Re: [APD] Canadian retail

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

A few tips re using aluminized mylar (reflective Mylar) for
an aquarium hood/reflector:

 This is a good application for 3M Super 77 Adhesive, which
comes in an aerosal and has very good weathering properties
and resistance to heat.

Reflective Mylar comes in a wide range of qualities. Be
sure your refelctive Mylar is the high quality material
with the aluminum material inside and not on an outer
surface. If it comes off on your fingers while handling it,
then it will probably eventually flake or degrade over your
aquarium. It doesn't matter very much how thick the Mylar
is. 

Also, hold a sheet or section up to a strong light and see
if it is opaque. While opacity is not a sufficient
condition for high reflectivity, it is a necessary run. The
more tansparent it is, the less light it will be
reflecting. Some very junky aluminized plastic is being
sold at 90%-reflective mylar. Hooey! If you can see light
through it, you're probably lucky if it is 40-50%
reflective.

Good luck,
Scott H.
--- Ben Hong <bkhong at rogers_com> wrote:
> > PS to Ben Hong - Sorry, I wasn't trying to be "rude" to
> you, but having 
> > been
> > involved in this hobby for so long, I've heard the line
> way too many 
> > times.
> > As Richard Sexton has pointed out, thinking outside the
> box (going to a
> > lighting distributor or a hardware store) can quite
> often get you what you
> > want rather than shopping exclusively at a LFS.
> 
> Understood, and no worries.  Just for the record, that's
> exactly the logic I 
> have been following.  It is at hardware stores and such
> that I was looking. 
> I turned to LFS' as a last resort.  If I were looking for
> big bulbs, I would 
> have had no problems.  But I'm looking for 13 watt
> straight pins.  That's 
> the problem.  Even among the small bulbs, they appear to
> be relatively rare. 
> In fact, of all the sites you pointed out to me, none of
> them carried that 
> configuration.  So, as I said before, I'm going to the
> home lighting shop to 
> pick up my 5 buck 2700k's.
> 
> Now the issue is building my own reflector.  I've got the
> mylar.  I don't 
> have the patience for the physics..;)
> B. 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Aquatic-Plants mailing list
> Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
> http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants
> 

The American Cichlid Association Annual Convention
Just the biggest aquarium hobby convention of the year (would Texas have it any other way?)
Ft. Worth, Texas July 21-24   http://www.aca2005.org/
_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants