Originally Posted by
ugluk
Newbie here looking to start up a tank. So if I do not put a cover on my tank am I just supposed to lie my lights on top of the tank? If so should I have my water level a couple of inches below the top? How do I know what kinds of fish are jumpers and which arent?
Even with glass on top of your tank, you would not want to have your lights sit right on top of your tank. Ever sit by a window on a sunny winter day. It may be 25 degrees outside, the the sun shineing through the window you would think it was a nice spring day. The glass will intensify the heat from the light and heat up your tank quickly. Also the glass cuts out alot of the UV's from your light so your tank won't receive the full benifit of your lights. Two more reasons to get the glass tops off the tanks.
Most of the light systems come with legs so the lights will sit about 4-6 inches above the tank. This is high enough for the gasses to escape the tank. And a fan to blow across the top of the tank if needed.
As far a salt creep on the lights, Just make it part of your weekly maintanence routine to wipe down the lights. No biggy, just takes a minute.
If you are concerned that you may have jumpers in the tank, Then just use eggcrate, to cover the top of the tank. You have seen it talked about several time here. You can find this at almost any hardware store. they come in 2x4 sheets for around $10 depending where you go. You will find it in the lighting section. They are known as light defusers. As far as blocking the light out as asked in one of the other threads. I don't think they block out much light. Not enough to make a difference, as you can see in this picture.
as for eggcrate, that is the white stuff on top of the tank.
And as you see, I've mounted a fan to blow across the top of the tank. It helps with evaporation, and helps keep the heat out of the tank.