Light Fixture Question

[rebelyeller89]

Alrighty, Heres whats going on. I have a 20g tank that is set up as a quarentine temporarily until my 75g is stocked. When thats done I was planning on doing a freshwater community tank because the light I have for it is only a single bulb T8. Well long story short, My light doesnt work SO, now that I have to buy a new fixture, I figure, turn the thing saltwater.
So I am looking at two different options, and I would love opinions.
The first is a 2 bulb, T5 fixture for about $53.00 shipped Coralife Aqualight Dual Linear Strip T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture, 2X14 Watt, 24 inch

The second route is making a hood, with two 2 bulb T8 fixtures such as this Shop Utilitech 24" Utility Fluorescent Lighting at Lowes.com

Now obviously I know that T5s are better than T8s (for some reason unknown to me ) But would 4 T8s be as good as two T5s? Aaaand what kind of coral, if any, would I be able to keep with either fixture.
Thanks for the help guys!

 

[rebelyeller89]

Well as an update I'm leaning more towards the two 2 bulb T8 fixtures for the simple fact that I can walk into Lowes tomorrow and have them.
I would still like to hear which set up would be better. Cause I'll get the other if it's better, I just need somebody to tell me which is best...

 

[Sniperhank]

I'll be totally honest. I would never waste money on T8s. And looking back, I wish I had not done my 4 bulb T5. I want to keep SPS and it just isn't enough bang for the buck. I am running a coralife T5 unit and regretting it because they use a size/wattage of bulb no one else makes! Frustrating. BUT, I was looking around my LFS this week and they have begun switching many of their tanks over to Marineland LEDs. They have one on their coral tank... I don't think it would be enough for SPS, but for a unit that costs ~100 bucks I can easily see it being able to support softies, maybe even some LPS.

 

[kjboer7]

I have a fowlr I've been looking for lights I think I'm gonna go to lowes tomorrow to pick those t8s up and some day light bulbs thanks