help with automation?

[Liam's tank]

Soooo, I'm going to have some major surgery in about two months, my wife, God bless her, is not only going to have to take care of me post-surgery, but also maintain our aquarium. I will not be able to lift anything as heavy as a gallon of milk for three months. I'm looking for any ideas you may have to help minimize the maintenance of the aquarium. We have an IM 25 gallon lagoon that is just three months young. It currently has two clown fish, four zoa colonies, a GSP, a recordea mushroom, a yellow sponge, a coral I can't get identified lol (came in on my live rock), and an extensive CUC. We are not in a position to spend a lot of money. I'm thinking of an ATO for starters. I don't think I have enough animals in the tank to merit something to auto feed. If I were to invest in an ATO what would be recommended for this size tank? Any other ideas to help my wife keep our aquarium stable till I'm back on my feet would be greatly appreciated!

 

[DIFish]

If you are really on a tight budget an auto feeder can be had for like $15 and goes well with pellets. You could buy an ATO or use a large gravity fed bucket with a float valve. If you need to maintain Calcium/Alk levels you can add some Kalkwasser into the ATO as well. Should at least get you through a a few weeks hands off as long as somebody can refill feeder and ATO occasionally. Depending on your salt brand could also pre mix a batch and change it after 2-3 weeks.

 

[Liam's tank]

If you are really on a tight budget an auto feeder can be had for like $15 and goes well with pellets. You could buy an ATO or use a large gravity fed bucket with a float valve. If you need to maintain Calcium/Alk levels you can add some Kalkwasser into the ATO as well. Should at least get you through a a few weeks hands off as long as somebody can refill feeder and ATO occasionally. Depending on your salt brand could also pre mix a batch and change it after 2-3 weeks.

I'm using Tropic Marin so I figured I could mix up at least 20 gallons to start. Do you think I would need an auto feeder for the amount of animals in the tank?

 

[DIFish]

I'm using Tropic Marin so I figured I could mix up at least 20 gallons to start. Do you think I would need an auto feeder for the amount of animals in the tank?

Less about the amount of animals and more about how long they can go without food. They need to be fed every 3-4 days minimum so if somebody can’t check in to the tank daily then yes I would say it is a must. Plenty of cheap options that you can schedule multiple times a day. Not sure what your daily dKH drop is and filters you are using but would make them easy as possible to replace and plan on having somebody do a quick 15 min feed/topoff/ clean at least once a week. The corals you listed are pretty hard and fish should do fine if fed and temp and salinity are maintained.

 

[Mikeltee]

Brother I am so sorry to say this but this hobby is not for those on a tight budget.

 

[Pistondog]

Tunze 3152 for $100 is a good investment. I have 2 on 10 gallon aios that work well. Just a float switch for sensing water level.
3155 adds an optical sensor, using float switch for overfill. Twice the money, i use 1 of these on 75g tank.
Tunze makes a great ato.