 Re: Couple questions about sand
sand would help lower your nitrates. i originally started with cc and couldnt keep them below 70-80. once i switched over to sand they dropped to about 10 or so. i think you said u have damsels what you might want to do is remove small sections of the cc at a time then let the water parameters straighten out. i had several fish when i switched and if i took out to much cc it seemed to raise the nitrites because when u remove substrate you remove bacteria. then replace the cc with the sand. you could get away with the 3" sand bed using the type of sand you have. they have a fine oolitic sand for shallow sandbeds and the southdown is close to the same size as this type of sand. i have about 80 lbs in a 75 gall gives me a 4" sb so i would say a little over a lb/gall (30-35 lbs for you). you can always add more later if needed. i would put the sd in first since it is finer and can blow around more then place the caribsea over top its a little coarser and doesnt stir as easily. it will seed it and all become live eventually. just my opionion but i found smaller water changes are easier on the system then a big one like 25%. i do a 5% change/week with a skimmer. when i ran w/o a skimmer i did 10% just a suggenstion _________ karla  75 gall, 80 lbs sand, 110 lb lr, 10k pcs, atinics, emperor 400, prizm skimmer, hagen and maxi jet powerheads | 
