The coral can always come later
In some ways it seems better to start zeo on a new or understocked tank so you can get really agressive with the dosing from the start of zeo to snap things into order early on without the fear of hurting your coral - Bleaching/RTN
I have a pocy high up in the tank before I started zeo under MH but with the swtich to T5 and zeovit I had to drop it down to the bottom of the tank as it bleached in a day.. I've mood it back up now as the colour is starting to return.
For the recod I was much like you.. I just didn't think I could justify the expense but when I started seeing tanks with zeo and what they have done I decided to give it a shot. The changes I saw in clarity much like Tony were amazing, and instant change!