Remote Tank Monitoring with IP Cameras & Home Assistant

There's nothing like pulling up a live view of your tank from your phone while you're at work. IP cameras paired with Home Assistant let you watch your fish, record time-lapses, get alerts on unusual activity, and keep an eye on equipment — all remotely.

What You'll Need

Wyze Cam v3 or Tuya-compatible camera — 1080p with night vision
Home Assistant — already set up (see getting started guide)
Optional: SD card for local recording
Optional: Camera mount or suction cup for positioning

Camera Recommendations

Camera	Price	Best For	HA Integration
Wyze Cam v3	~$25	Budget, great night vision	Wyze integration or RTSP firmware
Tuya Smart Camera	~$20-30	Direct Tuya/HA integration	Tuya integration
Reolink E1	~$35	Pan/tilt, local storage	Reolink integration
ESP32-CAM	~$8	DIY, ESPHome native	ESPHome (no cloud)

Step 1: Position the Camera

Camera placement matters for aquarium viewing:

Front angle — eye-level with the tank, aimed through the front glass
Side angle — captures depth and fish swimming patterns
Top-down — sees the full tank surface, great for feeding time
Avoid backlighting — don't point the camera at a window behind the tank

Tips:

Use night vision (IR mode) to watch nocturnal behavior without disturbing fish
Position the camera slightly off-center to reduce glass reflections
A small LED behind the camera (not aimed at the glass) reduces glare

Step 2: Connect to Home Assistant

Wyze Camera (RTSP Method)

Flash Wyze RTSP firmware (or use Wyze integration)
Add to HA as a generic camera:

configuration.yaml

# configuration.yaml
camera:
  - platform: generic
    name: "Aquarium Camera"
    stream_source: "rtsp://username:password@192.168.1.100/live"
    still_image_url: "http://192.168.1.100/snapshot.jpg"

Tuya Camera

Add camera in the Tuya Smart app
HA discovers it automatically through the Tuya integration
Entity appears as camera.tuya_aquarium_camera

ESPHome Camera (DIY)

Build a dedicated tank camera with an ESP32-CAM module:

configuration.yaml

# esphome configuration
esphome:
  name: aquarium-camera

esp32:
  board: esp32cam

camera:
  - platform: esp32_camera
    name: "Aquarium Camera"
    resolution: 1024x768
    jpeg_quality: 12
    max_framerate: 15fps
    idle_framerate: 5fps

Step 3: Dashboard Live View

Add a camera card to your aquarium dashboard:

configuration.yaml

type: picture-glance
title: "Aquarium Live"
camera_image: camera.aquarium_camera
camera_view: live
entities:
  - entity: sensor.inkbird_aquarium_temperature
    name: "Temp"
  - entity: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
    name: "Light"
  - entity: switch.tuya_air_pump
    name: "Air"

This gives you a live camera feed with temperature and equipment status overlaid.

Step 4: Time-Lapse Recording

Capture a frame every few minutes to build a time-lapse of your tank throughout the day:

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Aquarium Time-Lapse Capture"
    description: "Capture a snapshot every 5 minutes during daylight"
    trigger:
      - platform: time_pattern
        minutes: "/5"
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
        state: "on"
    action:
      - service: camera.snapshot
        target:
          entity_id: camera.aquarium_camera
        data:
          filename: "/config/www/aquarium-timelapse/{{ now().strftime('%Y%m%d_%H%M%S') }}.jpg"

Then use ffmpeg to compile the snapshots into a video:

configuration.yaml

# Run this in the HA terminal or as a shell command
ffmpeg -framerate 30 -pattern_type glob -i '/config/www/aquarium-timelapse/*.jpg' -c:v libx264 -pix_fmt yuv420p timelapse.mp4

Step 5: Smart Alerts

Movement Detection After Hours

Get alerted if there's unusual activity (escaped fish, cat on the tank):

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Aquarium — After Hours Motion Alert"
    description: "Alert if camera detects motion when lights are off"
    trigger:
      - platform: state
        entity_id: binary_sensor.aquarium_camera_motion
        to: "on"
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
        state: "off"
    action:
      - service: camera.snapshot
        target:
          entity_id: camera.aquarium_camera
        data:
          filename: "/config/www/aquarium-alert.jpg"
      - service: notify.mobile_app_your_phone
        data:
          title: "Aquarium Motion Detected"
          message: "Motion detected at the tank while lights are off."
          data:
            image: "/local/aquarium-alert.jpg"

Daily Tank Photo

Automatically capture a photo of your tank every day at the same time — great for tracking plant growth and fish health over time:

configuration.yaml

automation:
  - alias: "Daily Tank Photo"
    description: "Capture a snapshot at 2 PM daily"
    trigger:
      - platform: time
        at: "14:00:00"
    condition:
      - condition: state
        entity_id: switch.tuya_aquarium_light
        state: "on"
    action:
      - service: camera.snapshot
        target:
          entity_id: camera.aquarium_camera
        data:
          filename: "/config/www/aquarium-daily/{{ now().strftime('%Y%m%d') }}.jpg"

Multi-Tank Setup

For multiple tanks, use one camera per tank and create a multi-camera dashboard:

configuration.yaml

type: horizontal-stack
cards:
  - type: picture-entity
    entity: camera.tank_1_camera
    name: "29G Community"
    show_state: false
  - type: picture-entity
    entity: camera.tank_2_camera
    name: "10G Shrimp"
    show_state: false
  - type: picture-entity
    entity: camera.tank_3_camera
    name: "55G Cichlid"
    show_state: false

Tips

IR night vision reveals nocturnal fish behavior you never see during the day
Disable the camera IR LED if it causes fish stress — some fish react to the faint red glow
Mount securely — a camera falling into the tank is a bad day for everyone
Local storage via SD card is more reliable than cloud-only
Clean the glass where the camera points — algae on the glass ruins the image

What's Next?

Build Your Dashboard — add the camera feed to your complete aquarium dashboard
Scene Control with Lutron Pico — one-button "viewing mode" with perfect lighting
Smart Power Management — control all tank equipment from one place