"Does anyone have suggestions for what brand / where to purchase the fixtures and bulbs?"

Wait for sales at Menards. A reasonable sales price for a shop light is under $15 and a reasonable sales price for a generic T8 bulb is under $2 but the sales rarely occur at the same time. If you want better bulbs, I suggest Sylvania Sky White 8000K with a sales price of $40 for a case of 12.

See

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3695796/bargain-alert-thread?n=20

Looking for more input, please!

OK.

Some more suggestions

When you buy cheap shop lights you lose a lot of light because they have most of the time no or no good reflectors. The cheap one at Menards $10.97 has no reflector at all the other $14.99 as far as I can see only a white flat plane behind and two white angled sides , A good parabolic aluminum reflector will nearly double the output to your plants and not illuminate your whole room.

The cheap T8/T12 fixtures do not allow easy disassembly and modification. The more expensive kinds can easily be disassembled, ballasts changed, and overdriven. There are even kits to change from T8/T12 to T5.

I noticed 8000k sky white bulbs being mentioned here.

Do they do a better job than the 5000, 5500 or 6500k tubes? I have a mix of all of those and the 6500 definitely appear blueish.

"Do they do a better job than the 5000, 5500 or 6500k tubes?"

Not that I know of, but, in my opinion, they better accentuate Caucasian skin tones by showing less yellowish blotches. Also, helps avoid Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Maybe, kill three birds with one stone.

Good to know. Thanks for the info.