When purchasing aquatic disease monitoring cameras, aquaculture farmers need to maintain a rational attitude, reject "blind following", and determine the appropriate equipment grade based on their own aquaculture scenarios. For example, if they are breeding ordinary freshwater fish (such as grass carp and silver carp) with a small breeding scale and limited budget, choosing basic equipment in the low-end range is sufficient to meet their needs, and at this time, they only need to focus on the imaging clarity and waterproof performance of the equipment. If they are breeding high-value marine fish (such as sea bass and yellow croaker) with a medium-scale operation and aim to reduce disease losses, intelligent equipment in the mid-range is the optimal choice, and priority should be given to ensuring that the equipment has AI disease recognition and multi-parameter monitoring functions. When the breeding scale exceeds 200 mu, or when rare species are raised and intelligent management is pursued, high-end equipment can be considered. However, before that, it is necessary to communicate customized needs with manufacturers in advance, such as training on recognition models for specific diseases.

In addition, calculating the "long-term account" and emphasizing cost-effectiveness rather than simply pursuing low prices is also a key point in the purchasing process. Although low-end equipment has a low initial procurement cost, its service life is short, usually needing replacement every 1-2 years. Moreover, relying entirely on manual judgment of diseases easily delays prevention and control opportunities, which may lead to greater losses. In contrast, mid-range equipment has a service life of 3-5 years, and its intelligent early warning function can effectively reduce the probability of disease outbreaks, making it more cost-effective in the long run. For instance, a mid-range device priced at 15,000 yuan can easily cover its cost if it successfully avoids a small-scale disease (which would cause losses of about 50,000-100,000 yuan). Therefore, it is recommended that farmers prioritize the strategy of "taking mid-range equipment as the mainstay and upgrading on demand" to avoid purchasing inferior equipment due to the temptation of low prices.

At the same time, farmers also need to pay attention to "hidden costs" to prevent later investments from exceeding the budget. When purchasing, comprehensive consideration should be given to hidden costs in terms of installation, operation and maintenance, and upgrades. Regarding installation costs, the installation of equipment for deep-water aquaculture requires a professional team, with a cost of approximately 500-2000 yuan per unit. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm with the manufacturer in advance whether the installation service is included in the equipment price. As for operation and maintenance costs, the annual expenses for sensor calibration, equipment cleaning, and fault repair are about 5%-10% of the total equipment price. Hence, when choosing a brand, it is more reliable to give priority to brands with more after-sales outlets and longer warranty periods. In terms of upgrade costs, if there is a need to add AI recognition functions or sensors later, it is imperative to confirm whether the equipment supports modular upgrades to avoid unnecessary economic losses caused by having to repurchase equipment due to inability to upgrade.

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