Experiences with video cams for tanks?

[isseym328]

Howdy,

I will be going on a business trip in a month and don’t trust my wife 100% to take care of the tank. Partially joking. Does anyone have recommendations on an economical product I am thinking at least two cams that I can view through a mobile app. Any recs will be appreciated!

 

[kharmaguru]

I think the common choice is the Wyze cameras off amazon because they're cheap and work. I don't have one myself.

 

[discotu]

I just Repurpose my arlo cameras. I'll have one on a tripod for FTS and one to see the sump so I can see the skimmer and water level. Arlo is already on several generations so you can probably get an earlier version for cheap used.

But none of this matters unless you have a fish buddy on call for emergencies!

 

[o2manyfish]

Not any way close to economical - But I love my Axis Cameras - V5915 amd V5925 - Broadcast quality with a webserver built in. Full PTZ with 20-30x optical zoom - So you can zoom in to the polyp level.

Wait till the lights are on after 4pm

o2manyfish.com

and

o2manyfish.com/right

Dave B

 

[weelo111]

Go with the Wyze Pan and insert a 64GB in the memory slots. You'll have 7 days of recording to view back if needed and the Pan ver allows you to move the camera around.

 

[alton]

Another vote for Wyze. After losing $1,000 of coral and fish due to cleaning people at work I installed one.

 

[isseym328]

Wow this is great info thanks everyone. It looks like I can take a look at the Wyze/Arlo which is more economical and has been around, but also the Axis as I did consider been able to see polyp level clarity. Good call on the sump I wasn't even thinking about that meaning I might need 3 cams vs. 2.

I'm not too worried about water parameters but more about corals falling on the sand upside down, or equipment not working properly which are culprits in past losses while I was on vacation. I probably don't need a reef buddy (I do have one close by) to fix these items just need to know asap so I can get someone to fix.

Another question for the experts. Is there a way to view the tank when the lights are out with the cams? Not sure if this is necessary but thinking about when the tank lights are not on during the early parts of the day I might not be able to see anything in the dark.

 

[m0nkie]

Not any way close to economical - But I love my Axis Cameras - V5915 amd V5925 - Broadcast quality with a webserver built in. Full PTZ with 20-30x optical zoom - So you can zoom in to the polyp level.

Wait till the lights are on after 4pm

o2manyfish.com

and

o2manyfish.com/right

Dave B

this is really awesome! what is the monthly cost to running this setup? to keep videos up 24/7

 

[discotu]

Another question for the experts. Is there a way to view the tank when the lights are out with the cams? Not sure if this is necessary but thinking about when the tank lights are not on during the early parts of the day I might not be able to see anything in the dark.

this will be difficult without some form of visible light IN the tank. Digital cameras tend to get super "noisy" or grainy in really low light so the image might not be usable. That's why a lot of security cameras like Arlo include a built in IR illuminator which gives you that signature black and white "night vision" look. Keep in mind the IR illuminator on these cameras will not work to "light" up the inside of the tank.. Instead it'll look like you're shining a flash light into a mirror as it bounces off the tank glass so you'll have to disable it in order to pick up any light in the tank. The good thing is that digital camera sensors are actually pretty sensitive so a strip of moon lights might be enough to give you a usable image.

 

[o2manyfish]

this is really awesome! what is the monthly cost to running this setup? to keep videos up 24/7

Technically there is no monthly cost.

The cameras have webservers built into them. So all I need is a static IP on the web and then anyone can access the camera. Because of my work I have Spectrum Business Class Internet service at the house so I have the static IP's.

To make it o2manyfish.com is just the same price as buying a domain and then having whomever you buy your domain thru set the DNS entries for the domain to the IP address at the house.

We run some crazy network gear at the house, but any firewall will let you open the couple of ports the camera use for public web access.

So after all that jibber jabber, the monthly cost for the public camera is ZERO.

If I wanted to stream live to Youtube, or other WebCam servers there are plugins you can buy for the camera - but those are hundreds of dollars and some have monthly fees as well.

Dave B