Well, last night I was excited to see that my vac had arrived!

I decided to be brave and tackle my tank head on!

I took all the plants out again, took the 3 rocks out and then set about lifting all the media out as calmly as possible.

I was shocked at how much gunk emerged and how quickly the cloud appeared!

In no time at all, I could not see anything in the tank, including my own hands and fingers!

I removed the air pump and housing, took some water from the tank and gave the sponge a quick squeeze and rinse in the old water.

Then, almost beside myself with anticipation, I put in the vac and held on for dear life!

I was shocked as it was brilliant!! I loved it, I hovered the bottom, round where the air filter goes, up the side and just about everywhere that I could get too.

I loved the fact that when you use the vac, it does not remove water from the tank, so I had no fear about how long I used it for!

The bad news is that I actually had 3 fry, including Nemo in the tank, and they all got sucked up by the vac. I had this harsh fact confirmed when I eventually took the bag off to rinse out ready for next time.

Once I was happy that I could suck no more up, I simply replaced the washed media, placed the plants and rocks back in and then did a 10% water change.

I was pleased to see that the water settled within 2 hours and the total time spent from start to end was just under 2 hours.

This morning I was delighted to see a crystal clear tank with all 4 black widows, 3 sunset platy, 2 zebra danio and 1 dwarf oto.

This Saturday I shall be going and getting another 2 or 3 dwarf Oto as I hear that they like to be in a small group.

After all this I have now got a plan that goes like this….

3 weekly routines of hovering, sponge squishing and cleaning and 10% water change.

On the 4th week I will add in to the equation removal of media and cleaning, then hovering, sponge squishing and cleaning and 10% water change.

Every 3 months I will renew the sponge.

I have finally lost the fear and now really feel that I have this fish keeping under control.

:D