I appreciate everyones' honest opinions. People get passionate about things they care about and I can appreciate that as long as theres a level of civility and decorum even if we are on the anonymous web. So far no issues.
Perhaps I came off as too desperate and too cash strapped. I am a full-time student but a returning student rather than someone out of highschool so I am not completely destitute. Honestly, I could buy the Bubbleking without going on a cup noodle diet. Should I be buying it? maybe not, but could I buy it? then probably yes.
What my intention is is to try and do things a bit differently. I know that T5HOs are the ideal flourescent fixture for a reef setup as everyone has said and I have read everywhere. However, I am challenging myself to do something for the lowest cost possible. This is something that I have found myself to enjoy. That means T8s and all the other stuff I mentioned. Would I be better off going with T5s in terms of setting up a successful reef? Absolutely. Would it be more interesting to see if I could do it with T8s? In my point of view yes. Beyond a better form factor and higher light concentrations I don't really see why T8s cannot function just as well as T5s when brilliant light isn't needed and the colours are right. I always intended to use 10K+ lamps no matter what. This is a intellectual exercise at the moment anyway since I don't even know where or if I can get T8 lamps such as these.
Thanks for the opinions on the DSB. If I go ahead that means no DSB for me. Also regarding the water changes, I meant what I said about the least number of changes possible, but it would really depend on how things go.
As for the ethical argument regarding keeping livestock in the best possible conditions. It is a good and valid argument against what I propose. It is something I will continue to consider. However, if everyone truly put the well being of the animals above other considerations then this website should not exist at all since they all belong in the seas. What I mean to say is that this is a highly subjective area and every person will come up with a different answer.
Oh yeah thats moldrik for your lengthy posts