huskysglare1
New member
I am just going to hang a curtain behind the tank about 1-2 inches away.
Reflection Reduced 35% on painted Background!!
- Thread starter huskysglare1
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gabbagabbawill
In Memoriam
I'm not sure mirrors are a good idea... might stress fish out. I don't think I'd like the look.
gabbagabbawill
In Memoriam
like you said, whatever works for you!
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15166994#post15166994 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gabbagabbawill
Reefenabler, can you explain how you made it a little more? I want to do this with my tank... what kind of paint did you use and how did you construct it?
thanks,
no paint at all was used. Simply made a 2x2 wood frame and screwed translucent blue acrylic on the front and white on the back, and placed a T5 lamp in between. Then this box was screwed onto the wall just behind the tank.
This is what it looked like, the first incarnation used white LEDs but was later swapped for a 3000k T5 to get the right color and better spread
way over exposed photograph due to long exposure time, but this is what the tank looks like early in the morning (picture about half brightness) with just the backlight and some LED moonlights
huskysglare1
New member
Reef, does it seem any brighter than if you put something right up against the tank?
luther1200
Premium Member
I was trying to find that article the other day. Its very hard to try to explain that to some one who hasn't seen the article. They just look at you like you like, what are you talking about, lol.
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
Not sure how I would know since I've never had anything sealed right against the glass and I have no way to try it.
Also I dont think anybody would be able to visually tell, especially from the front of the tank. Most of the light reflected off the back would be heading towards the front, so the light would be behind the rocks and corals for the most part.
huskysglare1
New member
Reef, l thought you might have a smaller tank ln which you can slap on a piece of tape on plastic and test it out.
but l guess you can't really tell how the par is.
but l guess you can't really tell how the par is.
gabbagabbawill
In Memoriam
reefenabler - where do you get the colored acrylic?
ReefEnabler
Premium Member
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/pr...USPlastic&category_name=21314&product_id=9792
Somewhere on that site is a color chart, all translucent plexiglass uses the same color codes. I used Blue 2051 translucent. IMO its just a tad too purple-blue. I would've preferred something with slightly more green to it (to make a nice cyan-blue color) but there are not many options available and its kind of guessing.
Somewhere on that site is a color chart, all translucent plexiglass uses the same color codes. I used Blue 2051 translucent. IMO its just a tad too purple-blue. I would've preferred something with slightly more green to it (to make a nice cyan-blue color) but there are not many options available and its kind of guessing.
huskysglare1
New member
Reef, your tank looks very nice. it looks as if it's on another world.
gabbagabbawill
In Memoriam
Well, I got some ideas after seeing your tanks, so thanks guys... I decided the acrylic light box would be nice for a later date, but for now, I came up with a cheap, easy solution. The only thing I'm not sure about with the light box, is that having it backlit makes the foreground seem dark... maybe that's just how it comes out in pictures. I dunno.
I'm really happy with what I came up with though. I bought a 2'x4' piece of luan from the hardware store for $5 and sprayed it with some "John Deer Blitz Black" flat black spray paint (used for farm equipment and hot rods). I leaned it up against the back of the glass. Like I said, easy AND cheap... Here's the result:
It's really difficult to see it, but you can see some reflection in the glass (look in the lower right corner)... I would never paint the back of the tank now that I know how good this looks (and how easy and low maintenence it is). Should be the best of both worlds, as there is a small gap between the tank and the painted board.
I'm really happy with what I came up with though. I bought a 2'x4' piece of luan from the hardware store for $5 and sprayed it with some "John Deer Blitz Black" flat black spray paint (used for farm equipment and hot rods). I leaned it up against the back of the glass. Like I said, easy AND cheap... Here's the result:
It's really difficult to see it, but you can see some reflection in the glass (look in the lower right corner)... I would never paint the back of the tank now that I know how good this looks (and how easy and low maintenence it is). Should be the best of both worlds, as there is a small gap between the tank and the painted board.
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