if you are on a budget T5 is not necessary. get a regular flourescent houseing and then buy Coralife bulbs. get one 50/50 actinic and daylight and the other do 10000K. this will give nice white light with blueish highlights to give the fish a nice color. this is exactly what i have my tank and it looks great. dont get me wrong T5 is really nice but for soemone that cant spend $150+ at once then this is the way to go. each light is abaout $25 and the houseing is $20.
