Light reflectors

[PedriCronje]

Hi, I tried to post this here, but it ended up in the Coral Propagation and Aquaculture section . (Can a admin please delete it from there?)

Anyway,

Can I use mirrors as Light reflectors, and has anyone ever tried these. The space on my tanks is limited (12" x 12"), and I'm currently using 2 10W t8's.

Thanks

Pedri

[indydog1]

tagging along on this one.

[glxtrix]

this has been a topic few have touched on....from a guessing stand point my reef club thought that it was a bad idea. mainly because the reflective property of a mirror is only made by paint. And its possible that the paint could bubble under the heat of the lamps. But seeing as tho you only have 2 T-8's, I guess you could give it a try. Personally tho I'd rather get some reflective metal from HD or lowes and make my own reflector to fit.

[PedriCronje]

Thanks glxtrix,

The reason that I'm thinking of using Mirrors, are as follows: Around here, I need to order reflectors from a local supplier, who then tells me that I need to wait up to a month for the reflectors to arrive as no one stocks them.

I'll give it a trial, and let you know what happened.

Thanks

Pedri

[dsanfilippo]

it is not the paint that is reflective, it is a thin layer of metal plated to the mirror, that is then painted to protect the plating from scratches.

[TomRep]

I've also read mirrors aren't good to use as the light has to travel through the glass twice (into the glass to get to the mirror, then back through the glass to be reflected) and greatly reduces the stregth of the light. Not sure if it lowers par or what exactly, just what I've read.
tom

[DarG]

I think I read that white paint is a better reflector than a mirror. Id just save some money on the mirror, use white paint while waiting on some actual reflectors.

[PedriCronje]

Thanks all,

Maybe I should just wait for the reflectors, it seems that the mirror Idea isn't as good as I thought.

Pedri