Can you add aggressive fish first (clowns) if you plan to change the scape?

[Robert Binz]

Title pretty much says it all. I’ve got my new tank cycling (ammonia cycle done, 4 month cycle not) and I’d love to get my crowns in there, but the female is pretty aggressive.

Right now the rock is all just stacked in the tank. I’ll aquascape it properly after turning on the light and adding my live rock / corals from the current / previous tank.

Can I add the ‘aggressive clowns’ before the docile fish I plan to add if I’m changing the aquascape in a couple weeks or is it still best practices to wait?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Anecdotal at best but I find with my cichlid tanks that I can do any amount of adding new fish if I rearrange the aquascape. Starting over with a new territory should help the docile fish stake claim but I would also pair that with putting the clowns in a breeder box for the night when you add the new fish.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Anecdotal at best but I find with my cichlid tanks that I can do any amount of adding new fish if I rearrange the aquascape. Starting over with a new territory should help the docile fish stake claim but I would also pair that with putting the clowns in a breeder box for the night when you add the new fish.

+1 on that. Whenever I add new cichlids or any aggressive fish I rescape the tank and do a water change, and it really confuses everything, especially territorial fish, such as clowns.