All Clean

Did a water change and gravel clean tonight, with the help of L. The gravel cleaning appears to be a two person job, one to hold the bucket with the pipe running into it, while the other person moves the large tube around the tank, cleaning the gravel. L gets the unfortunate job of holding the bucket and pipe, while I avoid sucking up the Cories as they come to investigate what I am doing. I suspect they see it as a chance to get some food that is disturbed while I am cleaning.

We removed 3 buckets of dirty water, which we used to water the outdoor plants. Water and fertilizer all in one. Each bucket represents about a third of the gravel in the tank. What I have noticed from my cleaning experiences is that the dirt seems to gather around the plants and in the one corner of the tank where the water is moving slowly, allowing food and dirt to accumulate there. So I will have to concentrate my future cleaning efforts in those locations.

Below is the gravel cleaner I use to clean the tank with. Does a good job, though I struggle to start the syphoning process in the beginning. So far have only had one mouth full of aquarium water. Still getting to grips on how best to use it around the plants.

Thanks L for all your help tonight!