Automated Fish Feeding with Home Assistant

Consistent feeding keeps fish healthy. Auto feeders handle the schedule, and Home Assistant adds intelligence — feeding-mode scripts that dim lights and pause filters, vacation mode with randomized times, and notifications when feeding completes.

What You'll Need

Automatic fish feeder (Eheim Everyday or Zacro USB)
Tuya smart plug — controls power to the feeder
Home Assistant — already set up (see getting started guide)
Optional: Lutron Pico remote — physical button for manual feeding

How Auto Feeders Work with Smart Plugs

Most auto feeders dispense food when they power on or on a timer. By controlling the power with a Tuya smart plug, Home Assistant becomes the scheduler:

Set the feeder's built-in timer to its shortest interval
Leave the feeder "ready" with food loaded
Home Assistant turns the plug on → feeder dispenses → plug turns off after a delay

The smart plug gives you control the feeder itself doesn't have: randomized times, skip days, and integration with other tank automations.

Step 1: Set Up the Feeder

Mount the auto feeder on the tank rim
Fill the food compartment
Plug the feeder into a Tuya smart plug
Add the smart plug to Home Assistant via the Tuya integration

configuration.yaml

# Entity for the feeder's smart plug
switch.tuya_auto_feeder

Step 2: Feeding Schedule Automation

Twice Daily Feeding

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Morning Feeding"
    description: "Dispense food at 8:00 AM"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "08:00:00"
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.feed_fish

  - alias: "Evening Feeding"
    description: "Dispense food at 6:00 PM"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "18:00:00"
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.feed_fish

The Feeding Script

This script handles the full feeding sequence — turn on the feeder, wait for it to dispense, turn it off:

configuration.yaml

script:
  feed_fish:
    alias: "Feed Fish"
    description: "Activate auto feeder for one dispensing cycle"
    sequence:
      - service: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_auto_feeder
      - delay:
          seconds: 15
      - service: switch.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_auto_feeder
      - service: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
        data:
          title: "Fish Fed"
          message: "Auto feeder dispensed at {{ now().strftime('%I:%M %p') }}"

Step 3: Feeding Mode (Dim Lights + Pause Filter)

When fish are feeding, you want:

Lights dimmed — reduces stress during feeding
Filter paused — food doesn't get sucked into the filter
Resume after 30 minutes — everything goes back to normal

configuration.yaml

script:
  tank_feeding_mode:
    alias: "Tank Feeding Mode"
    description: "Dim lights, pause filter, feed, then resume after 30 minutes"
    sequence:
      # Dim or turn off the main light
      - service: switch.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
      # Pause the filter
      - service: switch.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_canister_filter
      # Dispense food
      - service: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_auto_feeder
      - delay:
          seconds: 15
      - service: switch.turn_off
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_auto_feeder
      # Wait 30 minutes for fish to eat
      - delay:
          minutes: 30
      # Resume normal operation
      - service: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
      - service: switch.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: switch.tuya_canister_filter
      - service: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
        data:
          title: "Feeding Mode Complete"
          message: "Lights and filter resumed. Feeding mode ended."

Step 4: Vacation Mode

Going away for a week? Vacation mode feeds once daily at a slightly randomized time so it looks natural:

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Vacation Feeding"
    description: "Feed once daily at a random time between 10 AM and 2 PM"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "10:00:00"
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: input_boolean.vacation_mode
        state: "on"
    action:
      - delay:
          minutes: "{{ range(0, 240) | random }}"
      - service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.feed_fish

Create the vacation mode toggle:

configuration.yaml

input_boolean:
  vacation_mode:
    name: "Vacation Mode"
    icon: mdi:airplane

Add it to your dashboard so you can toggle it from your phone before leaving.

Step 5: Manual Feeding with Lutron Pico

Map a Pico remote button to trigger feeding mode — no phone needed:

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Pico Button — Manual Feed"
    description: "Center button on Pico triggers feeding mode"
    trigger:
      - platform: device
        device_id: !input pico_remote
        type: press
        subtype: button_3
    action:
      - service: script.turn_on
        target:
          entity_id: script.tank_feeding_mode

Step 6: Dashboard Card

configuration.yaml

type: vertical-stack
cards:
  - type: entities
    title: "Feeding"
    entities:
      - entity: switch.tuya_auto_feeder
        name: "Auto Feeder"
        icon: "mdi:fish"
      - entity: input_boolean.vacation_mode
        name: "Vacation Mode"
      - type: button
        name: "Feed Now"
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: script.turn_on
          target:
            entity_id: script.tank_feeding_mode

My Setup

I use an Eheim Everyday feeder on a Tuya smart plug. Twice daily feeding at 8 AM and 6 PM, with feeding mode that dims lights and pauses the canister filter for 30 minutes. The center button on my Lutron Pico triggers manual feeding mode — great for when guests want to feed the fish.

During vacations, I flip the vacation mode toggle and the feeding drops to once daily at a random time. I also reduce the portion size on the feeder's dial before leaving.

Tips

Test the portion size before automating — too much food fouls the water
Clean the feeder monthly — food residue can jam the mechanism
Use a Shelly plug if you want to monitor power draw — you can detect when the feeder is jammed (no power spike during the cycle)
Skip one feeding day per week — most fish benefit from a fasting day

What's Next?

Scene Control with Lutron Pico — map all 5 buttons to tank modes
Temperature Monitoring — heater control + alerts
Build Your Dashboard — the complete aquarium dashboard