Can you use magnified glass panels to increase the light going into your tank?

[AMIFL]

Just curios. Anybody try this?

[qfrisco]

That's a great question, and I have no clue what the answer is. My guess, though, is it wouldn't help because the focal length of the magnifier would have to match the distance from it to where your corals are, and since the magnifier "focuses" the light, the area of focused light would be too narrow to be useful.

[Hal]

Magnifiers will not increase the AMOUNT of light going into your tank, but they would increase intensity while decreasing coverage. Think of it as a garden hose. It's going to pretty much put out the same flowrate, but you can increase the pressure by covering half the nozzle. Same with magnifiers. You can't increase the total amount of light. That's a function of the light coming out of your bulbs. All you can change is how you distribute it throughout the tank.

[atvdave]

IMO it would only re-direct the light going through it. In other words it would just re-direct all the light (depending on the shape of the glass) to one spot.

However I don't think it will add any more PAR's, just re-direct them.

[McTeague]

Fresnel lens would be the way to go with this concept.

Be sure to add some Old Bay and Thyme to your tank for the best results... :)

[IslandCrow]

It doesn't increase the light, it focuses it. You're also going to attenuate some of that light through the lense. That significantly smaller area where the light is directed will get an increase, but on the whole, you'll actually experience a significant decrease in light output.

[mm949]

i think it would be like frying ants on the sidewalk......ah the good ol days...lol

[slapshot16]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11698839#post11698839 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mm949
i think it would be like frying ants on the sidewalk......ah the good ol days...lol

That is exactly what I thought of too. LOL