reflector alternative

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mfkguy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 10, 2011
14
0
0
Flat Rock Michigan
Was just wanting to share my idea. Dont know if anyone else has used it, but there is a shiny metallic duct tape, some kind of tin or something. Anyway, lined the inside of my canopies of.2 different tank with it, and even buffed it with some aluminum wheel polish(cleaned it off afterwards really well) and it shines like you wouldnt believe. It looks to have really increased the light in the tank a lot. I'll get pics of so you can see. Also works great inside the casing of the casing of flourescent lights. Way more reflective then tin foil or lol a baking sheet i seen posted somewhere. Watch for pics. A roll of this stuff is like $6 at HD or Lowes, you get a TON!
:nutkick:
 
Sorry it took me so long to get the pics up, been working a lot of overtime. But here they are. I just used a piece of scrap wood to show the concept, mostly because i didnt take pictures of either of my canopies before I thought of doing this.

Here is the Before.....
before.JPG
and this is the after....
after.JPG

You can see there is a pretty good difference between the two pictures. any kind of metal polish would work, just make sure you wipe it clean afterwards, so you dont introduce any kind of chemicals into the water. And there you have it, a simple reflective solution for a mere $6, thats what the roll of tape cost me at home depot. Hope this gets used by someone, I know I love how bright my tanks are!

before.JPG

after.JPG
 
i did something similar but using mirrors instead, i didn't have to polish anything and just glued onto the canopy, resulting in more lights reflected.
 
Regular flat white paint would give you far better result than either option listed here.
 
apriliarider15 said:
Regular flat white paint would give you far better result than either option listed here.
Click to expand...

Flat white paint is a good option, but I'm curious why you would say it is "far better".

Flat white paint gives a reflectivity of ~85-90%. Aluminum has a reflectivity of ~94-98%.
 
Dan F said:
Flat white paint is a good option, but I'm curious why you would say it is "far better".

Flat white paint gives a reflectivity of ~85-90%. Aluminum has a reflectivity of ~94-98%.
Click to expand...
Dan F. is spot on. Yes white is a very reflective surface, but i had painted the inside of my canopies with white 1st, and it was bright, but this tape is even more reflective then the white. The reason white seems bright is because it breaks the wavelength of the light, therefore its seems really bright. Using a reflective tape or even aluminum foil as a reflector and then having some white in your tank would IMO be best. Mostly because the light reflecting off of the shiny surface of the tape or foil would help direct the light, then the white object (i.e. white rocks, pvc, or substrate) would break the wavelength and then seem even brighter. I actually saw that on mythbusters, when the did the ancient reflector thing in the parking garage. Jamie's white shirt made the room glow when he stepped into the lights path, and the result was brighter light making the room brighter. And even those who feel the need to constantly disagree just because they have they're own ways, its science so go argue with that. I know that there will end up being a ton more people to disagree, but hey, its human nature to go with what you know, so I dont blame ya!
 
I have often thought about the mirror paint they have for rc cars the only problem you would have with that is you would have to paint it on a thin translucent plastic since its not meant to be painted on the surface but rather behind the surface.

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