Wet's Battery powered air top-off...$10.

[neanderthalman]

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

[TerReefic]

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!

[Rusty97]

Great job UTR!! Are you still making these?

[norcal99]

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!

 

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.

[Undertheradar]

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

[Wetline]

Its really basic. I use the air pump as an air-lift...like for an undergravel lift tube, only narrower to help push water up better when I need to. I simply have a bucket next to the tank / sump and rather than using pressure from a 1g jug, I use an air-lift from a 7g bucket.

 

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?

[brent-konieczny]

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

Edited January 29, 2007 by brent-konieczny

[NanoCube-boy]

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

[brent-konieczny]

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

[NanoCube-boy]

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.

Edited February 2, 2007 by NanoCube-boy

[brent-konieczny]

 

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.

[yankeereefer]

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

[Josza]

Fantastic DIY project. Thank you very much Radar!

[Jecco]

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?

[Undertheradar]

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.

[Jecco]

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.

[rockerpeller]

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.

[Undertheradar]

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?

[Jecco]

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.

[Jigga]

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

[Burks]

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.

[NanoCube-boy]

Burks, thanks for the information about the pump.

[dufus]

Any luck using the Azoo's?

 

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

[ronron]

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

[edacsac]

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?