Food is one reason, they roam like herds of cattle in search of food. These fish have very fast metabolisms which require a lot of oxygen. All of the swimming/roaming provides more water over their gills and delivers more oxygen to their bloodstream. I've got a friend who has a 1000g tank and I have seen fish acanthurus tangs (sohal, PBT) in his large system, where they don't have the 'need' to roam, constantly swim/roam from one end of the tank to the other. I've also seen acanthurus tangs park literally directly in front of a strong powerhead for considerable amounts of time. I can only surmise they're doing this for the same reason.