this is from the bulb itself both lights are: GE 600 watt Full/Wide Spectrum Florescent Hg Plant/Aquarium, color temp: 7800k, the lights are about 2 inches from the tops.

thanks for the advice about the trays. i was thinking about this because it looked like there was a lot of plant waste in the water when it dripped through. it doesn't seem like its good for Mary to suck that back up. as for the soil, it has no nutes added, its organic soil. i heard this same thing about MG so i made sure i got a soil without nutes.