Ha ha, was very funny! I hope the fish thought so too.

The gravel vac, what a fun invention! I was almost tempted to syphon out 80% of the water because it was so fun!

Yes, water went over me and the carpet...I forgot about the water left in the tube after removing it from the tank!

I hope I did things right...

I did it all pretty quickly so the filter and heater could get back on asap. I rinsed the filter material in the water I had recently removed, placed a saucer on the bottom of the tank and poured in the new water.

I added a little water purifier stuff to it before pouring it in, but my main concern was the temperature of the new water I was puring in. Hope it didn't make the tank suddenly too cold for the fish. After the heater and filter were back on I added some cycle to the filter for it to push on through into the rest of the tank.

My little bristlenoses are back at work, but the siamese algae eaters are sitting at the back watching me between the grasses thinking 'what the $%^ was that?!!!

Any advice for next time?

all sounds pretty good, the only thing I would suggest is that you try and match the temperature of the water. I just keep the bucket beside the sink and put my hand in the bucket and then under the water until the temperature feels the same or close to it.

I always find sucking up the crap from the stones quite satisfying when gravel vacuuming

I wouldn't worry too much about the difference in water temperature, it's similar to the changes rainfall would produce in the wild and actually triggers spawning in some fish. I do all of my water changes straight from the hose.

Me too, I use the hose.

Paticularly on the 650L tank, weekly 20% water change is 130 litres.

For fry less than a week old I get the temp exact, and use water ager.

Fry 1 week and older get similar temp water using my finger as a thermometer, plus some water ager

Anything thats not a baby gets the hose, most of the fish like it, those that dont keep away and you know to not point it at them.

i do a 30% change every week on my 200L tank, often use the hose or bucket but never try to warm it up at all. surely the water cools off at night in the wild?

the reason I try and keep the temperature similar is that the water in chch is really cold when it comes out of the tap, like it has already been in the fridge.

It all gets better with time and practice.

I am with me love fishy.. I like to match temp as best as I can or close enough to, our water in the hose here is deathly cold alot of the time unless we are having a good summer... A sudden drop in temperature can cause problems for some fish.. I have often done a small crash temp change to trigger a spawning but overall hose is normally only used for water changes if water feels warm enough (usually good summer), and winter is definately out :lol:

I only change 30% water and will clean the filter on other times, these will prevent getting rid of good bacteria.