Best cam/webcam/network cam to remotely monitor the tank

[arch85]

Goooddd Moooorrrnniingggg reefers!

My Hawaii trip is a mere 1.5 weeks away and I was curious, do any of you use any sort of web cams or network cams to look at your fish tank remotely?

While I do trust my parents and in-laws, I would love to be able to share my fish tank live-feed with the wild fish in the ocean while snorkeling ... so what do you guys use? any recommendations?

 

[FinsUp!]

Subbing... I've also been wanting to get a cam to set up so I and others can watch my tank.

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[Gardiner]

I have two webcams on my tank, and one on my sump. I like the FosCams cams because they can rotate/cheap/wireless/have audio/and have IR emitters for night mode. In conjunction with the Live Cams Pro app on my iPhone I can see all 3 cams at once.

I'm going to Kuai on May 12th. Where in Hawaii are you going??

 

[arch85]

Oh nice! Going to the big island on the xxxx (pming you the info)

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[JTM4UG]

Im interested in remotely controlling a tank( monitoring,dosing,etc) if anyone does this shoot me a pm it woukd be very helpful

 

[arch85]

Im interested in remotely controlling a tank( monitoring,dosing,etc) if anyone does this shoot me a pm it woukd be very helpful

I just setup a AquaController lite recently -- and by recently, I mean a couple of nights ago. Based on what I've seen, you can control anything and everything from there. I'd look into that.

 

[arch85]

I have two webcams on my tank, and one on my sump. I like the FosCams cams because they can rotate/cheap/wireless/have audio/and have IR emitters for night mode. In conjunction with the Live Cams Pro app on my iPhone I can see all 3 cams at once.

I'm going to Kuai on May 12th. Where in Hawaii are you going??

Do you use these? : http://www.amazon.com/Foscam-FI8909...iewing/dp/B00429NVQA/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

or http://www.amazon.com/Foscam-FI8905W-Outdoor-Wireless-Viewing/dp/B003YUEF0E

Ideally I'm looking for something very small, that I can kind of hide somewhere ... our tank is in the living room so have to deal with everyone yelling at me when I put "clutter" here and there lol

 

[dannyp02908]

For the cams, if any of you have fios, look into their home monitoring. They have cameras you can watch from the net. With webcams, you need to always know your IP address (public IP, not internal) and have ports forwarded in your router. Your public IP is not static so checking it often or setting up Dynamic DNS are your options.

PS: I dont work for Verizon. Only mentioning a product i think is cool.

 

[dcforester1]

I know someone on here that has Logitech wireless cams, they are pretty cool. I am thinking of getting 2 for my tank

 

[MrX]

Your public IP is not static so checking it often or setting up Dynamic DNS are your options.

Not 100% true. All depends on your provider and what you pay them for. Most home internet now-a-days does use dynamic addressing, but there are still a lot of options to get static IPs. Even if you do have a dynamic ip address it may not change all that often; again, depends on your provider.

I have Charter and my dynamic address almost never changes. When it does it is usually because of system maintenance or extended downtimes (weather related or me turning stuff off for vacation or something).

 

[JayM]

static IP's for the home are very expensive; ISP's usually make you upgrade to bu$ine$$ cla$$.

FIOS already gets too much from me every month. I like the webcam ideas though.......

 

[dcforester1]

static IP's for the home are very expensive; ISP's usually make you upgrade to bu$ine$$ cla$$.

FIOS already gets too much from me every month. I like the webcam ideas though.......

Jay we are now offering home video monitoring, for a small fee. Cant you just set up an account on DNS like the Apex and check it like that? The reefer I know with the cameras I think thats how he does it. The HD video is amazing.

 

[dannyp02908]

MrX - I know you can get statics at home, but as mentioned is quite pricey and a possible upgrade. And for the Dynamic IPs that rarely change, they are referred to as persistent IPs. But it would be that day when you really wanted to see your fish or check your Apex that your IP changed. DynamicDNS will solve this but you still need to have ports in your router forwarded. Some may be uncomfortable with that as it opens your home network to a potential security issue.

 

[arch85]

I think I'm gonna do it ... and post the link up here for everyone to see .... it'll force me to keep the glass cleaner to save me from the wrath of fellow reefers lol

 

[dannyp02908]

You are doing this to view a camera webpage from the internet right? Another thing to consider is that an upload over port 80 (http) is often blocked by ISPs. You may need to use a non-standard port.

 

[arch85]

You are doing this to view a camera webpage from the internet right? Another thing to consider is that an upload over port 80 (http) is often blocked by ISPs. You may need to use a non-standard port.

I have my apex running on port 80, so I guess ComCast hasn't blocked it; but yeah, if they do block it I can always just change the port; not a big deal.

Bought the cams on amazon -- shd get delivered tomorrow; so I can setup everything else on my apex, along with the cams over the weekend, and test it out for a few days before our trip can't wait!!!!!!

 

[dannyp02908]

Thats kool. I had Cox back in the day and port 80 was blocked. They did it so that a business couldnt get a cheaper circuit and run a webpage. I have Fios and havnt tried port 80 simply because i have no reason yet. Maybe when i get a controller.

Since you have your apex on 80 and you only have one external IP, you will still need to use a different port.

 

[arch85]

Thats kool. I had Cox back in the day and port 80 was blocked. They did it so that a business couldnt get a cheaper circuit and run a webpage. I have Fios and havnt tried port 80 simply because i have no reason yet. Maybe when i get a controller.

Since you have your apex on 80 and you only have one external IP, you will still need to use a different port.

Heh, I was actually thinking about doing some hacking around, and creating a web page with frames; couple of frames displaying my cams, and one frame with the apex page. probably won't have time to do it all over the weekend but I'll see how far I can go

 

[dannyp02908]

Thats actually a cool idea. Both the internal port 80s on a webpage that displays them and then the external port 80 showing that page.

Im not familiar with apex but i would make sure visitors to your camera can not modify any settings on the apex. Not sure if that is possible but if it is, something to consider since people visiting your page will see your apex.

 

[arch85]

Very true... Didn't think about that. I'm sure there has to be a display only setting... That'd be so sick!

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