells.phtml

Livewell Oxygen Injection Systems by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 6/2011 http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/livewell-oxygen-injection-8773301

AquaInnovations Oxygenator – How Effective is It – by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 2-14-2012 http://www.slideshare.net/raminlandfish/the-oxygenator-how-effective-is-it

Hydrogen Peroxide for Bass Boat livewells – by Fishery Biologist Randy Myers TPWD, Inland Fisheries Division, San Antonio, TX Publication 2-14-2012 – A total of 12 one-hour experiments were conducted with oxygen levels measured every 10 minutes.

Hydrogen peroxide for bass boat livewells from Randy Myers

There’s all different kinds of fishing oxygen systems – “Compare Oxygen Systems” http://oxyedge-chum.com/compare-oxygen-systems/

So consider spend a buck or two to keep your catch alive, make better choices of livewell equipment that insures and guarantees minimal safe oxygenation for all your fish in summer tournaments all day, eliminate your summer livewell water quality problems that cost you money and convert you to a loser… Minimal safe livewell water quality is always your choice, there is no “chance or hope or luck” to it, it pure fishery science.

So what are you going to do now that you have learned how to fix to your low oxygen livewell problems that killed you fish and cost you big bucks?

How to keep bait alive and healthy in livewells and bait tanks in the summer – VERY SIMPLE and EASY.

1. Oxygenate livewell water with pure oxygen – 100% DO Saturation or greater guarantees and insures safe oxygenation in overcrowded livewells and bait tanks in the summer.

2. Ventilate livewell water – Total or partial water exchange several time daily guarantees elimination ammonia, acid pH, dissolved CO2, nitrites, nitrates and metabolic waste.

Safe Oxygenation requires administration of supplemental pure 100% oxygen in overcrowded summer livewells and bait tanks. The correct dose must be delivered continuously and the volume of pure oxygen delivered must be sufficient to sustain 100% DO Saturation for one pound of live bait or hundreds of pounds of live bait or fish. Greater stocking density (overcrowding) requires more oxygen. Pure 100% oxygen is necessary for live bait and live fish transports. That is why fish hatcheries transport live fish with pure 100% compressed oxygen, none use air, aeration or water pumps to insure safe dissolved oxygen saturations for live transports – never.

Ventilating livewell water requires mechanical aerators and water pumps. Mechanical aerators and water pumps remove dissolved carbon dioxide, acid water concentrations, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, urine and the big chunks of feces, scales and vomit (metabolic toxins and organic matter). Remove dead bait and dead fish ASAP.

http://oxyedge-chum.com/keep-bait-alive/