The Oxygen Edgeä is a special piece of equipment that does an extraordinary job supercharging live bait. Live bait, bass, crappie and walleye are easy to transport and stockpile with The Oxygen Edgeä. Oxygen deprivation stress in livewell water negatively affects captive live bait fish, live bait shrimp, bass, crappie and walleye. Disease and death often follow hypoxic insults in fish and people after sustained oxygen deprivations.
WARNING AND DANGERS WITH ALUMINUM BODY MEDICAL OXYGEN REGULATORS
Homemade bait tank oxygen systems made with medical oxygen regulators having aluminum body's are inexpensive, easy to acquire and they are fire hazards. A fire on a boat is a serious matter.
http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/oxyreg.html
CAUTION: Be alert for deceptive salesmanship and advertisement. In order to sell medical oxygen regulators to a fisherman you may hear or see this definition:
"Medical oxygen regulators are defined by the type of oxygen (medical oxygen USP or commercial welding oxygen) they use or the type of oxygen cylinder valve they connect to."
Statements like his are deceptive and false because the type of oxygen dispensed by an oxygen regulator does NOT define in any way 'medical O2 regulators' or 'commercial O2 regulators.' Beware of buying and using medical oxygen regulators on your boat. They are both illegal and unsafe.
CAUTION WITH AIR SUPPLY LINE TUBING AND AIR STONES
All components of homemade bait tank oxygen systems must be cleaned for pure oxygen service before used. Air tubing and air stones purchased at aquarium stores and hardware stores are not cleaned for pure oxygen service, these products are not certified clean and oil free. Air tubes and air stones are inexpensive, easy to find and dangerous if not cleaned for pure oxygen service.
BUYING LIVE BAIT AND CATCHING LIVE BAIT FISH
The Oxygen EdgeÔ is usually not recommended by bait shop owners because The Oxygen EdgeÔ supercharges live bait, plus The Oxygen EdgeÔ reduces live bait mortality during transport. We keep live bait successfully for days and weeks. We enjoy fewer trips to the bait shop, no early morning bait lines or predawn cast netting and that saves us sleep, money, and time. Live bait dealers lose sales when anglers have the edge, The Oxygen EdgeÔ. We avoid bait camps selling live bait fish and bait shrimp that are sickly, lethargic and exhibit white spots on the head and body. We begin our fishing trips with the highest quality live bait available, then we supercharge them.
The Oxygen EdgeÔ lets anglers stockpile and transport live bait fish and shrimp days before a fishing trip. Buy or catch live bait a day or two before your fishing trip and keep them overnight. We buy and catch live bait around sundown the day before the fishing trip in order to be at our target fishing site early the next morning.
Live bait fish, fish and shrimp are transported in portable bait tanks and live wells. Bait tanks and livewells are boxes that hold water, and they're made of materials that are nontoxic to saltwater and freshwater live bait fish, shrimp, bass crappie and walleye.
The Oxygen EdgeÔ adapts to all commercial and homemade portable bait tanks, boat livewells and marina live bait raceways in minutes. We like plastic commercial water coolers. You see them on job sites or on the sidelines at football games. These portable bait tanks are insulated, have tall water columns, drain at the bottom, they have an insulated lid and may be easily cleaned. They are great transport bait tanks that are convenient to use in boats, planes and vehicles. They work exceptionally well with The Oxygen EdgeÔ.
The Oxygen EdgeÔ allows successful transport of live bait fish and shrimp for hundreds of miles and many hours. When your favorite bait camp has poor quality live bait, we suggest acquiring higher quality bait at another bait camp down the road. You are the buyer. Now you have a choice where to buy live bait because you can transport it successfully anytime and anywhere. Federal, state and proprietary fish hatcheries transport their live fish while bubbling welding oxygen into their transport live well water. You may also be as successful as the professional fish transporters, provided you have The Oxygen EdgeÔ.
CATCH AND RELEASE LIVEWELL CHEMICALS
Many catch and release tournament fish like redfish, speckled trout, bass, crappie, walleye snook, etc. are also considered food fish or human consumption. When a saltwater or freshwater tournament species is considered a food fish, only a limited few livewell chemicals are certified by the FDA, EPA and state Department's of Health Seafood Safety Divisions for use in livewell, hauling or holding tank water at the weigh-in..
Before adding any chemical to livewells or holding tank water, be sure the chemical is known and approved for use with live fish for human consumption, especially if the fish will be chemically treated then released after the tournament.
Always request a material safety data sheet for all and any livewell chemical additive you intend to use for the safety of the fish and the public. Many chemical concoctions sold and given away tournament organizers and contestants are made of unknown (secret) chemicals. Be wary of C&R chemical manufactures that refuse to list the various chemicals in their livewell additives used for treating food fish (catch and release tournament fish).
The FDA, EPA and state Seafood Safety Divisions regulate and approve the type of chemicals used with marine food fish that will be released into the wild after a live release fishing tournament. These agencies certify and approve very few chemicals that are safe to treat food fish. Depending on the specific chemical applied, a quarantine period of several weeks is required before eating the fish.
Regulations controlling the use of various livewell chemicals for treating live bait fish and ornamental fish are different. Human consumption is not an issue.
For marine species, we add 2 tablespoons of potassium chloride for every 10 gallons of live well water for saltwater live bait fish. Potassium chloride (KCl) is "salt substitute", and you can buy it at the grocery store. We dose bait tank water twice a day. Potassium strengthens muscle contractions, especially heart and skeletal muscles. Marine species do not need more sodium chloride, saltwater contains plenty.
For freshwater species, we add 3 tablespoons of sodium chloride (NaCl) without iodine for every 10 gallons of bait tank water for freshwater live bait fish, bass, walleye and crappie. Local cattle feed stores sell granulated cattle feed salt without iodine in bulk, $5 for 50 pounds. Guard against any salts containing iodine, they're deadly on live bait fish and tournament bass. Use caution when adding salt or catch and release chemicals containing salts. Adding excessive salt or catch-and-release products containing salt to your livewell water causes dehydration and weight loss for tournament redfish, speckled trout, snook, bass, walleye and crappie. An overdose of livewell salt additives will decrease the total fish weight because of simple dehydration.
Bait pumps and aeration systems agitate bait tank water resulting in foam. Foam in bait tanks and livewells, decreases the ability of gasses to dissolve into water resulting in decreased dissolved oxygen concentrations in bait tank water. When stressed, fish excrete excessive mucus or protein which is the protective slime layer. Fish mucus or fish slime is protein. We see foam when air is bubbled in livewell water containing protein, especially when spray bars aeration systems and bait pumps are used. Foam in the livewell is a symptom of poor water quality that indicates stressed live bait fish, bass, crappie and walleye. Live bait fish and tournament catch and release stress augments physical injury, chronic disease, poor water quality and fear in all captives in anglers' bait tanks. Antifoaming chemicals, detergents that reduce livewell water surface tension, convert bait tank and livewell surface foam back to liquid. Antifoaming agents hide foam, a very important symptom of poor bait tank water quality. We do not recommend using antifoaming agents in conjunction with The Oxygen Edgeä.
MANAGING BAIT TANK WATER QUALITY
Livewell water quality management is the essential key to successfully transporting and stockpiling live bait fish and transporting catch and release tournament bass, crappie and walleye. Managing water quality is relatively simple with a little understanding. We manage water quality with two hands:
The left hand and The Oxygen EdgeÔ control the dissolved oxygen concentration in bait tank water. The right hand controls pH, dissolved carbon dioxide, ammonia, nitrites, and organic waste with minimal partial water exchanges. Water quality may also be managed with FDA / EPA approved bait tank chemicals and bio-filtration systems, but chemicals and water quality testing products are quite expensive.
BAIT TANK AERATORS AND BAIT TANK PUMPS
The Oxygen EdgeÔ affects live bait positively. Aerators and bait tank pumps are all limited by the low oxygen concentration in air (less than 21% oxygen), not by the volume or velocity of air and water they pump. Adding extra bait pumps will increase turbulence which increases the work of swimming requiring more oxygen than fish need in the steady state environment. Imagine being injured and scared for your life, EMT's are transporting you to a hospital that is 8 hours away. The EMT transport vehicle has a small electric fan (equivalent to an aerator/bait pump) and no oxygen. Upon your arrival at the hospital, the hospital has bigger A/C fans blowing more air on you, but still no oxygen. We see this exact scenario happen with live bait fish and tournament bass, crappie and walleye being transported in bait tanks while in crisis throughout the world every summer. Air simply does not contain enough oxygen and live bait fish, bass, crappie and walleye simply suffocate in the livewell while the aerator and bait tank pumps are working perfectly in the summer. Transporting live bait and fish is often self defeating in the summer with bait pumps and aerators. Professional fish transporters bubble compressed welding oxygen in their transport live wells when transporting live fish. Air simply does not contain enough oxygen to meet minimum safe dissolved oxygen water quality standards when bait tanks are overstocked or contain small volumes of water in the summer. As you already know, morbid live bait transporting results are predictable when bait tank pumps and aeration systems fail to deliver enough oxygen.
Anglers using The Oxygen EdgeÔ manipulate the dissolved oxygen concentration in bait tank water by simply bubbling 100% oxygen into the water. The result is supercharging. Bait tank aerators and bait pumps are not superchargers and they often fail to keep a live bait frisky or bass healthy during summer transport. Air contains less than 21% oxygen, nitrogen and trace gases compose the balance.
BAIT TANK WATER EXCHANGES
Flushing live bait tanks and livewells with fresh water reduces waste, foam, pH, ammonia, nitrites, dissolved carbon dioxide and carbonic acid. Bait tank chemicals may assist in controlling bait tank water quality, but chemicals and water quality testing equipment is expensive and cumbersome. Partial water exchanges are important and eliminate the need for most bait tank additives, especially for bait fish, shrimp and tournament fish. After 25-30 hours of captivity, we exchange 90% of our well water and stockpile live bait fish, bass and crappie for weeks. The more you feed the captives, the more water exchanges you must make. We exchange 30%-50% of our total livewell water capacity, then refill the well. Five gallon plastic drinking water bottles are excellent for storing exchange water at home or extended overland transports, especially for transporting live bait fish, tournament bass, crappie and walleye in boats, autos and airplanes. Bait tank exchange water may be stored for months, then used as needed.
BAIT TANK WATER , ICE AND COOLING
The Oxygen EdgeÔ cools bait tank water about 2 degrees F. below ambient temperature. The pressure change at the diffusing rock creates a cooling effect just like your home air conditioning system. We suggest if you're fishing in 95 degree water, you try to maintain your bait tank water temperature between 93-97 degrees F. for the best quality bait. Temperature shock begins when bait tank water temperature acutely changes 5 degrees F., up or down. We do not recommend cooling live well water with ice for live bait fish and shrimp when using The Oxygen EdgeÔ because the dissolved oxygen concentrations will remain highly supersaturated, even in warm or hot bait tank water during the summer. Water temperature has little effect on the dissolved oxygen concentrations generated with The Oxygen EdgeÔ. The temperature shock anglers cause by artificially cooling live well water occurs when a cooled live bait fish or shrimp is hooked and cast into warmer environmental water. The acute temperature shock causes live bait fish and bait shrimp to become lethargic and death often occurs soon after the live bait hits warm water.
BAIT TANK AND LIVEWELL WATER PREPARATION PRIOR TO INTRODUCING LIVE BAIT
We bubble oxygen into our livewell water several minutes before netting and introducing live bait, shrimp and tournament fish. Pre-oxygenating livewell water before live bait fish and shrimp are netted in the wild or at the bait shop is necessary for optimum bait quality. Catching and netting bait fish and shrimp activates acute stress responses, excessive slime production, extreme adrenaline production, maximizing intercellular oxygen depletion (physiological tissue oxygen debt). Hooking and playing a tournament fish also causes identical adverse physiological responses including tremendous cellular oxygen deprivation. It is most important to eliminate the cellular oxygen deprivation stress as quickly as possible and seconds count. Our rule of thumb: Hold your breath when your live bait or fish are out of the water and then put them back into the oxygenated livewell water when you need a breath. An extra plus, live bait fish and shrimp may be reeled in, placed back into the oxygenated bait tank water, supercharged again with a quick 30-second submersion and cast out again for a second tour of duty. This procedure may be repeated several times as needed. The Oxygen EdgeÔ reduces live bait replacement costs for the rest of your life.
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE IS A KILLER IN BAIT TANK WATER
Hydrogen peroxide added to live well water produces the deadly hydroxyl radical when decomposing. It great for killing bacteria, but it also damages gill cells, increases catch and release acute and delayed mortality and morbidity. For the conservation minded anglers, we suggest avoiding hydrogen peroxide livewell additives during catch and release tournaments.
OXYGEN TABLETS ARE KILLERS IN BAIT TANK WATER TOO
Bait tank oxygen tablets will increase dissolved oxygen concentration in water, but they also produce hydrogen peroxide and carbon dioxide (CO2). Both are very soluble in water. Dissolved carbon dioxide combines with water forming carbonic acid, which increases the acidity of bait tank water. Acidic bait tank water increases the toxic effects of ammonia affecting the health of live bait fish, live bait shrimp, bass, crappie and walleye. Dissolving oxygen tablets also produce 10% CO2, which will cause live bait to become lethargic and confused, an undesirable side effect. High dissolved carbon dioxide concentrations in bait tank water affect live bait and tournament fish negatively. It produces anesthesia and death when the dissolved concentrations in bait tank water are elevated and sustained.
HOW WE ASSESS BAIT TANK AND LIVEWELL WATER QUALITY IN THE FIELD
We monitor and observe bait tank water clarity. As live bait fish and shrimp excrete toxic metabolic by-products and waste into the livewell water, the first water quality symptom observed is usually a clouding of the water. Toxic bait tank water will cloud before it becomes foamy and smelly. Partial water exchanges are necessary when we see the turbidity increasing in the bait tank water.
Live bait fish, live bait shrimp, bass, crappie and any other captives in your livewell should behave like aquatic animals in your home aquarium if bait tank water quality is under control. If bait fish are not schooling or exhibit other erratic symptoms, you probably have a livewell water quality problem. Water quality problems often exist when live bait and fish do not appear calm and comfortable in your livewell. Bait fish school in bait tanks when the water quality is safe. They do not develop "red nose" nor will they stack in corners gulping air at the surface when your livewell water quality is within the safe range. Livewell DO concentrations may be easily and inexpensively measured with single unit DO test kits. The "red nose symptom" is the result of the "escape response". It's caused by poor bait tank water quality. The most common bait tank water quality problems occur in the summer when the water is hot.
OXY-CHUM IN THE SUMMER FOR FUN AND PROFIT
On a hot August night, try bubbling pure oxygen into environmental water about 15 feet deep around structure and see what's attracted and consolidates. Bait fish arrive first, then the target fish accumulate in a healthy artificial environment you create with oxygen. That's "Oxy-Chumming." The tactic is seasonal and effective when the environmental dissolved oxygen concentrations are below normal in the summer, especially at night and just before dawn. Artificially improving poor environmental dissolved oxygen concentrations stimulates feeding. We make fish bite in July and August when the catching slows down simply by artificially manipulating environmental dissolved oxygen concentrations. Fish, like people, are not hungry and don't eat well when arterial blood oxygen levels are below normal even though a fish's basal metabolism is at it's peak for the year.
THE UNITED STATES COAST GUARD REGULATES COMPRESSED GAS TANKS ON BOATS
High pressure compressed gas tanks are regulated by the U.S. Coast Guard when transported on boats, the U.S. Department of Transportation codes apply for overland high pressure tank transports. The U.S.C.G. codes includes high pressure SCUBA tanks and helium gas tanks on boats, they all must be safely secured on board. The Coast Guard classifies oxygen and air alike, both gases will not explode or burn. High concentrations of oxygen will cause all materials that will combust to burn hotter and burn quicker. The requirements for fire are: Oxygen, fuel and the ignition temperature, take one component away and fires cannot occur. We do not suggest securing the oxygen tank in the bilge, battery box or any place where oil, fuel or an electric arch may reach the components of the system...fire hazard. Oxygen tanks may be mounted vertically or horizontally, but they must be safely secured during transports.
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