Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Setting up another system and i want to have a camera full time in the fish tank. It would be mounted so it can be removed and cleaned every now and then. This would also save installing a window for viewing the fish.

So I am after recommendations from members who have done this or know people who have. Brand, model number, where purchased and price would be some of the information required. Will be setting up an old Toshiba laptop which will be the heart of the future control centre once my lad works it all out for me. Cheers

I don't think many of the waterproof webcams are designed for being submerged. More for being outdoors, and having rain protection.

I think you'd need to get one similar to this:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-LED-Wate ... 20ddb97c22

But webcams are quite simple. I'd still coat the whole thing (apart from the lense) with silkaflex, just to be sure.

Tell your son to have fun setting it up

You might find the wifi range very short underwater too.

...and shortened even more if the water has much salinity - best to have an antenna out of the water.

Waterproof housings are available for many cameras if you cant find a suitably waterproof camera.

Can be run from cable to laptop as the laptop will be set up there full time

There are cams made for ice fishing so you can see the fish bite your hook or look for bottom structure and weed beds. Some send out a wifi signal that all your buddies can watch on their smartphones within 100 m. Others have cable to connect to a monitor or recording device.

Marcum This one will pan so you can get a 360 deg view.
http://www.rapala.com/marcum/underwater ... MPC01.html

Vexilar
http://www.amazon.com/Vexilar-FP100-Pho ... B00CJJ9XYO

Both Vexilar and Marcum are very dependable products with good CS. There are many options. There are some cheaper Chinese products that are not very dependable.

A cheap ebay endoscope / boroscope is also an option. They will cost AU$20-30, but will onl give about 640 res. at the most.
The resolution is not great, but they are ip66+, which is a bonus vs. waterproofing yourself.

The problem will be that the one i bought had a very small range of vision in low lighting (its own lighting) and when it is dark, it will switch lights on which might annoy the fish.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/The-First-5- ... 4f1&_uhb=1

One way would be to buy a $12 web cam and a $2 UV filter second hand at a camera store as the front window. People use them as clear glass lens protectors, and they are everywhere. Then just make a PVC box, fit the camera and the UV lens, and smother it in silicone, tie a brick to it, and drop it in. I guess you would also need a wireless router if you wanted wifi, but I think they are inexpensive.


I'm making one for my boat as well so I can see the fishies before I get to them although I wont bother making it wireless because I'll have laptop right there as well.

The UV filter being for an SLR camera. They tend to be around 2 1/2 inches in diameter so would offer a lot of free space for silicone.