First real post here, sorry if it's the wrong spot (lighting?).

I'm working my way up to (good) portrait photos, and I'm up to getting my lighting right. I use Sony, and have two off-camera flashes, umbrellas, stands, and a small reflector. Two flashes is still somewhat limiting (one for background, one for key - certainly not nothing, but I want to do this really well) so after some reading I remembered that I have two large fluoro light banks (two tubes each, like you'd find on your office ceiling) sitting around in the shed.

1. Is it possible to use these as a source - in a giant softbox of some sort perhaps to mimic a strip light? i.e. would the power from mains be enough to be usable?

2. If so, is it possible to get decent tubes in Australia? The only 'white' ones I've found so far have a CRI > 80, which although getting there, isn't the 90-95 that I may want. I can corrective gel my flashes, but should I be looking for better (and likely more expensive) tubes to begin with?