Light Reflector

[Elgonte]

I noticed that the larger strip light petsmart gave me has a reflector behind the light. Can I upgrade my cheap lights a little bit by putting tinfoil behind the light? Has anyone tried this? How about any concerns against it or alternative materials? Would it even help? Thanks.

 

[Yeaulman]

I tried tinfoil once.... and it did NOTHING! I suggest spending a little money and getting a polished reflective piece of aluminium if you want to see any difference. I did and am glad I did so.

 

[daza]

If you can find some silver fablon, like I recently did here then I have found that to work suprisingly well. Or some Mylar would probably be better (supposidly 96% reflective or something like that).

I guess the polished aluminium idea would be good too.

 

[Doggfather]

I tried tinfoil one but it got extremly hot and so i had to take it off...it didn't really do much for the light, i was thinking of getting one of those reflectors from the LFS but a member of the forum (forget the username, sorry ) ) did an experiment measuring the intensity of the light with and without a reflector added and the results were marginal, not really worth the added expense of buying one...

 

[StarOrbs]

I have aluminum foil for better relection and it does help its not as good as mylar but it's a good solution if you don't want to spend the extra money.

 

[tomsteer]

i use foil in a couple of my tanks, works a lot better if u crunch it up first

 

[NickT]

tinfoil absorbs light.......even metal painetd white reflects better. try mylar..

 

[andywg]

Mylar is the way forward, and is cheap as chips on ebay...

 

[abstract]

old topic, but what do you use to hold the mylar on to the hood with??

 

[fufanu360]

ya tinfoil blows, white paint works better, you could use silicon i guess anything sticky

 

[andywg]

I just used No Nails (basically a strong PVA wood glue) it's worked fairly well. I guess a staple gun would work well to hold the edges down (they can roll up).

If you can spare it and you took the time to prep the wood, you may have great success with sealant... My No Nails has morked well so far though.

HIH