Is 500 Watts too much for a 55 gallon?

[strike2867]

I understand I would be keeping mostly SPS, and maybe a few LPS in the shadows. I am guessing I would have large evaporation and heat problems. Is 500 Watts just too much?

Edit:

The tanks inhabitants currently is about 15 heads of Xenia(which I will take out/place in shade), Hammer head(also take out/place in the shade). Blue Tang, Scopas Tang, Maroon and his large Carpet Anemone. Tank temperature stays around 76. Current lighting is 110 T5. The reason I want to get these lights is the great deal, not because I actually want/need that much light I would like more than my current setup though. My plan is change the T5's to all Actinic and have a schedule of 3 hours Actinic only, 6 hours MH, 3 hours Actinic only.

 

[jawbreaker1222]

Edit assumed you were talking about a heater untill u edited your post.

 

[ccCapt]

Welcome to AA!

Assuming you are talking about 2 250w MH bulbs, no, it's not overkill for SPS. You will have a hard time keeping any soft corals tho and zoa's will need to be at the bottom. The xenia probably won't care where it is..grows like a weed anyway. LPS would be fine in the lower half of the tank. Lighting shouldn't be an issue, but it's geared more for SPS and that also means alot of flow. LPS don't like alot of flow or a real lot of light.

(Your tank is WAY too small for those 2 tangs)

 

[strike2867]

Thank you. The tangs are currently at 4 inches and 3 inches for the blue tang(I've had him since he was much tinnier) or so. For now I hope they are ok. If they get too big, I have somebody I can give them to with a much larger tank. I'm throwing a 125 Super Skimmer with a few updates on the tank in a few days.

Welcome to AA!

Assuming you are talking about 2 250w MH bulbs, no, it's not overkill for SPS. You will have a hard time keeping any soft corals tho and zoa's will need to be at the bottom. The xenia probably won't care where it is..grows like a weed anyway. LPS would be fine in the lower half of the tank. Lighting shouldn't be an issue, but it's geared more for SPS and that also means alot of flow. LPS don't like alot of flow or a real lot of light.

(Your tank is WAY too small for those 2 tangs)

 

[melosu58]

Moved to General Hardware and equipment discussion.