tank reflection

[jsalame]

Does anyone have information on the amount of light that is reflected off the glass/acrylic of tanks? Obviously I'm interested in the light which is generated in the hood of the tank and reflected back into the tank.

Also, I'm curious if anyone has tried to add a reflective material to the glass/acrylic to keep more light in the tank. Something akin to window tinting in reverse. Any pros/cons for doing this?

Thanks for your toughts!

[Mr James]

Are you using a reflector with your lights?? The inside of my canopy is painted white, but I use three parabolic reflectors with my MH's to direct the light into the tank.

[skeeter_ca]

I suppose a mirrored type of film would work and reflect the light back into the tank, But at a cost of reduced visibility. And we don't like that idea do we.

[jsalame]

Mr. James - Yes, I do use reflectors on my current light configuration and the interior of the hood is lined with white melamine. The lighting configuration is fine except I'm planning on replacing my VHOs with T5s while keeping my HQI MH lamp.

Aquadw - I agree that adding a material to the acrylic/glass would reduce visibility. It probably isn't a good idea to use on a viewing tank but it may help in a frag tank.

I asked the question because I was checking out some info on fiber optics and started thinking about how to apply the concepts of shooting photons down glass to keeping photons in a tank. The only thing I can think of using is window tint.

Some of the smart folks on this site can probably tell me the correct terms and formulas for figuring out how much light is reflected back into the tank by the acrylic/glass.