hey crispi, thanks for your input. I think you might be the only person following this thread! Anyways, we never did get around to burying the halos under the rocks but while we were thinking about it we made another adjustment that has the same effect. Instead of cutting the column down and burying it under the rocks we just added more rocks (the most we could possibly fit) and now the halo doesn't so much drip but dribble right onto the rocks with very minimal splash.

I do appreciate the input though on keeping the halos clean as it was something I was already thinking about anyways. About how often usually do you have to clean out the halos of salts and buildup? It probably depends on nutrients and how hard your water is more than anything but maybe you have some knowledge about this subject that would help. Also, what do you use to clean them with once its time? I would think maybe just hot water and a scrub brush or something but theres probably a solution that breaks it down or maybe just plain old flushing solution would work.