Camera for Fish tank

[nightmarepl]

looking to view my tank from my cellphone during the day does anyone have any good recommendations, on a HD or 4k camera to give me a crisp image of the tank would put it infront of the tank

 

[Porpoise Hork]

I use a Wyze cam for remote viewing. They only cost $20 and let me see everything going on, however it may not be what you are looking for.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Lol, our wyze camera will let you know if the tank is empty. Not much better resolution than that.
I haven't tried an orange filter on it yet.

You can't tell from the picture but in the livestream you can see the bubbles move and those moving blocks of yellow are fish.

For $30 I'm not really complaining. [emoji846]

It gives me a little piece of mind when I check it. [emoji846]

 

[Porpoise Hork]

There might be something wrong with yours. This is what mine looks like on the trailing end of my mid-day. It's not super crisp but it does the job and I can see pretty much everything that's going on in the tank. I also have the version 2 camera and that may have something to do with it. I did notice that it doesn't handle the atinic all that well and adding the orange filter didn't help much, but what did was flipping it to night viewing mode.

 

[norfolkgarden]

Probably do have something set wrong. Pic is now switched to night vision. No idea which version it is.

I have resolution set lowest so the wrasse move a little more naturally.
Motionwise it doesn't look much worse than a friends cheap home security camera system.

I just use it as a quick "no total disasters" checker.
And the motion alerts to let us know when they were fed by the tank sitter. [emoji6]

Before the actinic kick on heavy it looks halfway decent under white lights.

Works well enough for the price point but probably not what OP is looking for.

 

[AlexStinson]

I use an amazon cloud cam. Picture is cropped so you dont see all my mess!

 

[rkpetersen]

I'm pretty happy with the Amcrest line of wifi cams. Unlike some, they are extensively configurable as far as image quality, network connection, etc. It's even possible to view the video stream in your Apex Fusion dashboard, if you have a mind to. :)

 

[Vahanyos]

I use the "Wife 2.0" camera. Provides live updates and the occasional "WHAT DO I PRESS" when my ATO starts dry sucking air

 

[ZoWhat]

Not sure of the bazillion brands out there but i would look for two things:

1) high quality GLASS LENS. even some hi end cellphones use plastic lenses that scratch and produce less than hi quality video during zooming

2) one that can OPTICALLY ZOOM, tilt and pan remotely. Noyhing better than to be able to ZOOM in on smthg you might think is a problem. No digital zoom that only enlarges 1x and blows up the 1x poc. Smthg that optically zooms within the camera

These 2 specs will most likely put you over $100




.

 

[ZaneTer]

EZVIZ mini O cam. Quite cheap and a good picture quality (1080). Night mode is excellent too. If you need pan and tilt then perhaps the C4S. You can even share the camera with up to 5 people.

 

[Mical]

I use this - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074PRG74F/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It zooms and pans and has night-vision

 

[debby]

I don't watch my tank, per se, but I have a repurposed iTouch and a software service called manything. I have the camera showing my water line (sump) and the float switch.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/19dp7ad8ma8ilzx/Screen Shot 2019-01-25 at 7.54.51 AM.png?dl=0

 

[EddieM]

I'm pretty happy with the Amcrest line of wifi cams. Unlike some, they are extensively configurable as far as image quality, network connection, etc. It's even possible to view the video stream in your Apex Fusion dashboard, if you have a mind to. :)

I use an Amcrest also (IP3M-941W) to monitor my tank. I have mine set up across the room and the image quality is great. However, I have not been able to successfully connect it to my Fusion dashboard, I use Amcrest Cloud app for viewing. I chose the Amcrest for many of the same reasons you mentioned above. When combined with their other products (like their NVR), it allows for a full home security system without monthly fees.

 

[Mical]

Yea, mine is the same way. I contacted Zmodo who makes these cameras about connecting to my Apex and their explanation is "it's a security camera and can only be connected through their cloud app". So that's how I view my tanks and sumps.

 

[rkpetersen]

I use an Amcrest also (IP3M-941W) to monitor my tank. I have mine set up across the room and the image quality is great. However, I have not been able to successfully connect it to my Fusion dashboard, I use Amcrest Cloud app for viewing. I chose the Amcrest for many of the same reasons you mentioned above. When combined with their other products (like their NVR), it allows for a full home security system without monthly fees.

I've not managed to integrate the HD video output from the Amcrest cams into Fusion. I'm not sure it's possible. However the camera's second video stream, which is low resolution MJPEG, can be integrated into the Fusion dash in a browser (but still won't work in the phone app.) You have to have your camera on a static IP address with port forwarding, and also set up DDNS for your home if you want access the camera remotely. Once you've set it up, this line in a Media tile entry will give an video image:

http://[cam sign in]:[cam password]@[ddns ip address]:[cam port number]/cgi-bin/mjpg/video.cgi?&subtype=1

 

[Paleozoic_reefer]

I use a Yi Home camera (main display) and a 360 Eye S (sump). Both were under $30 and come with great phone apps! They’ve been great when I go out of town so I can communicate exactly what needs to be done to the kids or tank sitter...

 

[biggie4jets]

I use a Wyze cam for remote viewing. They only cost $20 and let me see everything going on, however it may not be what you are looking for.

I also use a Wyze cam