Polished Reflectors

[killudead]

I looked through the threads to see if anyone has ever bothered to take the time to polish the metal reflectors that are used in some hoods?
Is it worth it?
Does it hurt the fish?

 

[Mikaila31]

I haven't tried polishing reflectors that I have. I bought a DIY kit to build the hood for my 4 foot tank. They came with some really fancy reflectors that the company claims are much more effective than other reflectors, because of the way they are bent and they are more shinny. There must be something special about them since they made up about half the cost of the kit. That hood does light better than any of similar market hoods I've seen. I'm not sure if it is the actual hood or the bulbs that make the difference.

The reflectors are very mirror like.

 

[Rooster]

Mine just get a wet rag - if they are lucky ! I would imagine a polish wont do any harm - as long as its rinsed to death afterwards (to remove any polish)
But bear in mind that they are all (?) aluminium, and not so easy to polish !

 

[killudead]

Mine just get a wet rag - if they are lucky ! I would imagine a polish wont do any harm - as long as its rinsed to death afterwards (to remove any polish)
But bear in mind that they are all (?) aluminium, and not so easy to polish !

I think some standard rubbing compound or even some of the brown metal polish would work.
Start with low grit and work to get higher. A little elbow grease and you should be good. I am going to check it out and post some pics.

 

[Mikaila31]

AHsupply.com sells the kits and reflectors I was talking about earlier. They sell just the reflectors too. They go into a lot of detail on why they are so much better than others and blah, blah, blah...... You may find some of the stuff interesting.