stocking level

[jessie]

i have a freind that is getting a 8 foot round tank. its approx 625 gallon. he is wanting to put a sand bed, with an island of live rock not quite to the top of the water. he is wanting the fish to be able to swim around the outside 3/4ths of the tank but not the center. he would like to have a school of fish of the same species that get about 1 foot long. the question is how many fish that length could that size tank hold? does anyone have any ideas on what type of schooling fish would be ok? no jumpers. im really not into anything like that so i cant give him any good info on it. thanks for any help.

 

[dorkfish]

8-9 foot long fish is about right. Regal/hippo tang are suposed to school, and I have seen pics of them following each other around the tank (indicative of the schooling behavior).

 

[mogurnda]

The hippos would be nice, but it also seems perfect for a school of naso tangs. Lipsticks, unicorns, whatever. It's so seldom a person has a tank that would suit them. Maybe 6-8. A mixed school of blue tangs and doctorfish would be cool, too.

As far as jumping, the only non-jumpers I know are seahorses.