without reading the whole thread, probably www.floatswitches.net

For those who were wanting quiet, I am using a Tetra Whisper 10 air pump on my 12G tank. This thing is very quiet and is rated at 2.2V. Just got it wired and finished and it is working perfectly how I want it. Pumps up 3-4 feet from jug on the floor up to my tank. The flow is slow so the salinity shouldn't change too fast. If you want it faster try the 20, not sure what the voltage is on that one though.

Thanks for this great idea and easy project!

Great job UTR!! Are you still making these?

How easy was it to open up that whisper air pump? I'm considering this idea... my main problem i making sure that I splice the wires correctly to the float valve. Is it just a matter of taking some extra wire and splicing into the power chord, and then connecting it to the float valve??

Never really attempted any electrical work, but it seems to make a little sense.

EAP = easy as pie. You really dont even need extra wire since the float switch should have some extra leads.

I understand the concept but how do you introduce the water between the bubbles in the tubing? How do you use the airstone? Would it be like on the bottom of the bucket with say a submerged funnel above it attached to the airline? So that would give you >>>bubble>water>bubble>>>water> etc?

Here is a diagram of mine. You must click and enlarge the image to view the text.

Brent..., Sorry, can't click, you think you have the direct link for it?

http://i3.tinypic.com/47mi9tf.jpg

Thanks man. Do you have the actuall pictures of it already installed? Can you show me how you splice the wire and how you installed the swtich with the water.

I don't have a pic of the wires, but all you need to do is splice into one of the battery wires and hook up the float switch to both sides. That way when the pump switch is on and the float switch closes/opens the circuit the pump will turn on/off.

Recently, I realized that live-well/bait air pumps are sold at most department stores in the fishing section. They are basically exactly the same as aquarium pumps, but often cost much less. I got an ultra-silent Baker air pump from k-mart a few days ago for $9. It runs way better than any other aquarium battery pumps I've used.

Can someone chime in and help me out with wiring a float switch to an air unit that has BOTH battery and AC prewired?

I was going to buy the battery operated unit and wire AC to to following UTR's mod, but found one that was already hard wired. I couldn't find any AC adapters that were 3v at work so I figured I try the one I found.

This unit is AC powered until the power goes out and then it kicks into DC mode.

Not sure if I need to splice into the AC line, the DC line or both

Thanks

Fantastic DIY project. Thank you very much Radar!

I need some help from someone whose put one of these together. I put one together useing the Hagen battery power pump. I added the nokia adapter to it to run electrically. My question is this, it's pumping air into my bottle, the bottle is air tight. However the pressure from the bottle is forceing air back into the air pump tube. What do I need to do to correct his problem?

It sounds like the line feeding air into the bottle it sticking into the water. You need to make sure that this line is not below the water level in the bottle, so when the pump stops, all that can travel back to the pump is air. The line that goes to the tank should reach as deep as possible into the bottle, so as the bottle gets filled with air, water gets forced out the bottoml.

My bottle is 1/2 empty. The airline in is no where near the water. It's like pressure won't build up in the bottle. The bottle is air tight.

how high is the tank to the bottle? it might be too much of a head height to overcome, pump is not strong enough, or there may be something wrong with the rubber diaphragm in the pump itself.

I suppose I dont understand what you mean by this...
'However the pressure from the bottle is forceing air back into the air pump tube'

Where is the pressure coming from, if not from the tube then?

I think I solved my problem. I think it was a mere head pressure problem. My air tube and water return tube were about 6' long. I've shorten them both and have not had a problem since. Now my problem is I think I burn my air pump up.

I found an air pump on sale for $2.99!!! Get em now, before the sale's over.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod...amp;pcatid=3693

I got a 3 pack of them coming my way.

Now just to find a float valve without paying an arm and a leg for shipping.

Burks, thanks for the information about the pump.

Any luck using the Azoo's?

I was wondering, how do you stop it from pumping freshwater in when you're doing a waterchange?

Undertheradar, I tried sending a PM but your box was full. Would you ploease contact me? Thanks, Ron

Any ideas on a container to use that holds 2-5 gallons? I bought all the parts, but now I'm wondering if the air pumps are good enough to push through a larger volume of water, and finding a larger container that I can make air tight?

Take the batteries out

Go to one of those stores that sell water only. They have 2.5 gal water jugs that you could use.

Just thought I would add a status or my $.02 to this thread since I have my ATO up and running. I used the Azoo battery powered pump from drsfosterandsmith and a 2.5 gallon absopure spring water container (the kind you can set sideways and has the rubber spout thing).

All is well really. the only trouble I had is the pump didn't start 2 times out of many. Once during testing and once in production. There is one spot where the little cam thing attached to the diaphragm stops and the motor can't push it past to restart. Requires the switch to be turned on and off a few times to jar the cam past the stuck spot. Could be just related to that particular pump. It's great for daily use, but I wouldn't trust it for several days at a time. I'm sure getting a little more expensive air pump would solve that problem.

The sprint water container expands a bit and expels extra water for almost a minute after the pump turns off until the container depressurizes, but the amount of water is negligible (it seemed like alot when I was testing, but going live it changed the water level in my return chamber maybe a 1/16"). The rubber cap on the container holds tight though, and it still pumps water even when the container is almost empty.

All in all, this is a very sweet DIY ATO solution and I would encourage many other folks to give it try. Thanks Undertheradar for originally hooking this thread up!

The Azoo has worked great for me so far. I've been using it for almost 4 months and I'm still on the original battery's.

When you want to do a water change, turn the switch on the pump off.

If the batteries are in parallel and they are 1.5V its a 1.5V system, if they are in series it would be a 3 V system.turn off the pump before you take the water out, once its full again turn the pump back on.

any idea how high this little pump can push the water column??

Thanks to the OP on this idea...


Used a $6 walmart livewell air pump, a floatswitch.net switch, a 2L Coca-Cola bottle, and a 35mm film canister as a snail guard. Didn't trust it at first, now is working like a champ. A little loud, but works. A little residual run through after pump shuts off... but that's just fine... keeps it from running every hour.

Switch is attached to hood, so need to disconnect when the hood comes off. I laughed at the need for a snail guard at first... then saw how mobile and fast narisus and turbo snails were... need that guard.

Total cost for this ATO, under $20.


As mentioned, cheap air pump doesn't produce much pressure. I'm lifting it a whole 20" from bottom of bottle over lip of tank. by 30" of height, the air pump is noticably upset.

Hey, thanks for this great idea, although I lack the DIY craftiness to fallow the thread. Is there anyway to get some stupified step by step instructions to fallow. I was able to make one of these, http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...e+light+biocube so I am not too stupid, just need really good instructions! Thanks!

this is an awesome diy. i just finished putting one together, and now i just have to wait for my float switch to get here and i'll be ready to go.

heres a couple pictures of the way i set mine up. i don't think i'm going to keep the bottle where it is now, although it does fit quite nicely there

very nice job done

I was not able to get my pump to pump water very high up using a .75 gallon container. I made it only about a foot or so up... unless anyone has any suggestions, I'm gonna have to have everything on the same level as the tank.

Air leaks are usually the culprit here. The best seal without using silicone is going to be a hole that is smaller than the tube. It should be really hard to pull the tube though. Creates a great seal. This is the same way I have made three ATOs, and a CO2 system for my freshwater planted tank.

man i just dont get it.....if you are using an air pump, where is the suction coming from to pump water into tank??? that is the part i dont understand... the one tube is coming down from air pump pumping air into bottle. then you have a longer tube running to tank that pumps water into tank. but what is causing the water to pump from longer tube???

The entire system, theoretically, should be air tight other than the tubes. When the air pump, pumps air into the container holding the water and the longer tube, pressure builds up. When pressure builds up in the bottle, the air and water are going to look for a place to esacpe. The airline tube at the bottom of the bottle provides a place for water to be pushed out be the building air pressure.

ahhh....you are sooo smart

Jewbilee, you end up figuring out why you can't pump past a foot?

I havent messed around with it yet since I don't have the float switch and I ruined the only good cap i have. Once I get another cap, Ill try making smaller holes.

Very cool and cheap idea. I have a setup very similar to this but with a wired pump. I originally just used the float switch to break the connection in the air pumps cord but I didn't feel totally comfortable and thought that the AC current might wear down the switch leads.

So I modified it to the following. I bought a relay and a DC power source from radio shack. The float switch now breaks the DC loops which in turn deactivates the relay and breaks the air pump loop. When I first built the ATO I was leaving town for about 2 weeks and so I was really paranoid about it malfunctioning. To help ease my mind I plugged the DC power source and pump into a digital timer. I programmed the timer to only turn on for about 3-5 min at a time about 5 times/day. This way my entire 5 gal reservoir can't be drained all at once if something fails like a snail crawling onto the switch. The timer also prevent the loud air pump from turning on while I'm sleeping. (Pump is about 1 ft from my bed)

My setup is a little more than $10 but I choose to do it this way because now I can use a more powerful pump and get required 4ft of head I need to pump from my floor to the top of my tank and I never need to worry about changing batteries which I guess I could argue would offset the extra cost eventually.

Get a set of RC plane fuel line bulkheads and O-rings to fit them, guaranteed seal.

Here is one on my airdriven skimmer.

evil, you were right. I just needed to make the holes slightly smaller. Wired the float switch in and did a test run and everything works! Just need to fab up my mounting system and I'll be good to go.

Excellent! Glad to hear you nailed the problem.

not to beat the dead dog into a pile mush anymore but will these floats work because floatswitch.net(now a different name) wants $10 plus shipping
http://cgi.ebay.com/Liquid-Water-Level-Sen...A1%7C240%3A1318

i just might need to make that.

Have that work so far?

Hard plastic jug with air tight screw on cap, plastic tube, and jaco fittings should = no leaks





Yup