Mirrors to maximize light in Fuge?

[RobertP]

Thought of a weird idea this morning. What if you glued (or even set) glass mirrors to the sides of your refugium....you would think this help maximize the light? We know that mirrors behind your top lights are helpful so why not the sides? True it does not get as much direct light but if it reflects the light that would normally leave the tank it would help quite a bit.

I have snails in my fuge so they keep the sides fairly clean but it seems like the mirrors would help put more light to the bottom of the chaeto instead of just the sides. My fuge is acrylic so it does not get much reflection...yes, there is more natural reflection with glass fuges but if you also had a mirror it should be more. I know it would depend on how thick your chaeto was. For that matter you could put a mirror on the bottom to reflect the light back up but doubt it would be as helpful.

I have no idea what the mirror material on the back of the glass is so not sure if it is bad or not.

 

[Karlotious]

I have considered doing this for my refugium. Essentially making a light box. I also considered getting a powerful UV bulb and making a mirrored acrylic box to sterilize large quantities of water at a time. It would have to be on the outside of the acrylic/glass as mirrors are made with metal flake

 

[RobertP]

Ok, didnt know about the metal flake. Perhaps sealing the back with clear paint might be a good idea to keep it from corroding from salt creep. No way I would put it in the water now.