This is not an original idea, its been done before, but I have never seen a decent how to really, so figured id post some pics in case anyone else wants to do something similar. $4.96 "baby bubbles" battery operated pump from walmart. ~$1.50 ebay float switch, either a right angle one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/390961328520?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT Or a straight one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/261676922012?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT I got a pair of them, run in series, so that the pump wont run unless they are both down. I figured a little redundancy wouldnt hurt. Sealed gallon jug with 2 fishtank airline tubes going into the lid. One should go all the way to the bottom, the other just inside the lid. Either drill holes carefully so the tubes seal, or slap a little silicone around the holes if you are sloppy. Trial to make sure everything works, I will use a 3v transformer instead of batteries, yet another reason I save all of my transformers for any electronics that I toss, but batteries should be fine for a long time: I will post the rest later.
The basic setup. It flows plenty with about 4 feet of lift on a single 1.5v battery, with the 3.7v transformer I will be using it should be more than enough. I am tempted to put this in my sump of my 125 gallon reef and run a line from my RODI unit to it...
I decided not to do this. Now that I put LEDs and the cover on the pico the evaporation has gone down to almost nothing. So if anyone wants a cheap pico ATO setup let me know. A single float switch like the above just replaces the on/off switch on the air pump, or you can do as many switches as you want in series for extra redundancy.
