Simple Homemade Aquarium Pump Ideas

In the case of pumps VALVE is the main component. If you  manage to create a good valve then the pump is ready. Here i am going to construct a simple water pump, with a pen, refil, a resistor, plastic pipe or wire outer covering (Ethernet cable/cable-tv cable is perfect), any flat bottle, connecting sticks and a DC motor

From the above image itself it is clear about the valve concept, this is the basic valve design and all pumps especially PISTON & Diaphragm pump need 2 Valves to work properly , a small pen refil tube inserted inside bigger refil tube, and put a resister inside of it, the small refil keep resistor from falling down. When motor suck the fluid rush in, the suction and water pressure pull resistor up & fluid pass through valve. When motor release the gravity and downward water pressure push resistor down and block the passage.

Here i am gonna explain 2 types of pumps Diaphragm and Piston, 

Diaphragm Pump (left side) 
A small diaphragm pump uses the DC motor to create pulsing hydraulic pressure means no need of excess force a small force is enough to drive the pump. Here We use a circular piece of rubber sheet as Diaphragm (bicycle tube is good, 3 inch diameter is enough for this mini pump, take a flat bottle, cut a hole with 2 inch diameter, and place this rubber sheet in the middle glue all other parts, on the middle of sheet

 During the upstroke , the rubber sheet is pulled up, creating a partial vacuum within the bottle. The vacuum pulls the Input, resistor valve open and the Output, resistor valve is pushed closed by the gravity and fluid pressure in the hose. Water is then drawn into the bottle. On the down-stroke , the input valve is closed and the output valve is forced open as water is discharged to the output pipe. Diaphragm pumps have a relatively small displacement volume. The pump must run fast, even a small or vibratory effect on rubber sheet draws water into chamber easily. Because of less mechanical moving parts, it is easy to construct & Good pressure control. Best for aquarium bubble machine.

Piston Pump (Right side)
Piston pumps used everywhere, toy water-gun, water atomizer, paint sprayer etc, in this pump the pressure is intact. Unlike Rubber sheet more power is needed to move piston up & down rest is same as Diaphragm Pump 

This is a Hose Pump, as the name itself Hose pump need only a flexible pipe to work, these pump don't need any valves, easy to construct, The disadvantages compared to piston & diaphragm pump, is this pump displace only a small amount of fluid through it. But the pressure is intact. To Build a Hose Pump you need a flexible pipe ( i used thin polythene plastic tube, 2cm diameter) attach 2 straw on both ends of flexible pipe. Cut a rectangular piece of thermocole, smooth its edges round. now place thermocole piece on a DC motor and put the flexible pipe around it, in a tight manner, ie wherever the thermocole touches the pipe that area condense and rest expand, this create a vaccum. This Low pressure pull water in, then rotation of thermocole move water outside. Put some oil on thermocole to decrease friction, hence it cause breakage of plastic tube. This pump has less mechanical part, and no valve. 

All parts can be get from home, except DC motor. So try some, post some comments.