Do I Clean Tank?

[algae eater]

I have a 55 gal with Africans. The tank is about 8 months old and the fish are doing fine. There is some algae in a few areas on the glass and would like to take the fish out and clean the tank. I realize this would mess up the water that they are used to. Is it better to just scrub it off with a brush rather than doing a complete change? Do any of you ever do a complete change?

Thanks,

 

[DarkEntity]

Never done a comlete change without a serious emergency calling for it. Just scrub off the algae and hoover the gravel

 

[luque]

if you do a complete change then sometimes you may lose the cycle depends on your filter but i wouldn't