In preparation for a gravel clean its good immediately prior to scrub down the inside tank walls to get off any algae that might be forming. If you are concerned about any tank electricals then turn them off before these activities, that is the safest route if in doubt since water and electricity don't mix well! Tank decorations can be removed and cleaned, although this doesn't need to be done each time. Likewise, algae can be cleaned from large plant leaves at this time if needed. Any pruning or removal of large debris can be done at this time, the idea being that small debris that is stirred up by these activities will go out with the gravel-clean-water-change.
A gravel-vac is usually a clear cylinder of stiff plastic at the tank end and a plastic tube that goes over the tank edge to siphon water out and down to a bucket or though a longer distance to the garden or a drain. It is good practice to perform gravel cleans as the core part of weekly maintenance and it is accomplished simultaneously with a water change. Put the cylinder into the tank and up-end it to get some air out. If you need to go to a far end (where the drain is) to start the suction then you might want another person to watch that small fish don't get sucked up. If you're using a bucket right there you can accomplish all this right in front of your tank. After you've established the siphon and the water is draining, you plunge the gravel cleaner down into the gravel and then move it around some, even jiggle it, so that the water movement through the cylinder stirs up the captured gravel and pulls out some of the debris. You continue this activity thoroughout the tank on all gravel areas you can reach, being careful not to disturb the rooted plants, especially the swords and things that like their roots not get disturbed. Note that you should also be careful throughout all these kinds of activities not to jolt or subject your tank to undue pressures, as glass tanks, especially smaller ones, can be accidently damaged by these activities. You should, of course, be seeing lots of dirty water go out the siphon. Personally I like to place a bucket at the receiving end of the removed water to give me one more chance to save a small danio or tetra that might get sucked down, but this has never happened. It is possible, though, to injure curious fish with the gravel cleaner, so be careful of this too.
If your tank water chemistry parameters are similar to your tap water ones, then a roughly 50% water change is easy to do and usually allows more than enough time for good gravel cleaning. There is such a thing as siphons that are too large or small for a given tank size but you just have to guess at this and there aren't too many different types to choose from. If you have a center brace at the top of your tank then consider getting a smaller type cylinder so you can move it around under the brace and get to all the gravel areas without having to break the siphon and restart it. Starting a siphon after the hose is dry from a week ago is much nicer than starting a wet siphon, lol.
Once gravel cleaning is over and you've finished the percentage water out that you want, lift the siphon out of the water to stop the flow. You can often rest the cylinder at tank top by clamping it with the tank hood or by devising a clamp if you need to leave the room. Don't let it fall back in or it may restart the siphoning by itself. While the level is low it is often easier to do a number of other cleaning activities like cleaning biofilm and algae from tubing and various other things inside the tank, but remember that simply taking some things out is often the easiest and doesn't tank long.
When its time for refill, don't forget the conditioner and rough temperature matching, its easy to forget so you need to make this a careful ritual unless you have a very mature, larger tank and already know you don't want to do one or the other of these. Many of us simply use the same hose but now attach it to an adapter at a sink faucet and run the water the other way, refilling the tank from the faucet. Double check the temp with your hand at the tank, as turning the faucet pressure up sometimes changes the mixing temperature if you are doing that.
Anyway, thats about it. The most important aspect is just actually doing these week after week and keeping the missed weekends to a minimum or making up for it shortly after you miss. It gets hard as the months go by as any experienced aquarist can attest to, but there can also be a sort of "zen" pleasure in doing these activities and being around your tank for part of each weekend.
~~waterdrop~~
so i asked if she would special order them for me and she said it would be no problem so thats a good thing. Now just gotta decide for 100% which fish i want.
