Reef Safe With Caution Fish: Corals first or fish first?

[Zionas]

When it comes to keeping fish that are Reef Safe With Caution like dwarf angels, some butterflies etc. is it generally better to introduce the fish first or the coral first?

 

[Leo_ian]

If I am not wrong, it depends on the fish species, but most of the time it should be corals first, what are your tank specs

 

[Zionas]

I plan to have a Clown pair, a couple damsels, a Tomini Tang, Yellow Watchman Goby, Royal Gramma, Yellow Coris Wrasse, and a dwarf angel (Coral Beauty or Flameback).

 

[Haydn]

I don't think it makes a lot of difference, I have put a Flame in an established reef and it nipped corals, I added a 'noxious' LPS to a tank which contained a Regal angel and the angel tried to eat it.

If a fish wishes to eat corals it will.

 

[SMSREEF]

I had a really bad experience with my flameback. Not with my LPS but he was crazy mean with my other fish. Went back to LFS.
Biota has a tank raised Coral Beauty that I was gonna try.
I would get the LPS in first. Fish start identifying you with food, and if angel sees you putting in LPS, it may take a bite.

 

[mort]

I do agree with Haydn in that it probably won't make much difference tbh.

There might be a minor advantage if you add the fish to an established tank with well grown in corals as any initial nipping will be distributed more and it's less likely one species will be picked on as much. It's also logical (to the human mind but perhaps not the fishes) that by adding a coral with fish in the system that they will investigate the new coral as a potential food source.

Fish explore their world with their mouths and sometimes what people call nipping is nothing more than exploration that causes the coral no harm, sometimes it is total devastation but I'd wager many a fish has been removed when it would have settled down and been fine.

Neither the coral beauty or the flame has a really bad reputation for destruction.