I had over 500watts of MH over my old 33gallon tank (2x250w MH and 1x95watt VHO actinic).  Just about everything loved it.  I have a single 250w MH over my current 24"x24"x12" tank and everything is reacting quite positively to that as well.  So I personally don't think going with a couple of 250s (via diy) is a bad idea... it would pretty much help you keep just about everything and probably be cheaper than that $700 light system.  I built my old 2x250w system for under 500 bucks (including bulbs). 
 
-Rich 
		
	
		
		
		
		
		
	
		
		
	
	
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