Tank Scene Control with Lutron Pico Remotes

A Lutron Pico remote mounted next to your tank gives you one-button scene control — no phone needed. Day mode, night mode, feeding mode, maintenance mode, and movie mode. Each button changes every device on the tank to the right state.

What You'll Need

Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge — the hub that talks to Home Assistant
Lutron Pico 5-Button Remote — the physical controller
Tuya/Shelly smart plugs — on every tank device (lights, heater, pump, filter, feeder)
Home Assistant — already set up (see getting started guide)

The 5 Scenes

Button	Scene	Lights	Heater	Filter	Air Pump	Feeder
Top	Day Mode	ON	ON	ON	ON	Schedule
2nd	Night Mode	OFF	ON	ON	ON (low)	OFF
Center	Feeding Mode	DIM	ON	OFF	OFF	DISPENSE
4th	Movie Mode	Blue LED	ON	ON	OFF	OFF
Bottom	Maintenance	ON (bright)	OFF	OFF	OFF	OFF

Step 1: Set Up Lutron Caseta Bridge

Plug the Caseta Smart Bridge into your router via Ethernet
Download the Lutron app and pair the bridge
Pair your Pico remote in the Lutron app
In Home Assistant: Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration → Lutron Caseta
Press the pairing button on the bridge when prompted

Step 2: Create the Scenes

Define each scene in your Home Assistant configuration:

configuration.yaml

scene:
  - name: "Tank Day Mode"
    icon: mdi:white-balance-sunny
    entities:
      switch.tuya_aquarium_light:
        state: "on"
      switch.shelly_plug_heater:
        state: "on"
      switch.tuya_canister_filter:
        state: "on"
      switch.tuya_air_pump:
        state: "on"

  - name: "Tank Night Mode"
    icon: mdi:moon-waning-crescent
    entities:
      switch.tuya_aquarium_light:
        state: "off"
      switch.shelly_plug_heater:
        state: "on"
      switch.tuya_canister_filter:
        state: "on"
      switch.tuya_air_pump:
        state: "on"

  - name: "Tank Movie Mode"
    icon: mdi:movie-open
    entities:
      switch.tuya_aquarium_light:
        state: "on"
      switch.shelly_plug_heater:
        state: "on"
      switch.tuya_canister_filter:
        state: "on"
      switch.tuya_air_pump:
        state: "off"

  - name: "Tank Maintenance Mode"
    icon: mdi:wrench
    entities:
      switch.tuya_aquarium_light:
        state: "on"
      switch.shelly_plug_heater:
        state: "off"
      switch.tuya_canister_filter:
        state: "off"
      switch.tuya_air_pump:
        state: "off"

Step 3: Map Pico Buttons to Scenes

Each Pico button press fires a device trigger in Home Assistant. Map each to its scene:

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Pico — Day Mode"
    description: "Top button activates Day Mode"
    trigger:
      - platform: device
        device_id: YOUR_PICO_DEVICE_ID
        type: press
        subtype: button_0
    action:
      - service: scene.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: scene.tank_day_mode
      - service: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
        data:
          message: "Tank → Day Mode"

  - alias: "Pico — Night Mode"
    description: "Second button activates Night Mode"
    trigger:
      - platform: device
        device_id: YOUR_PICO_DEVICE_ID
        type: press
        subtype: button_2
    action:
      - service: scene.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: scene.tank_night_mode

  - alias: "Pico — Feeding Mode"
    description: "Center button triggers full feeding sequence"
    trigger:
      - platform: device
        device_id: YOUR_PICO_DEVICE_ID
        type: press
        subtype: button_3
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.tank_feeding_mode

  - alias: "Pico — Movie Mode"
    description: "Fourth button activates Movie Mode (blue light, no bubbles)"
    trigger:
      - platform: device
        device_id: YOUR_PICO_DEVICE_ID
        type: press
        subtype: button_4
    action:
      - service: scene.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: scene.tank_movie_mode

  - alias: "Pico — Maintenance Mode"
    description: "Bottom button activates Maintenance Mode (lights on, everything else off)"
    trigger:
      - platform: device
        device_id: YOUR_PICO_DEVICE_ID
        type: press
        subtype: button_5
    action:
      - service: scene.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: scene.tank_maintenance_mode
      - service: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
        data:
          title: "Maintenance Mode"
          message: "Heater, filter, and pump OFF. Don't forget to re-enable when done!"

Replace YOUR_PICO_DEVICE_ID with your actual Pico device ID from Home Assistant (find it in Settings → Devices → Lutron Caseta → your Pico remote).

Step 4: Auto-Resume After Maintenance

Maintenance mode turns off the heater and filter. Add a safety timer that auto-resumes Day Mode after 2 hours in case you forget:

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Auto-Resume from Maintenance"
    description: "Restore Day Mode after 2 hours of Maintenance Mode"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: switch.shelly_plug_heater
        to: "off"
        for:
          hours: 2
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
        state: "on"
    action:
      - service: scene.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: scene.tank_day_mode
      - service: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
        data:
          title: "Auto-Resumed Day Mode"
          message: "Maintenance mode timed out after 2 hours. Heater and filter restored."

Step 5: Dashboard Card

Add scene buttons to your Lovelace dashboard:

configuration.yaml

type: horizontal-stack
cards:
  - type: button
    name: "Day"
    icon: mdi:white-balance-sunny
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: scene.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: scene.tank_day_mode
  - type: button
    name: "Night"
    icon: mdi:moon-waning-crescent
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: scene.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: scene.tank_night_mode
  - type: button
    name: "Feed"
    icon: mdi:fish
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: script.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: script.tank_feeding_mode
  - type: button
    name: "Movie"
    icon: mdi:movie-open
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: scene.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: scene.tank_movie_mode
  - type: button
    name: "Maint"
    icon: mdi:wrench
    tap_action:
      action: call-service
      service: scene.turn_on
      target:
        entity_id: scene.tank_maintenance_mode

My Setup

I have a Pico remote mounted on the wall next to my main tank. Guests love it — they can hit the feeding button and watch the fish swarm. The maintenance button is a lifesaver during water changes — one press and everything shuts off cleanly. The 2-hour auto-resume has saved me twice when I forgot to switch back.

Movie mode was my wife's request — turns off the air pump (no bubbles), keeps the light on a blue setting, and makes the tank look like a living painting during movie night.

Tips

Mount the Pico with the included wall plate — it looks like a real light switch
Label the buttons with a small sticker strip (Day/Night/Feed/Movie/Maint)
Use long-press for alternative actions — Pico supports long-press events too
Multiple Picos — you can pair multiple remotes to the same bridge, one per room

What's Next?

Automated Feeding — the full feeding mode script
Smart Power Management — energy monitoring per device
Build Your Dashboard — the complete Lovelace aquarium dashboard