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Re: Dana Riddle Article - October FAMA
On Tue, 26 Sep 2000, Victor Eng wrote:
> I just read the Dana Riddle article on how Eggcrate can increase the
> lighting in a tank by 25%. Apperently the eggcrate has a thin side &
> a thick side. If you put the [thick] side facing up this causes the increased
> light effect. Mr. Riddle uses a 400w MH but it has to be placed 3-4 inches
> above the eggcrate. Anyone have any experience with this or have any
> thoughts?
I can't figure out any mechanism that would allow lighting egg crate to
increase light intensity compared to an open-top tank with the same
lighting.
I've been using lighting egg crate as tank covers on fluorescent-lit tanks
for several years. The egg crate I use doesn't fit Dana Riddle's
description; it's white with 1/2 inch squares and the plastic is the same
thickness everywhere. Compared to a completely open-top tank, the egg
crate may reduce the lighting a little, but not a lot. Compared to a
glass top (or at least my former dusty, encrusted glass tops) the egg
crate is a big improvement.
Charley Bay reports elsewhere in this digest that evaporation rates with
egg crate covers are as high as in open-top tanks. I don't find that to
be true in my tanks; for me the evaporation rate in tanks covered with egg
crate is between the rates I get with glass covers and the rate I get with
no cover. My light fixtures cover all but a few inches of the top of my
tanks and that may explain the difference between Charley's observations
and mine. My tanks are covered by the light fixtures, with or without the
egg crate.
Increased evaporation lets my egg crate-covered tanks run cooler in the
summer than they did with glass covers. On the down side, I think it was
Dave Wittaker who pointed out once that jumping fish can injure themselves
on the edges of the egg crate.
Roger Miller