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How clear is laserlite


Chuckmeister

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If you were making lids with clear laserlite and had your led's above, are you going to lose alot of your light penetration?

Was considering removing my glass lids and making new ones out of laserlite but wont bother if light loss is too bad.

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Hey chuck, if it's polycarbonate laser light your talking of its absolutely crystal clear, and possible more clear than glass as the material is much thinner.

But may I suggest twinwall polycarbonate as its fluted and very rigid.

To know exactly what effect it has on light then google twin wall polycarb on greenhouses.

The twinwall breaks up the light and is still in the diffused field,,, but there is no dimming,effects.

Twin wall wish washes the light beams instead of them being dead straight,, and allows the light to be more evenly dispersed which improves capability of the light bending around corners.

I use twinwall on my display, with the added excellent insulation quality.

In my breed room I have 120 parent breeder tanks, every single one has a 1mm straight out flat polycarb lid.

If I'm up on a ladder to stick a net in a tank,,, then I grab a lid in a real fast n rough fashion and throw it straight on the ground if I'm in a awkward position to place lid to the side.

Unlike pussy footing around with delicate glass lids.

If you ever head to Perth towards Wangara area on your travels, then Ampelite in Wangara has scrap stuff of twin wall in their racks and you can pick up these good sizes for tank lids for $10 - $20.

Obviously standard thin poly carb is flimsy but a 19x19 jarrah timber can be screwed across the centre span that works superbly.

You can cut this with kitchen scissors and cut curves around pipes and what have you.

But twin wall is super rigid and takes the weight of almost anything in the fish instrument fields.

You can cut this with a angle grinder (cutting blade) like its cheese.

Hope that's enough guts spilled for you. :)

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I also use this for all my tank covers now and light does not seem to be reduced in any way, like Buccal said, extra strong for the weight of sheeting, i get mine from Bunnings a 120cm x .60 x .60 costs just on $20 per sheet much cheaper than glass and easily cut.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Guys this stuff has turned out to be pretty awesome.

Completely covered my sump. It has quietened it down quite a bit and the water evaporation has lessened considerably. It is also retaining heat alot better. I just used 100 mile an hour tape (cloth tape) around the plumbing to fill in the gaps.

tank%20lids%203_zps8a3vhlcc.jpg

I also have 2 aquaclear 500's, one on each end of my tank which meant I couldn't use my glass lids. These have fixed that issue and I haven't lost any of my light in the tank.

tank%20lids%205_zpsqhnzurzm.jpg

tank%20lids%207_zpsbzvkj6vz.jpg

Now I've just gotta makes my downpipe from my tank to the sump a little more quiet.

I just bought some sound deadner off ebay and I'll wrap the whole lot together with some self fusing tape

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That's great to hear mate,,, yes a treat to work with isn't it, cutting around tubes and pipes at ease.

Added benefits insulation and dampening noise.

I built a 400mm high timber plinth sitting on top of my aquarium, a bit like a floating bulkhead.

Out of twinwall I built like a terrarium type lid (box construction).

It gave room for a large tub standing 400mm high sitting above tank as a overhead K1 media pure bio-filter.

Lid box construction steps down on front half for lights to be placed on at 150mm above the water on lid top.

Lights penetration was hardly effected and tank is 1m deep.

The twinwall seems to spread the light to outward areas.

Any leaks or issues of over flow and what have you, falls straight back into tank water below,,, (never happened, but safen the hazard).

Twinwall works great,, keeps heat in noticeably better.

The large display tank is inside the house near a television, so the small pond air pump raging out the K media noise dampened down was a surprise bonus.

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I love this stuff, so easy to work with and the air gap between the two layers works similar to double glazing of windows, Soundproofing as well as insulating qualities, would not use anything else now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks Guys this stuff has turned out to be pretty awesome.

Completely covered my sump. It has quietened it down quite a bit and the water evaporation has lessened considerably. It is also retaining heat alot better. I just used 100 mile an hour tape (cloth tape) around the plumbing to fill in the gaps.

tank%20lids%203_zps8a3vhlcc.jpg

I also have 2 aquaclear 500's, one on each end of my tank which meant I couldn't use my glass lids. These have fixed that issue and I haven't lost any of my light in the tank.

tank%20lids%205_zpsqhnzurzm.jpg

tank%20lids%207_zpsbzvkj6vz.jpg

Now I've just gotta makes my downpipe from my tank to the sump a little more quiet.

I just bought some sound deadner off ebay and I'll wrap the whole lot together with some self fusing tape

is that the polycarbonate laser light chuck?

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wow just went and bought a 2.4sheet of it wasnt aware that it is what you used but sore your earlier post and thought plastic might be easier than sourcing glass and cutting it for partitions in my sump and sore it. so thats my use for it. might buy some more later for lids also.

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p.s. is there any sought of rubber material to use as a base on top of glass for the pump to sit on as a dampner there also? or use some of this sheet also.

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p.s. is there any sought of rubber material to use as a base on top of glass for the pump to sit on as a dampner there also? or use some of this sheet also.

Sorbothane.

I've used it as vibration dampening for video cameras on drones and it is awesome! It comes in sheets of various thickness and size but there is only one seller in Oz and that's www.sorbothane.com.au.

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wow just went and bought a 2.4sheet of it wasnt aware that it is what you used but sore your earlier post and thought plastic might be easier than sourcing glass and cutting it for partitions in my sump and sore it. so thats my use for it. might buy some more later for lids also.

You may have some problems using this as partitions as silicone will not stick to it, maybe if you can etch the surface with a solvent it might work for you. Perhaps try on a small piece first before you cut the sheet, good luck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a couple of questions for the long term users (6 months?)

Do you get any condensation and algae growth between the walls? I don't care about the sump since there's no constant light, but will it be a problem for my display tank?

What's the best way to get a nice clean cut?

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I used a 4 inch diamond wheel on a grinder. Just marked the line with an Artline and done.

I haven't seen any algae yet. You do get a ton of condensation due to how efficient the lids are. You don't get any between them though. Not sure what effects it has on your lights but my plants are still growing quite fine. 2 foot deep tank may be a little different though with light penetration.

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I have not experienced any algae growth as yet, but then if i remove covers i usually give them a wipe over before putting them back. Plenty of condensation under as Chuck said but not a problem.

To cut i use a Dremel or equivillant with a fine disc, works just fine

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Thanks guys. Looks like I'm going to give it a go.

My local Bunnings only have the 8mm cells. Is this ok to use? Or do you guys use the 10mm?

Bunnings guy said the 10mm needs to be special order - what a pain!

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