If that's how you want to do it, I'd do this:
Put 1 little fish in there (damsel) and let him have the run of the tank for a year.
Then trade him off and stock it with the fish you want. Slowly - maybe 2yrs to fully stock the tank.
I've thought of doing this very thing with a dry tank. All dry rock. All dry sand. Toss a deli shrimp in and let it cycle for about 2 months. Then put a little fish in there and change 10% once a month. See where you're at in a years time. I'll probably never do it though. I might if I win the lotto and build a mansion with a 10,000g tank in the wall. But I'm not likely to win that.