Glass Top

If you dont have water splashing then you wont get the salt on your lights. Thats why I put on a sump. So I could have the skimmer and things in the bottom and have a nice surface w/o the tiny bubbles splashing on my lights. Eggcrate is a cool idea.

 

you could cut a piece of plexi-glass or acrylic that serves the length of you lights and place that on top of the egg-crate which would be underneath your lights - if that makes sense.

 

ya sterling that makes sense. But if i do go with the egg crate, i will most definately need to take down the bubbles. The glass top of my tank is completely soaked because of the water splashing. But i didnt have bubbles in my last tank and the surface of the tank was really calm and it was still all over my lights. i just cut a piece of wood and but it running in the middle of the tank (like splitting it in half, not lengthwise) and the lights rested on that and the end of the tank (if that made any sense haha). Maybe thats why i had so much evaporation on the lights?

 

This is off topic, but have you invested in a protein skimmer? I started teh same way you did, down to buying a Coralife PCF light. I started with a Nano, then bought the 20G, then jumped into a 65G and 150G. Be prepared, it gets addicting and costs a truck load of money!

 

I would totally agree with this method. BUT, maybe integrate a lip as prior noted, so the lights stay put. I use egg crate for fragging but not a big fan of it replacing tops.
Tops do retain heat but like you said, you have "splashing" which causes salt creep and IME I have had to can a nice light from it getting inside of a nice fixture. You wont need the "bubbler" if your tops are off any way. I would remove the front portion and leave the back to hold your lights.

 

Trust me i know its addicting and i went from fish only to reef to fish only to reef again. Now im staying with fish only. I am only 14 haha. I completely know what your saying though. Its for sure addicting haha

BTW: i was thinking about investing in a skimmer but when i asked the manager at the LFS, he said if its a fish only tank you dont need one as long you keep the water moving at the top. Im investing in 2 powerheads for the water flow and for what i just told you about.

And there brings me to my next question. I was reading and it says powerheads are used to help/support undergravel filters and not any of them said it helps water flow. Should i invest in them? are they what i thought they were? these were the ones i had previously ( Marineland Penguin Power Heads at PETCO ) and they worked great. those would be the ones i would get.

Thanks a lot,
Ryan

 

powerheads alone do great for water circulation. On the glass top note, i took mine off, and fashioned some wooden legs for my lights. I just raised them about 2 inches, and have NO splashing or salt creep, and my water surface is not calm. So, if you have a jigsaw, get some wood and fashion some legs that sit firmly on the tank, and have notches for the lights to sit on. You can even use some of the rubber drawer liners to hold it in place. then just paint the legs black and your good to go.

 

Back to a previous post.....you can find eggcrate at Lowes or Home Depot in the lighting department, generally on the bottom shelf. It comes as a large sheet (46"x22") for about $12 plus tax.