Aeration

[bronck83]

I'm trying to figure out a way to keep bait alive longer in my livewells in my boat and I've found some systems that are basically aeration systems that add a bunch of microbubbles to add in oxygen/CO2 exchange. The flow in a livewell is obviously much less than our tank systems. I could have sworn remembering that microbubbles were bad all around, or was it just for aesthetic reasons?

Basically, will adding an aeration system actually improve conditions for bait, make it worse, or no change? Ideally, I'd throw a big pump in there & make a bigger drain to increase the flow a lot, but the 12volt pump choices are limited and I think the bait would tire themselves out trying to swim against the current in such a small environment and no structure to rest behind like there is in a regular tank.