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Re: Reflector measurements
Ivo,
I appreciate your post but wanted to add a recent experience re: lighting and
reflectors.
I had 2 nearly new double strip Perfecto (white paint) reflectors lighting a
29 gallon tank. I was lamenting my green rotala macranda. My first step in
increasing lighting was to foil my two double strips. There was an immediate
change in coloring on the plant. In fact it turned red.
The white reflective part doesn't extend to the bottom of the strip, and I
reasoned the black portion might be wasting some of the light. I foiled the
whole thing, including the white reflector, for simplicity. So I really can't
conclude that the foil is superior to the white reflector, but it appears it
may be on these strips.
Sylvia
> The important point I want to emphasize here is the large gain provided by
> the expensive reflector. It more than triples the light, as compared with
> a no-reflector situation. A white diffusive reflector does provide a
> more modest gain, of the order of 1.6-1.8, not bad if we consider its
> cost (nothing). The aluminum foil reflector, on the other hand, is barely
> worth the trouble. Aluminum foil would possibly make a good reflector only
> if
> it can be laid out smoothly as a polished mirror. The wrinkles on the foil
> turn it out effectively into a diffusive reflector, and a bad one...