watts for softies

[tagraham]

i have a 55 gallon would 216 watts of lighting be ok for them in there

 

[Mariner]

Wattage doesn't give us all the info we need to answer your question well. Among other things, the kind of lighting (whether its Normal Output fluorescent, VHO, T5, MH), it's height over the water, and the color temperature of the lighting (degrees Kelvin) are also important.
That said, softies and LPS would GENERALLY do fine under 216 watts of light in a 55g assuming that the light is close enough to the corals and is of the proper Kelvin. I have a 75g tank FULL of softies, LPS and even several SPS under 240 watts of Normal Output fluorescent light.
FWIW,
Mariner

 

[tagraham]

well was going to get 4X54 t-5 maby to actinic and two 10,000 k

 

[drummereef]

I have a 40 gallon mixed reef (mostly softies) with 192 watts of pc lighting. Watts are not a good estimate for saltwater, but I'd say it will be fine.

 

[fsn77]

A 4x54w T5 that uses individual reflectors would be a very good choice for a 55g, IMO.