How powerful of a powerhead needed?

[PunkMartyr]

I'm going to set up a 29 gallon saltwater tank. I do not plan on upgrading the lighting, which I understand will limit what types of reef creatures I can have. I'm not sure if I need a powerhead that moves 400 gallons of water per hour or around 100, or as much as possible, or what.

I will have live rock and hopefully live sand also.

 

[Elmo]

I would go with two powerheads, each rated at somewhere around 150GPH.

 

[Soccer]

The rule of thumb is enough gallons per hour to turn your tank over around 10 times. So u need about 300 gph. I would go with two powerheads pumping about 150 gph put them in both corners of the tank that way you limit the amount of dead space(place where the water isn't moving). If u go with one 400 gph there will be some place where the water isn't moving. good luck with the reef and happy holidays!!

 

[gcvt]

Are you going to be using a return pump from a sump or any external filters?

If not, two Maxi-Jet MP600 powerheads would do nicely. They push 160gph and are great quality units. They're under $14 each at http://www.bigalsonline.com

Generally speaking, putting one powerhead in each rear corner pointing toward the front-center of the tank works well. But, this depends on how you set up your rockwork.

Hope that helps