DSB and CC

[swamprat]

My tank has been established for over a year now. I have CC substrate, but want to move to Live Sand in order to get better filtration. Do i have to remove the CC or can I simply put the live sand on top of the CC?

 

[buzz]

If you do a search on this subject, you'll see quite a few posts on it. However to directly answer you, you should change it out completely. This is no small task for an established tank though. Stirring the CC bed will more than likely cause a nitrate spike, and some sort of a cycle. You should qt your tanks stock (all fish, inverts, coral, etc.) until after the substrate change, when levels are tested.
A lot of people keep a mesh bag or stocking full of the CC in the tank for a while to keep the bacteria that has built up present in the system.