fish activity to consider before I buy

reef tank 2.0

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As I am getting closer and closer to being able to add livestock to my tank, I need to start thinking about fish species I'd like to keep.
I have an idea already of what I'm going after, but I have a question about the "swimmers" I might be able to consider.

With my having an 80 gallon (30x24x24), it's actually smaller due to sand/rock taking up space. For a simple number, let's go with 70+/-.
just an example, let's take a bristletooth tang. It requires a suggested minimum tank size of 70 gallons. Those fish are very active. Once I get my corals and less active fish in the tank, the tang wouldn't have much room to swim around.

Where is the cutoff point for the max size tank a fish would need before he's "cramped"? I don't want to get an active swimmer when I know he'll get bigger and outgrow the tank. right off the bat, I become the fish police and nix the idea. Not interested in buying small, and re-homing later down the road. I realize that I need to take the stocking list into account as well.

is there a rule of thumb to use?
 

lapin

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Example:
I have 8 fish in a 600 gallon tank. 72 gallons per fish. 2 Angels, 2 tangs, 2 clowns, 1 file fish, 1 wrasse. There is not much fighting and they have room to swim without too many paths crossed. Each has a place to sleep
 

Going off the ledge: Would you be interested in a drop off aquarium?

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