Can I easily convert CC to DSB

[GettingFiesty]

If my fish don't make it through this bought of ich/marine velvet I am thinking of converting since everything here says DSB over CC and since I have had a recent bad nitrate spike that I just can't seem to get down, am wondering if I should convert over to DSB before buying more fish. The LFS is the one that talked us into CC first of all, now it sounds like that was a mistake--aughhhh--this is such a learning experience. Anyway, sorry, rattling on...how hard would it be to do this to an established tank? We have been up for about five months now.

[DgenR8]

I removed about 1/2 of my 2" CC bed and put sand right on top of the remaining 1" of CC. I think if I did it again, I would remove more of the CC, almost all of it, as the finer the grain size, the better for a DSB.
I have seen no problems with the CC migrating up and looking "ugly" as some warn about, but I think a lot about that grain size thing.
I like the idea of leaving some CC, as it does have life in it, and you should preserve some for seeding the new bed.
Add the sand slowly, with a PVC pipe to minimize clouding.

[GettingFiesty]

Thanks for all the help and guidance you have given me since I signed up on this sight. I just wish that I had found this sight before we started the tank. Read lots of books and lots of sights, but didn't get much out of them until joining this group! Will be happy to go to E-Bay through here just to keep this group in the money!!!

[ReveX]

I converted my tank from CC to LS fairly easily. I just took out the fish and rocks and put them in a bucket. Then quickly I scooped up as much CC I could get without having to dump out the water. A few peices of CC were left and I just covered them with the LS. Next day I saw them sitting on top of the sand so I just picked them up with my hand. Thats it :)

[Pomacanthus1]

While i didn't have CC, i did have a coarse bed of aragonite gravel as my original substrate. This summer i converted to a DSB. It was the single best thing i ever did for my tank. The whole process took about a week, and none of my fish or corals died.

The thread about my conversion could probably help you out a bit: www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=109057