Re: Using Mirror for lighting reflectors?

["Giancarlo" <gp at isaconsulting_com>]

I'm not sure if these are the reasons why you don't hear many people using
mirrors but I'm guessing one or more of the following could be part of the
reason. The first thing that comes to mind is weight and handling, cutting
and shaping glass to a particular shape you want the reflector. Mylar and
polished aluminum or SS are much easier to work with and you don't run the
risk of cutting yourself on sharp edges. Cost could be another factor, mylar
is quite cheap. This could be over the top but from one of my other hobbies,
astronomy, standard mirrors pose a problem with internal
reflections/refractions and poor transmission of certain wavelengths. In
traditional mirrors the back is mirrored, this means the light has to pass
through the glass first which will filter certain wavelengths such as UV and
also cause unwanted reflections, mylar shouldn't have this problem and is
cheaper than optical grade mirrors. I think I'm straying away from aquariums
though. Perhaps heat dissipation might be another negative for glass
mirrors?

Giancarlo Podio

--- Original Messgae ---
  a.. To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
  b.. Subject: Using Mirror for lighting reflectors?
  c.. From: ShellGirlK at aol_com
  d.. Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 05:13:08 EST

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I've been on some rather serious reef and plant groups and I've never heard
anyone mention using mirror for lighting reflectors. Why is this?
It seems to me in larger setups, and (like marine) setups requiring high
amounts of lighting that this would be a perfect solution to lighting loss
due to degradation of reflected light.

-Kris