Rover,
I run 250 Watt Iwasaki's over my reef, and have a 175 Halide I use on my Refugium (29 Gal Tall). Sometimes for grow out purposes I'll throw the frags I make into the refugium (got a big Tang, he disturbs the tiny pieces too easily). They grow quite well in there, and I've even had some color up better, than the parent colony in my reef. One brown monti in particular comes to mind - It had pinkish purple tips in my reef, but when I had the 10K's in my refugium, the things got Really bright hot-pink tips to them. Gorgeous color, but it faded under the 250 Watt 6500K bulbs in my reef.
Personally I think you'll do OK with 175's over a 55 gal, the depth is about the same as my 29. I have a friend with 175's over a 120, and he grows some gorgeous SPS.
Just do yourself (and all of us ;-) a favor and buy captive frags, you'll do fine. If at all possible, try to find some that are already growing under 175 Watt halides.
- Mac