diff --git a/django/bosscore/serializers.py b/django/bosscore/serializers.py
index c89b7c9d..6be5b933 100644
--- a/django/bosscore/serializers.py
+++ b/django/bosscore/serializers.py
@@ -113,12 +113,18 @@ def validate(self, data):
             errors['default_time_sample'] = 'Ensure this value is less that the experiments num_time_samples {}.'\
                 .format(num_time_samples)
 
-        # Ensure storage_type is CloudVolume if cv_path is set.
-        if 'cv_path' in data and data['cv_path'] is not None and data['cv_path'] != '':
-            storage_type = data.get('storage_type', None)
-            if storage_type != Channel.StorageType.CLOUD_VOLUME:
-                errors['storage_type'] = f'Must be set to {Channel.StorageType.CLOUD_VOLUME}, if setting cv_path'
-
+        # Validate cloudvolume specific properties
+        is_cloudvol = data.get('storage_type') == Channel.StorageType.CLOUD_VOLUME
+        
+        # Ensure storage_type is CloudVolume if cv_path is set
+        if (not is_cloudvol and data.get('cv_path') not in (None, '')):
+            errors['storage_type'] = f'Must be set to {Channel.StorageType.CLOUD_VOLUME}, if setting cv_path'
+
+        # Ensure channel is downsampled
+        if is_cloudvol and data.get('downsample_status') != 'DOWNSAMPLED':
+            errors['downsample_status'] = f'{Channel.StorageType.CLOUD_VOLUME} channels must be already downsampled.'
+
+        
         # Validate that base_resolution is less than the num_hierarchy_levels
         # We no longer check this because we may delete some resolutions to
         # reduce storage costs.  When we do this, we change num_hierarchy_levels
diff --git a/django/bosscore/views/views_resource.py b/django/bosscore/views/views_resource.py
index 1cfe44c8..bb277ecd 100644
--- a/django/bosscore/views/views_resource.py
+++ b/django/bosscore/views/views_resource.py
@@ -675,6 +675,12 @@ def post(self, request, collection, experiment, channel):
                 if use_cloudvol and (cv_path is None or cv_path == ''):
                     channel_data['cv_path'] = f'/{collection}/{experiment}/{channel}'
 
+                if use_cloudvol:
+                    # DX NOTE: For now we assume that cloudvolume channels are downsampled. This means
+                    # that the num_hierarchy_levels in the experiment should be limited to the available
+                    # mip levels in the cloudvolume layer.
+                    channel_data['downsample_status'] = 'DOWNSAMPLED'
+
                 # The source and related channels are names and need to be removed from the dict before serialization
                 source_channels = channel_data.pop('sources', [])
                 related_channels = channel_data.pop('related', [])
diff --git a/django/mgmt/templates/channel.html b/django/mgmt/templates/channel.html
index f969afb7..948e7748 100644
--- a/django/mgmt/templates/channel.html
+++ b/django/mgmt/templates/channel.html
@@ -36,11 +36,13 @@ <h3 class="panel-title">Channel Properties</h3>
                                 </div>
                                 <div class="col-xs-7">
                                     <div class="panel-body">
-                                        <a id="downsample-btn" type='button' class='btn btn-primary btn-sm action-button disabled' href='javascript:void(0);' onclick='start_downsample("{{ collection_name }}", "{{ experiment_name }}", "{{ channel_name }}")'><span class='glyphicon glyphicon-sort-by-attributes-alt' aria-hidden='true'></span> Start Downsample</a>
-                                        <a id="cancel-btn" type='button' class='btn btn-danger btn-sm action-button disabled' href='javascript:void(0);' onclick='cancel_downsample("{{collection_name }}", "{{ experiment_name }}", "{{ channel_name }}")'><span class='glyphicon glyphicon-remove' aria-hidden='true'></span> Cancel Downsample</a>
-                                        {% if user.is_staff %}
+                                        {% if channel.storage_type == "spdb" %}
+                                          <a id="downsample-btn" type='button' class='btn btn-primary btn-sm action-button disabled' href='javascript:void(0);' onclick='start_downsample("{{ collection_name }}", "{{ experiment_name }}", "{{ channel_name }}")'><span class='glyphicon glyphicon-sort-by-attributes-alt' aria-hidden='true'></span> Start Downsample</a>
+                                          <a id="cancel-btn" type='button' class='btn btn-danger btn-sm action-button disabled' href='javascript:void(0);' onclick='cancel_downsample("{{collection_name }}", "{{ experiment_name }}", "{{ channel_name }}")'><span class='glyphicon glyphicon-remove' aria-hidden='true'></span> Cancel Downsample</a>
+                                          {% if user.is_staff %}
                                             <br/><br />
                                             <a id="redownsample-btn" type='button' class='btn btn-primary btn-sm action-button' href='javascript:void(0);' onclick='start_redownsample("{{ collection_name }}", "{{ experiment_name }}", "{{ channel_name }}")'><span class='glyphicon glyphicon-sort-by-attributes-alt' aria-hidden='true'></span> Start Re-downsample</a>
+                                          {% endif %}
                                         {% endif %}
                                     </div>
                                 </div>