Webcam to check on tank while away?

[BrettDS]

So I may be taking a trip for a week or two in a few weeks and I'm trying to figure out how to best take care of the tank while I'm gone. The tank pretty much runs itself right now... I have auto feeders, auto top off, and an auto water change system. I have the skimmer draining into a large container that doesn't need to be emptied frequently, so not much really needs to be done. I also have an apex with flood sensors and I'm going to be installing some float sensors when they arrive tomorrow, so I should be alerted to any potential problems.

I'll probably have someone stop by every 3 or 4 days to check on things and empty the skimmer. I'll make sure they're also available in case an urgent issue comes up, but I'm thinking I'd also like to get a camera or two that I can connect to with my phone and check on things. Especially because I have had issues in the past where the apex flood sensor triggered when it turned out to be a little splash of water and not an actual flood. I'd hate to send my friend over in a rush for a false alarm. With a camera if the the apex alerts me of a problem I may be able to connect to the camera and see if there's really an urgent issue or not.

So, given that it's cyber monday it's probably a good time to get a camera and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I'm thinking ideally something that can pan, tilt, and zoom would be nice.

Thanks,
Brett

 

[d2mini]

A Nest would be the easiest to setup.
But you will want it pretty close to the tank due to it's really wide angle lens.
No pan/tilt. Zoom is digital.

I also have a Foscam which I prefer.
Better resolution, not so wide angle, and it can zoom/pan/tilt.
It's a little trickier to set up though.

The nest I connect to through their own website. Easy Peasy.
For the Foscam I have a free account set up with no-ip.org and connect to that address. You'll have to go into your router settings to get this to work.

 

[BrettDS]

Thanks for the reply. I work in IT, so I'm not really worried about setting up the camera and making it accessible through my firewall. I have the nest thermostats and smoke detectors, but I didn't really like their camera options... they seem expensive and their cloud storage service is expensive as well, plus they don't pan or tilt.

Looks like Amazon has the foscam R2 on sale for $75 today, so I'll probably just grab that one. There are some cheap chinese ones for $50 or $60, but it seems like the foscam is better and not that much more.

 

[ktownhero]

The Nest cam is easy, but it's not worth it if you know what you are doing. Like you said, their cloud service is over-priced and they don't let you intercept the stream so it can be used with 3rd party applications. I bought it when it was still Dropcam a couple years ago and it's one of the few purchases in my life that I truly regret.

 

[stan80]

I bought a basic $45 rocam works great!

 

[d2mini]

I have the nest thermostat working right next to the Ecobee thermostat. I hate the nest. Lol
Their smoke detector is awesome though.

 

[tlc]

I have a foscam and cant ever seem be able to login with my phone app.

 

[njcastillo86]

Samsung Smart cam, I have two of the SNH-P6410BN works great. Easy set and can be viewed from anywhere very easy with no router configurations.

 

[GimpyFin]

The Reolink cameras off Amazon are pretty nice and inexpensive. One nice part is Reolink has a secure hosting platform in AWS that the cameras talk to so you don't need to port forward back through your router to get to it. After you configure it via web and setup logins, etc. you can load the app on your phone. Just input the serial # or scan the qr code on the camera and you can view it on your phone anywhere.

 

[canadianeh]

bumping this thread up as I am planning to have eyes on my tank when I am not home, and also for home security.

So is Dlink wifi cam is the best choice that comes with zoom and you are able to move it around when you are away from home?

I like Nest cam but it is pricey and does not even tilt, pan, and zoom.

 

[CafeReef]

I use two nest cams for quick monitoring. One in my stand to watch my sump and electronics, as well as one on my display.

My reason for using nestcams is because I have a nest protect smoke detector (handles humidity better) in my stand so I kept it all in the same family for simplicity.

 

[canadianeh]

I use two nest cams for quick monitoring. One in my stand to watch my sump and electronics, as well as one on my display.

My reason for using nestcams is because I have a nest protect smoke detector (handles humidity better) in my stand so I kept it all in the same family for simplicity.

It is nice design and all but for the price it should do more like tilt, pan, and zoom. The cloud fee is also very expensive.

You can get Dlink HD cam that tilt, pan, and zoom for much less.