diy battery powered air pumps???

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LiveMermaid07

Bloody Mary. As in, hand me one.
Jul 7, 2009
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Has anyone made a successful diy battery powered air pump?

The only one I've found involved 2 car batteries and a car, and that won't work in my situation, lol.

I was looking in the camping section at walmart figured they'd have something that could be fitted /altered / whatever, lol, but the only thing I could find was an air mattress pump.

So, any ideas?? Post them here please! :)
 
Look in the fishing/bait section of walmart, that's where I found mine. They run on two 'D' cells.

Mark
 
Just curious why do you want/need to DIY? Battery powered pumps are pretty cheap.. I got mine for only $15 and it has an option to plug in.. when plugged in it takes from the outlet, but if power is lost it will run on battery power. I also used it when I had to move 3 hours, and it worked great.
 
hope4peace said:
Just curious why do you want/need to DIY?
Click to expand...

the power tends to go out.
I like to learn about / make my own things.
I was hoping it might be cheaper (extremely limited budget right now.)
 
wesleydnunder said:
Look in the fishing/bait section of walmart, that's where I found mine. They run on two 'D' cells.

Mark
Click to expand...

I skipped the fishing section, I will look that aways.
 
The 2 "D" battery pumps are extremely loud and won't do anything except power one small airstone. That's all they can do. I would say that's better than nothing, but is it better than getting a wooden spoon and swirling the top of the tank yourself? I doubt it...

The good side is these kinds of pumps can be had for next to nothing, the batteries cost more than the air pump:
http://www.petsupplies.com/item/aquatic-edge-battery-air-pump/790000/

The LFS might sell these for $15 a pop, but you should be able to find them online for $5 or less. The above is the cheapest that I've found, under $3.

If your power goes out frequently but for short periods, all you need to do is make sure your filters self-prime. They will be fine without filtration for an hour or two, probably longer.

If your power goes out due to power grid, hurricanes, etc. for days or hours on end, you need to look into something like the car battery option (days) or UPS (uninterrupted power supply) from an office supply store (hours):
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...cts/2823-battery-backup-planted-aquarium.html
 
I've moved all 25 of my tanks down to Florida in 1983. Put all of them in coolers and every so often added hydrogen peroxide to the water. Worked out great and I didn't lose any. Have a feeling though with all the sloshing from being in a vehicle they would have been just fine left to their own accord.
You'd be surprised how long a properly stocked tank can last without filtration or heat.
 
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