I have been running a Waterbox AIO 25 Peninsula for a while now and wanted to share my equipment and automation setup that keeps everything running smoothly. This build focuses on reliability, clean aesthetics, and smart control using Home Assistant.

Equipment Overview

The tank sits on its matching Waterbox stand, which has just enough space for cables, controllers, and easy access during maintenance. Here is the gear I am currently running:

Smart Power and Control

There are commercial aquarium controllers like the Neptune Apex or Hydros Control, but they become very expensive once you add probes, modules and branded powerbars. My goal was to get similar functionality for a fraction of the cost by combining affordable hardware with Home Assistant.

Instead of a dedicated controller like an Apex, I use Tapo smart powerboards to power all the main equipment. These are integrated with Home Assistant, which lets me build custom automations for safety, maintenance and day‑to‑day operation.

The Tapo Button and leak sensor are low‑power Tapo devices that require a Tapo Hub because they do not connect directly over Wi‑Fi, they pair to the hub which then bridges them into the network and Home Assistant.

Feed Mode Button

A Tapo Button is mounted near the tank and handles my Feed Mode. The button itself talks to the Tapo Hub, and from there an automation in Home Assistant does the rest

  • A single press turns off the return pump so food stays in the display instead of going down the filter.
  • After 15 minutes, the pump automatically turns back on.

This simple workflow makes feeding fast and hands‑off.

ATO Scheduling and Safety

The ATO runs only during scheduled 2‑minute windows throughout the day. This means that even if a float switch stuck or something went wrong, it could not overfill the tank because it would time‑out quickly.

If I manually trigger the ATO during the day, another safety rule still shuts it off after 2 minutes.

Temperature and Cooling

The Inkbird ITC‑306A manages heating but also gives me a reliable temperature signal I can use in Home Assistant. If the tank temperature gets too high, Home Assistant turns on the Jecod ACF‑200 Auto Cooling Fan and, if needed, cuts power to the heaters as part of the safety automation.

Leak Detection and Alerts

Inside the stand I run a Tapo water leak sensor that links back to the Tapo Hub and into Home Assistant. If it ever detects water where it should not be, I get an immediate alert and can also have automations cut power to selected outlets as a precaution.

Between the leak sensor, the temperature monitoring and the Plaato‑based reservoir monitoring, I get early warning for overflows, overheating and low top‑off levels.

Maintenance Mode

For water changes I use a Maintenance Mode automation in Home Assistant. When I start a water change:

  • Pumps, heaters and the ATO are all turned off.
  • I can drain and refill without worrying about equipment running dry.

Once I am finished, a single action restores everything back to normal operation.

Holiday Mode and Auto Feeding

When I am away, an auto feeder takes over feeding, with a slightly more involved automation stack behind it.

  • The feeder is connected to a Raspberry Pi that runs Node‑RED.
  • A Home Assistant automation publishes an MQTT message when it is time to feed.
  • Node‑RED receives that MQTT message and triggers a relay wired to the Raspberry Pi, which activates the feeder motor.
  • Before feeding, Home Assistant turns the Nero 3 pump off, then turns it back on after feeding so food stays in the display.

This sequence runs twice a day while I am on holidays and keeps feeding consistent without manual input.

Monitoring and the Plaato Scale

For ATO monitoring, I use a repurposed Plaato keg scale sitting under the ATO reservoir. It continuously measures the reservoir’s weight, which lets me track water usage and trigger accurate low‑level alerts.

Because the official Plaato cloud service is no longer available, I stood up a local Plaato server using Docker, based on the open‑source project open‑plaato‑keg. This replaces the original cloud backend on my own network, keeps the scale fully functional, and exposes the data so I can integrate it directly with Home Assistant.

I also monitor tank temperature in Home Assistant and send alerts if it ever drifts too high or too low. As an extra safety layer, if the temperature climbs past a defined limit the automation will turn off the heaters and switch on the cooling fan, adding redundancy on top of the Inkbird’s own protection logic.

Wrapping Up

The Waterbox AIO 25 Peninsula is already a great all‑in‑one tank, but combining it with Home Assistant, Tapo devices, a Plaato scale and a Raspberry Pi has turned it into a very capable smart aquarium. I get many of the features people look for in high‑end controllers like Neptune Apex, but using more affordable, flexible components that I can extend and customise over time.

This fault occurred a few years ago. In my initial investigations and problem-solving, I came across this post in the Club Touareg forum – ACC windscreen camera replacement, fault still after calibration


I bought the cable from Kuftec and fitted it, unfortunately, it did not resolve the issue. If anyone needs a cable I have one!

I put up with this fault for a few years until recently googling for information about changing headlight bulbs I stumbled across a YouTube clip suggesting that heating the main chip to reflow the solder was a possible fix. So I tried it and am happy to say that this has returned ACC functionality. So happy!

4 minutes at 330ºC.

On pulling the camera from the car it would appear that this is not the original unit, someone had written “V8” written on the label. They possibly had this issue as well. Maybe it’s more common in Australia given the higher temps that we experience than some countries, or maybe it’s just a shitty part overall.

Replacing a headlight bulb shouldn’t be this hard.

I ended up changing it without dropping the bumper. I had to dismantled the airbox, by pulling the two large pins, in order to gain enough space to get the rear of the housing out. Another pain was the hose clamps used on the airbox, I had to use my vice and channel locks to reinstall it.

I bought PHILIPS D3S as a replacement https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/386867743253

Some useful clips that helped me follow:


Video of a fishing trip in 2019, when the world was normal, that I finally got around to editing.

Galileo works out how to use a dog door

Four Timelapses from my latest trip to Penang and KL

Gear Used:
Canon 5D MKII
Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lense – http://amzn.to/2qk01UO
Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density Filter http://amzn.to/2ryOfU9
Lexar Professional 1066x 64GB CF – http://amzn.to/2oWuQtH
Manfrotto 458B Neotec – http://amzn.to/2oZKplx
Syrp Genie Mini – http://amzn.to/2oWBHne
Syrp Pan Tilt Bracket – http://amzn.to/2xmaFK0
Lowepro ProTactic 450 AW Camera Backpack – http://amzn.to/2g6f7tP
Peak Design Micro Anchor 4 Pack – http://amzn.to/2pSVpEq
LensPen – http://amzn.to/2pcPpCt

My new Phantom 4 Pro + started throwing the “Gimbal Motor Overloaded” warning message 6 minutes into a flight down south (Boranup Lookout). At that stage, it was only 2 weeks old, with only 1.5 hours total flight time.

After trying several things like restarting, recalibrating gimbal, IMU none of which removed the warning message. I contacted DJI support who informed me that I would have to send it in to be looked at.

DJI support has been pretty good, except for a small mix up with pick up and delivery address.

Can’t replicate issue WTF?

Initially, the support centre informed me that they could not replicate the issue after both indoor and outside flight tests. They asked whether I had any other information or video to support my claim. I thought this was weird as every time I turned it on, even days after the initial event, every time I got the error. I sent them a link to the video I had put together – the next thing I know they send me the invoice below and said that it would need to go through QA before returning it to me.

DJI Invoice for repair

DJI Proforma Invoice

No Video, No Fix??

So if I didn’t have the video what then? Glad I don’t have to go through this scenario.

UPDATE – P4P+ Repaired

My P4P+ was returned – total time just over two weeks. Not too bad really!

 

Gear: