Help With Cleaning Please

[greenscooby]

I'm a newbie to keeping fish, my LFS dropped me in it and i'm now in a fish-in cycle(don't ask!!) i have 12 plants in my tank, please don't ask what they are, the wife is in bed and i can't remember(but my LFS said they'd be ok in my tank), what i'd like to know is, if i'm using a gravel vac how do i clean around the plants without dislodging them?

My plants have only been in for a couple of weeks and i understand they've had nowhere near enough time to root, my plants are in gravel(my LFS said they'd be fine in that), i've got a 110 ltr 24.5 uk g tank overstocked with fish for a fish-in cycle(thanks LFS)and am feeding the plants 18ml of API leaf zone per week(again reccomended by my LFS).

Any advice greatly appreciated,

Mark.

 

[RedeyesUK]

Carefully!

If possible, you might want to try taking the end off your gravel vac and just using the hose (it will have a better flow rate that way) to gently vac around the base of the plants. You'll be able to get in a lot closer like that without causing too much damage..
If you do accidentally uproot your plants, it's not the end of the world - just replant them, and unless they're particularly delicate they'll be fine.

 

[greenscooby]

Many thanks for the adice, have just done another water change and it worked fine.

Mark.