Good things come to those who wait.
I found a shop that doesn't have a website, not 20 minutes from my house. I saw on another local fish forum that they had discus. i decided to check them out.
I almost cried. An entire store. Dedicated to Discus. 30 75 gallon tanks, ALL for discus.
Then I saw the prices. 3 inch pidgeon blood, in better shape that I'd ever seen at Big Als or PJ's pets... 25 dollars. Turqoise, 3 inches... 25 dollars. Every variety i could think of, came in 2-3inch for 25-35 dollars, and 5-7 inches for 60-120 dollars.
PJ's pets wanted 120 dollars for a 5 inch stunted fish (huge eyes) with a pinched head! that they told me was "9 months" old.
Also, I found a local supplier of T5HO fixtures. When the next shipment comes from japan, they're calling me to pick up my new 4X48inch t5HO lights. I'll just run 2 bulbs to start.
So, whereas I thought i was going to spend 50-70 dollars per fish - I'm going to be paying 25-30 dollars a fish.
Where I thought I was going to be spending 250+Tax for a light, I'll be spending 150 cash.
AWESOME!!!!
Edit - I'll be making these purchases in a months time. I'll post pictures in the next week of how my plants have been growing out.