TEK Reflector Maintenance

[Rekonn]

I own a 4x24 Tek Light and am running it without the acrylic shield. I'm starting to notice some salt spray on the reflector. Is it anything to worry about, will it cause rusting? Can I clean it once a month and be ok?

[colotl]

I clean the acrylic and reflectors with glass cleaner once a month. They look as if it just arrived.

[rickh]

You know they put that shield there for a reason. Use it.
You can wipe off a dirty shield or you can replace the corroded reflectors, it's your call. R

[scotmc]

The Tek fixture with the use of a shield is not an effective one. The heat build up with the shield will decrease your par value and decrease the life of your bulbs. I replaced my reflectors(75.00). keep them clean with a cloth. Keep them 4in or more above the water. It's not a big deal.

[garygb]

Also, from what I've heard, the acrylic shield itself filters out a significant portion of the PAR. I too run my Tek w/o the shielf for this reason. I've been cleaning mine every other day or so with a damp paper towel.

[rickh]

What about the loss from the gunk on the bulbs and reflectors?? Clean them every other day. Yikes!

[oct2274]

no, you should not have water splashing on your bulbs and reflectors and it won't hurt the bulbs. if you have microbubbles or something popping in your display tank you need to fix that so little bubbles aren't popping and splashing the reflectors. I only have to clean my reflectors maybe once every three months at most. My fish don't splash them and there is nothing in the tank that cause water to hit the reflectors. by the way, alot of people have said they have had best luck with metal polish on those reflectors.

[Rekonn]

Ok, so those reflectors do get corroded. Now I know to wipe off salt spray as soon as I see it as opposed to whenever I get around to it.

This is for a QT tank, and the spray comes from a hang on power filter whenever the water level drops a bit. I'll raise the lights some and just keep up with topoff better. I got the unit from reefgeek, and chose not to buy the shield because I read about the heat buidup and drop in PAR.

[Rekonn]

Damn, already have some corrosion on my reflectors after just a couple of weeks . Here's a pic from the spot close to that power filter, everywhere else is ok. Will a polish or something fix this?