Egg Crate

[Origami]

^^ I was looking at netting sources last night and came across a PPE (polypropylene) industrial netting source that was doing a closeout on the clear stuff for something like $0.50 a lineal foot (7 foot width on the fabric). That's 7 square feet for $0.50. BRS sells clear netting at close to $0.50 per square foot ($3.50 per 7 square feet). So it's 1/7 of the cost. There's a guy on ebay who sells the stuff for $1.45 a square foot.

 

Here's the source:

http://www.industrialnetting.com/closeout.htm

 

Their minimum order, though, is $50 which will get you 105-feet at 84 inches wide (735 square feet). If enough people wanted to make screen tops, then they could order in bulk and get a real bargain. If someone's interested, the contact person there is Bev at extension 364.

[Big Country]

Did the screen crumble or did it unzip? Crumbling would be indicative of decay, where as unzipping is just bad quality. While working with it, I noticed I could unzip the screen if I pulled on it just right. The threads are melted together instead of tie wrapped, which makes it easy to unzip if you hit it just right.

 

fwiw: After a whlie of being above my tank, my screens have a "crispy" feel to them. I'm assuming it's salt. The screens don't seem to be loosing any strength though.

 

 

 

After a quick search it looks like there is nylon and polypropalene varieties available. BRS does not specify which theirs is.

 

It doesn't just unzip, last night it got multiple tears with chunks flaking out, pretty sure I have enough from the last piece I ordered to replace the screen for the half that ripped. Tonight I pulled on the netting near the edge, it felt salty but didn't rip like it did under the light. Wonder if it would be good or bad to take the screens off and rinse them in freshwater every once in awhile and put them back on the tank after the lights go off at night.

[Ryan S]

I took PAR readings tonight with the club PAR meter. To my surprise, the PAR readings were less with the mesh cover over my tank. By 50 PAR to be exact.

 

I can't speak to 1/4" mesh (I think it will block even more PAR). I also can't speak to 1/2" CLEAR mesh.

 

Mine is the bird netting from home depot, it's 1/2" squares, and black. I think it might even be thinner than BRS mesh too.

 

Regardless, we held the par meter in the same position, while my fiancee moved the mesh cover over the top and then off. Every time the mesh was over, the reading was about 50 par less.

 

At the surface, where the PAR dropped from 1200 to 1150, the difference is minimal. But towards the bottom, when the PAR drops from 140 to 90, I'd say it makes a bigger difference.

 

Just wanted to share my results with everyone. Maybe we could get readings with the BRS, Clear, and 1/4" mesh, to compare results.

 

I hate to lose any PAR, but it's not worth the risk of my fish ending up on the carpet.

[Origami]

Thanks, Ryan. It makes sense you'd lose something. If you can see the mesh from a distance, it's reflecting light.

[Coral Hind]

Great info Ryan. Do you have eggcrate you could get PAR readings with, both sides, focused and diffused?

[Ryan S]

I wasn't able to test eggcrate, but that's another one we should get tested. I have a feeling eggcrate will block a lot.

[Origami]

Great info Ryan. Do you have eggcrate you could get PAR readings with, both sides, focused and diffused?

Here's what I did in this post a few years ago using CF and MH (spider reflector):

http://wamas.org/forums/topic/26776-eggcrate-for-focusing-light/#entry235953

 

Conclusions reached were:

Egg crate blocks significant light regardless of orientation. When used, it does have a preferred direction. In neither case tested, though, did it concentrate light.

[Coral Hind]

That's exactly what I thought, but for some reason I have heard certain gurus of the hobby say it focuses the light. It just didn't seem right to me. Thanks for sharing your findings.

[Origami]

That's exactly what I thought, but for some reason I have heard certain gurus of the hobby say it focuses the light. It just didn't seem right to me. Thanks for sharing your findings.

I heard Calfo tell us this but it seemed counter-intuitive. Under certain conditions - e.g. without a reflector or lens, and the lamp at a low height relative to the tank - the results might be different as the egg crate might capture and reflect light that was otherwise headed away from the tank, but that's not how many of us run any kind of light.