DIY reflector material

[shane3fan]

Forgive me if someone has posted this before, I havent seen it.

Over the weekend I upgraded my 2 10 gallon tank lights with some reflective tape. I dont have any way to measure the output other than my eyes--but I could see a difference after installing it. Time will tell if it changes plant growth or algea I suppose.

The hoods I have are standard one tube 15w T8 hoods that came with the 10 gallon kits. They have a white plastic surround for the bulbs. All I did was remove the bulb, and add in a couple of strips of 3M reflective foil tape. It is pretty much like using aluminum foil I suppose--but it is smoother and easier to install.

I dont have any pictures of the hoods-I will try to take some later this week if I remember. This is the tape I used--can be purchased at most hardware stores for around $5/roll

http://www.tapecase.com/p.691.197/3m...foil-tape.aspx

[i love planted tanks]

great idea might use this when i make my own light fixture,if you see the difference in the brightness in your tank then there is a great improvement

[Hoppy]

That tape is a good find! I knew it existed because I saw it being used a lot when I used to work in the airline maintenance field. It should be about as good as we can get for DIY reflectors.

[g33tar]

I used this on the plastic bulb holders on the underside of my old hoods that had gone from white to yellow over many-a-year.

Pulled the back off...slap it on. Bam. It worked great. Ive got it behind all of of the bulbs on my hood lighting now.