Hi Michael, sounds fine to me. I have three 36" tubes that sit ontop of a 1/2 sheet of plexi and there is only ventilation a half inch under the hood and I have no heat problems, the plexi did however flex alittle bit over the last few years but I don't see any problems with eggcrate as it will provide more ventilation. I also think that because my lights are directly over top of the tank(27 gl) that gives me the extra light I need to keep stony's. I'm sure your tank will also benifit from light hung lower. Goodluck!
You can see a pic of my light and hood, the post is titled
"a test"
