Setting Up Home Assistant for Aquarium Automation

Home Assistant is the brain behind every automation on this site. It's free, open-source, and runs locally — no cloud required. This guide walks you through installation, adding your first smart devices, and connecting everything for aquarium control.

Why Home Assistant?

1. 100% local control — your automations work even when the internet goes down
2. One app for everything — Tuya plugs, Shelly relays, Lutron remotes, and hundreds more
3. Free and open-source — no subscriptions, no vendor lock-in
4. Perfect for aquariums — sunrise/sunset triggers, temperature alerts, scheduled dosing

Step 1: Install Home Assistant

Home Assistant runs on almost anything. Pick your method:

Raspberry Pi (Recommended for Beginners)

1. Download the Home Assistant OS image from home-assistant.io
2. Flash it to a microSD card with Balena Etcher
3. Insert the card, plug in Ethernet and power
4. Wait 10 minutes, then navigate to http://homeassistant.local:8123

Proxmox LXC (My Setup)

I run Home Assistant in a Proxmox LXC container. This gives you:

• Snapshots before upgrades (roll back if something breaks)
• Resource isolation from other services
• Hardware passthrough for Zigbee/Z-Wave sticks

Use the community helper script to create the LXC:

# Proxmox LXC settings I use
cores: 2
memory: 2048
swap: 512
disk: 16GB
network: bridge=vmbr0, static IP recommended

Step 2: Initial Configuration

On first launch, Home Assistant walks you through:

1. Create your admin account — pick a strong password
2. Set your location — this enables sunrise/sunset triggers (critical for lighting automations)
3. Set your timezone — affects all time-based automations
4. Name your home — cosmetic, but helps organize multi-location setups

Step 3: Add the Tuya Integration

Most aquarium smart plugs and controllers use the Tuya platform (Smart Life, Tuya Smart, etc.).

1. Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration
2. Search for Tuya
3. Log in with your Tuya/Smart Life account credentials
4. Authorize Home Assistant to access your devices

Your Tuya smart plugs, power strips, and Inkbird controllers will appear as entities.

# Example: Tuya smart plug entity in Home Assistant
# Entity ID: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
# Friendly name: Aquarium Light
# State: on/off
# Attributes: current_consumption (watts), voltage

Going Local with Tuya-Local (Optional, Advanced)

For cloud-free control, flash your Tuya devices with local firmware:

1. Use tuya-local for over-the-air local control
2. Or flash with ESPHome for full local control (requires disassembly)

Step 4: Add the Shelly Integration

Shelly devices work locally out of the box — no cloud account needed.

1. Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration
2. Search for Shelly
3. Home Assistant auto-discovers Shelly devices on your network
4. Click Configure for each discovered device

Shelly plugs give you real-time power monitoring — perfect for tracking heater and pump energy usage.

# Example: Shelly Plus Plug S entity
# Entity ID: switch.shelly_plug_heater
# Power sensor: sensor.shelly_plug_heater_power
# Energy sensor: sensor.shelly_plug_heater_energy

Step 5: Add the Lutron Caseta Integration

Lutron Pico remotes are the best physical buttons for aquarium scene control.

1. You need a Lutron Caseta Smart Bridge (not the basic bridge)
2. Go to Settings → Devices & Services → Add Integration
3. Search for Lutron Caseta
4. Press the pairing button on the bridge when prompted
5. Home Assistant discovers all paired Pico remotes

Each button press on a Pico remote fires an event in Home Assistant — you can map these to any automation.

# Pico remote button events
# Button 1 (top): button_0 → Day Mode
# Button 2: button_2 → Night Mode
# Button 3 (center): button_3 → Feeding Mode
# Button 4: button_4 → Movie Mode
# Button 5 (bottom): button_5 → Maintenance Mode

Step 6: Create Your First Automation

Let's start simple — turn the aquarium light on at sunrise and off at sunset.

# automations.yaml
automation:
  - alias: "Tank Light On — Sunrise"
    description: "Turn on aquarium light 30 min after sunrise"
    trigger:
      - platform: sun
        event: sunrise
        offset: "00:30:00"
    action:
      - service: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light

  - alias: "Tank Light Off — Sunset"
    description: "Turn off aquarium light at sunset"
    trigger:
      - platform: sun
        event: sunset
    action:
      - service: switch.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light

Paste this into your automations.yaml, restart Home Assistant, and your light follows the sun.

Step 7: Set Up Your Dashboard

Add a basic aquarium card to your Lovelace dashboard:

type: entities
title: "Aquarium Control"
entities:
  - entity: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
    name: "Tank Light"
    icon: "mdi:lightbulb"
  - entity: switch.shelly_plug_heater
    name: "Heater"
    icon: "mdi:fire"
  - entity: switch.tuya_air_pump
    name: "Air Pump"
    icon: "mdi:air-filter"
  - entity: sensor.inkbird_temperature
    name: "Water Temp"
    icon: "mdi:thermometer"

What's Next?

Now that Home Assistant is running, dive into the specific automation guides:

• Automate Tank Lighting — sunrise/sunset schedules + feeding mode
• Temperature Monitoring — Inkbird setup + alerts
• Automated Feeding — scheduled feeders + vacation mode
• Scene Control with Lutron Pico — one-button day/night/feeding modes
• Smart Power Management — energy monitoring + failure detection
• Automated Water Changes — AWC systems + PEX plumbing
• Build Your Dashboard — the complete Lovelace aquarium dashboard