Byron Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I use black eggcrate over the top of my aquariums to allow for cooling and it keeps the fish from jumping. I have always cut a large hole in the middle to let the light (150W MH) get through better, but I have been getting told lately by fellow reefers to not cut the hole out because the eggcrate actually directs the light better to my coral. I feel skeptical about this and I'm curious to know what you all think. Link to comment
texass2323 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I use black eggcrate over the top of my aquariums to allow for cooling and it keeps the fish from jumping. I have always cut a large hole in the middle to let the light (150W MH) get through better, but I have been getting told lately by fellow reefers to not cut the hole out because the eggcrate actually directs the light better to my coral. I feel skeptical about this and I'm curious to know what you all think. I had egg crate and the light actually looked lke it wasnt getting through.. As soon as I took it off my tank looked brighter.. Link to comment
evilc66 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 The eggcrate will create a hotspot directly under the bulb, but brightness will quickly deminish the further away from center you get. Think about how light will radiate from the center of the bulb. As the angle from center increases, there is more and more of a chance that the light is striking a vertical surface of the eggcrate and not passing through to the tank. I say your method is sound. Link to comment
neanderthalman Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 I don't think cutting a hole in the center will have much effect at all. As evil pointed out, the effect is much stronger at larger angles relative from center. It's like a very poor collimator. The light is already passing through the center just fine, it's the edges that have issues. Cutting out the hole is wasted effort...but the eggcrate is not going to improve the lighting in the tank anywhere. A better solution than eggcrate is pond netting, as it is much finer and blocks very little light by comparison. You're welcome. Link to comment
hcsceo Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 yes the egg crate does reduce the light getting to the tank. I had it on two tanks and borrowed a par meter from the office and there was a significant difference from my MH 175. Now with that said MH is a point light source so the light doesn't fall straight down like T5 or PC's. The reflector will do some of this work but half the light is still emmitting from all directions. Like evil said I believe the light coming in at an angle hits the eggcrate and is lost. Perhaps some is reflected back in the tank but Black Eggcrate will absorb most of that. one final thought. I use eggcrate in my frag tanks. On the sand below the lower eggcrate I get grid patterned aglae growth. Sounds strange but is true. If the light wasn't affected by the eggcrate this would never happen. Anything between the light and the water is going to create some loss in PAR. Just watch your corals they will tell you if they are happy or not with the amount of light they get. Steve Link to comment
evilc66 Posted December 15, 2008 Share Posted December 15, 2008 What do you need a PAR meter in your office for? Link to comment
Byron Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 thanks all, pretty much confirmed everything I knew. Link to comment
Rathje70 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Check out my thread, I made one for my top of my biocube. Pictures are shown. Rathje70 Link to comment
Byron Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Check out my thread, I made one for my top of my biocube. Pictures are shown. Rathje70 cool, I like how you incorporated the pond netting with the egg crate Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 how exactly did you attach the pond netting to the eggcrate? Link to comment
xplicit Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Of course eggcrates reduce lighting. Thats because they are not called eggcrates, they are called light diffuser. Link to comment
Byron Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Of course eggcrates reduce lighting. Thats because they are not called eggcrates, they are called light diffuser. Diffuse means to spread out, not reduce. Link to comment
jmigchelbrink Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 So is there a negative effect if you are using t5's or pc's? Link to comment
xplicit Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Diffuse means to spread out, not reduce. Let me dust the salt of my shoulders. Link to comment
Rathje70 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 I would stongly recommend the pond netting/egg crate idea that I have shown in my thread for numerous reasons. It looks clean It keeps your fish in It diffuses very minimal light. I started out by cutting the egg crate to the size of my tank, I then left about two squares on each edge and attached the pond netting with small zip ties. I have been using this top for only a month now, but no light is blocked and it is working wonderfully. Check out my thread to see the picture and feel free to ask any questions! Thanks, Rathje70 Link to comment
Sergeant-G Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 actually it does defuse the light, to defuse means to spread out or to thin. the egg crating ie. light defuser is used to reduce the amount of light coming from a source, to cut the brightness of a light in a room. Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 neat, thanks, will do his tomorrow Link to comment
Rathje70 Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 burtbollinger and byron, feel free to ask me any questions as you build your tops for your tanks, it took me a lot of time to come up with an idea, but I seemed to find something that worked very well. Follow along my thread as within the next month, my tank will go through many changes as I am turning it into an SPS/Ricordea domnated reef tank. Thanks again, Rathje70 Link to comment
Byron Posted December 16, 2008 Author Share Posted December 16, 2008 Let me dust the salt of my shoulders. sorry, I didn't mean to attack you. My post was rather hostile, I had no intention of hostility burtbollinger and byron, feel free to ask me any questions as you build your tops for your tanks, it took me a lot of time to come up with an idea, but I seemed to find something that worked very well. Follow along my thread as within the next month, my tank will go through many changes as I am turning it into an SPS/Ricordea domnated reef tank. Thanks again, Rathje70 Will do, thanks! Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 I just switched from black egg crate to a jerry-rigged pond-netting setup I'm please to report that just visibly, the light goin into the tank looks to be increased by @ 25 percent...especially in the corners. Unscientific I know....I dont have a PAR reader.... if you are using egg crate as a cover, this option might be worth looking at if you have jumpers. ( i will be following the instructions in this thread to build a permanent solution:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=817485&perpage=25&pagenumber=8 ) Link to comment
evilc66 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Are you using the clear or the black netting? Link to comment
Byron Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 I just switched from black egg crate to a jerry-rigged pond-netting setup I'm please to report that just visibly, the light goin into the tank looks to be increased by @ 25 percent...especially in the corners. Unscientific I know....I dont have a PAR reader.... if you are using egg crate as a cover, this option might be worth looking at if you have jumpers. ( i will be following the instructions in this thread to build a permanent solution:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=817485&perpage=25&pagenumber=8 ) Well done, It looks easier than i thought. I'm going to try the netting this weekend. Eggcrate just feels so bulky compared to the netting. Link to comment
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