Hello Everyone

i bought an established 120 reef tank and the previous owner kept glass the glass covers over the tank...im going to remove them for better oxygenation..the lights are in a canopy without any glass shield..am i going to need one to prevet salt creep?
Thanks for your advice

 

Hello,
It depends on how close the lights are to the water and what type of lights are we talking about...My lights are about 10-12 inches above the water and I use the sealed end caps for the vho bulbs and I don"t use anything for the HID's. No problems here.

Jim

 

Hi Diver,
there are 2-250 mh and 4- 65 actinic pcs about 12 inches off the water...have you experienced any salt creep at all?

 

None at all. Hopefully you will experience the same.

Jim

 

I have 3 250w halides and i keep them also about 12in off the water with no issues at all. I expect I could get them to about 6 in off the water with no salt creep issues. My old florescent bulbs at 4in had some bad issues and had to be cleaned weekly.

 

welcome to 3reef

 

Salt creep comes off easily with vinegar(acetic acid) FYI!!!!!!!

 

hey guys thanks for the input...i really appreciate it and thanks for the welcome Geekdafied

 

Welcome to 3reef, glad to have you aboard. I have 3-400w MH's 12" off the water and I see no salt creep either. I think you will be ok.

 

I am sorry for not addressing the shield issue more so...in a rush to take my son to Cub Scouts.
The issue of a shield for your lights should be implemented as it helps to do two things:
One, it helps to cut down on harmful UV radiation to your corals if and when you decide to get them.
Two, if you get water spray up to your bulbs, the glass envelope could shatter due to the heat of the bulb and the cooler water.
As for the oxygenation of your water, the glass shield won't contribute that much to the adding of DO(dissolved Oxygen) as much as if you placed a powerhead so that it flows at the water/air surface interface...this will ensure that you are receiving a continual gas excahnge between oxygen and carbon dioxide.
The use of a refugium and macroalgae will help as well with the photosynthetic process and its convergence of CO2 to O2 by the macro.
Just a suggestion!