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Optix brand acrylic

Discussion in 'Algae Scrubber DIY' started by tft1, Aug 31, 2017.

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  1. tft1

    tft1 New Member

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    MO
    I'll be upgrading my ATS in a few months but at the moment I have a convenient space in my sump available for a macro chamber. I figured people working with waterfall scrubbers would be the best group to ask this question to. I would like to use a piece of acrylic over my sump to block salt spray. Is there any particular brand of acrylic sheet that would be better for transmitting light from my LEDs? I will be using a range from 430 nm to 660 nm.

    The Optix brand acrylic carried at Lowes and Home Depot has label indicating that it's "UV resistant", would this filter out any of the light that I should be using for algae growth?

    Thanks for the help.
     
  2. Turbo

    Turbo Does not really look like Johnny Carson Staff Member Site Owner Multiple Units! Customer

    Not sure what they think UV resistant means, but it could mean that it's treated with a UV reflective coating. In that case, it won't generally bond well. NOt sure though. The UV they are referring to though it the invisible spectrum most likely, not the 410-430nm hyper-violet. There really isn't very much actual UV band light in even the hyper-violets. There are actual UV LEDs that don't transmit visible light under power...these are the dangerous ones, because they are actually very intense, but we can't see it, so it can blind you.

    I'd say you're probably OK with the UV acrylic, but it's really not necessary - you could get the standard stuff, or Lexan (polycarbonate) also.
     
  3. tft1

    tft1 New Member

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    MO
    Thank you very much. I found a transmittance plot for that particular acrylic product. Basically, it transmits 90% of light intensity between the 400 nm and 800 nm, so no issue.

    Other pieces of information I found are that when UV resistance is added to polycarbonate it's usually via a coating, with acrylic it is sometimes mixed into the plastic as is the case with Optix.
     
    Turbo likes this.

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