Anyone in corpus abe to give my tank some face time?

[jrnannery]

I can't wait to say it...get an Algal Turf Scrubber. Nitrates, Nitrites, Phosphates, etc...all a thing of the past. With a short amount of time, of course. Once it is up and running, forgetaboudit!

As far as cleaning detritus, the lowest (negative) impact way, once you have your scrubber running would be to focus on cleaning one rock every few days. Blow it off with the baster, and walk away. Don't go nuts and stir up the sandbed too much. Do that over a period of time, and you will have no worries. Once it comes time to do the sandbed, get yourself a gravel vac, and do a couple of tiny spots at a time till it's done. Let it take a month, so what. The key would be to go slowly so as not to impact your organisms negatively with huge clouds of filth.

That would be my advice. Experience talks, so don't take it lightly. Good luck. Please update us regardless of what you choose to do.