How much do fish weight in water.

This question was brought up on a fishing forum And I just found it an interesting question.... There were a dozen different answers but no one was sure.

"ok lets say my live-wells hold 30 gallons of water. and lets say that water weighs 8lbs a gallon (just for a round figure). that means with my live-wells full i have an extra 240 lbs in the boat. but lets say i add 20lbs of fish to the live-well, at first it would seem that i am now carrying 260 lbs. but does the weight of the fish add weight to the boat. i know that things weight less in water but i am not talking about that, lets just say the fish weight the same in the water as out of it because my question is since the fish are suspended in the water and not sitting on the bottom of the live-well am i carrying their weight? i am carrying the weight of the water that they are in but since they aren't touching the boat i don't think i would be carrying their weight, they would raise the water level in the live-well but the extra water would also drain out."

Fish, or any matter, will displace water, or any matter, they are placed into. The weight in the live well will be the mass of the water, plus the mass of whatever you put in it. If the live well will only contain 30 gallons, anything you put in it cannot allow the volume to exceed 30 gallons (the displacement will remove the same volume of water). Therefore, the total volume of the live well will be that total volume, regardless of what's added. Adding matter, other than water (or other matter), will effect the mass in the live well, according to its departure from the mass of water. So, if you have 240# of water and add 20# of fish, it will weigh 260#. If water is removed to allow for the addition of fish, it will weigh nearly the same, with the only difference being the departure of mass between the water and the fish. Not all water weighs the same, and neither do fish. If the fish are "swimming" suspended, they will have to impart force onto the water equal to their differential mass to remain suspended, still imparting the same mass. Clear as mud?

This is a similar question that was asked of canaries hauled in a truck. If the canaries remained flying, would the weight of the truck be less? The answer was no. Mythbusters did this one (though, not with canaries). I don't agree with all their conclusions, but they did this one well and got it right.

thank you sir. It's nice to know people that's good at cypherin. Whilst I am a 10th grade graduate. My degree was in double ought and nought spyin. The principle kept tellin me I ought nought be spyin in the girls locker room.

CarolinaHound wrote:thank you sir. It's nice to know people that's good at cypherin. Whilst I am a 10th grade graduate. My degree was in double ought and nought spyin. The principle kept tellin me I ought nought be spyin in the girls locker room.

Why spy? Why not plant a tape recorder and a camera like we did. It is a lot more fun and revealing.

Old Timer wrote:

CarolinaHound wrote:thank you sir. It's nice to know people that's good at cypherin. Whilst I am a 10th grade graduate. My degree was in double ought and nought spyin. The principle kept tellin me I ought nought be spyin in the girls locker room.

Why spy? Why not plant a tape recorder and a camera like we did. It is a lot more fun and revealing.

errr... aaaaahhh.. that's spying. That's why they got the name spy cameras.

CarolinaHound wrote:

Old Timer wrote:

CarolinaHound wrote:thank you sir. It's nice to know people that's good at cypherin. Whilst I am a 10th grade graduate. My degree was in double ought and nought spyin. The principle kept tellin me I ought nought be spyin in the girls locker room.

Why spy? Why not plant a tape recorder and a camera like we did. It is a lot more fun and revealing.

errr... aaaaahhh.. that's spying. That's why they got the name spy cameras.

Well we had to learn somehow didn't we??? I mean wether they were real or not or stuffed or not hehehehe

CarolinaHound wrote:This question was brought up on a fishing forum And I just found it an interesting question.... There were a dozen different answers but no one was sure.

"ok lets say my live-wells hold 30 gallons of water. and lets say that water weighs 8lbs a gallon (just for a round figure). that means with my live-wells full i have an extra 240 lbs in the boat. but lets say i add 20lbs of fish to the live-well, at first it would seem that i am now carrying 260 lbs. but does the weight of the fish add weight to the boat. i know that things weight less in water but i am not talking about that, lets just say the fish weight the same in the water as out of it because my question is since the fish are suspended in the water and not sitting on the bottom of the live-well am i carrying their weight? i am carrying the weight of the water that they are in but since they aren't touching the boat i don't think i would be carrying their weight, they would raise the water level in the live-well but the extra water would also drain out."

yes, the fish will add weight to your boat. That is their scale instrument [weighing device] indication, LESS the actual fat content of their body. Same is true for ANY physical bodied creature. If you want to know how much of your aACTUAL body weight is fat, first weigh yourself out of water, then get into a pool of water and sit on a suspended weighing pan; there are devices specifically for this purpose. Subtract your weight as indicated in the water from your actual weight and you will know how much fat is on your body.
Reason for this is that fat tends to be buoyant.

coontie wrote:

CarolinaHound wrote:This question was brought up on a fishing forum And I just found it an interesting question.... There were a dozen different answers but no one was sure.

"ok lets say my live-wells hold 30 gallons of water. and lets say that water weighs 8lbs a gallon (just for a round figure). that means with my live-wells full i have an extra 240 lbs in the boat. but lets say i add 20lbs of fish to the live-well, at first it would seem that i am now carrying 260 lbs. but does the weight of the fish add weight to the boat. i know that things weight less in water but i am not talking about that, lets just say the fish weight the same in the water as out of it because my question is since the fish are suspended in the water and not sitting on the bottom of the live-well am i carrying their weight? i am carrying the weight of the water that they are in but since they aren't touching the boat i don't think i would be carrying their weight, they would raise the water level in the live-well but the extra water would also drain out."

yes, the fish will add weight to your boat. That is their scale instrument [weighing device] indication, LESS the actual fat content of their body. Same is true for ANY physical bodied creature. If you want to know how much of your aACTUAL body weight is fat, first weigh yourself out of water, then get into a pool of water and sit on a suspended weighing pan; there are devices specifically for this purpose. Subtract your weight as indicated in the water from your actual weight and you will know how much fat is on your body.
Reason for this is that fat tends to be buoyant.

Boy in that case I am 100 pounds to buoyant and would just float away.

body weight less fat. You can learn how much fat you have hanging on your carcass by being weighed in the water, then out of it. The diffference is the amount of fat [more or less].