Hi, I need to know about t8 grow lights

I just got 8 t8 fixtures and can't seem to find anything for grow bulbs that aren't super expensive. I need to have flowering and also plant growth. I see a ton of the t5 but not a whole lot on the t8's . To be honest I am not at all understanding the light thing at all. I am setting up an aquaponics garden on my porch and have no idea what I am doing any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you all. You all seem so talented

The reason you don't see much for T8s is because T8s are pretty inefficient for growing. T5 bulbs are far more efficient, but you would be better off going with quality LED lights or HPS. The problem with fluorescent bulbs is they lose their efficiency pretty quickly, so you have to replace the bulbs often (same issue with HPS). With quality LED lights, the diodes are usually good for much, much longer. I believe T5 bulbs have the same "life expectancy" as LEDs, which is 50,000 hours, but quality LEDs (like the Samsung LM301H) are effective for growing for a lot longer than T5s. T5s need to be replaced every 9-12 months while a quality LED light will last for easily 5-10 years.

In order for anyone to give you suggestions, though, we will need to know the dimensions of your grow area. Each type of lighting has a recommended watts per square foot as a general rule. The actual calculation is much more complicated than just W/sqft but going by that will at least get you in the area of what you will need.