First Step - Clean Up

The first step was obvious. Get every ounce possible of chaos out of the tank. The first step however involved a lot more then 1 step.

First I used my "No Spill Clean & Fill Python" knockoff to drain as much water from the tank as possible.

To do this I pushed as much of the gravel as I could up against one side so it would be easier to get as much water out as possible.

As I was removing the water I was also vacuuming the gravel. I figure that when I get around to cleaning the gravel it will be much easier to clean vacuumed gravel then 100% dirty gravel.

I then starting cleaning the sides with a clean dish sponge with the dirty water (bear with me). While doing this I was picking up the rest of the water I could not get with the sponge and putting it in a bucket to throw away.

I then removed the gravel with a 16 oz cup one scoop at a time.

After that I got any left over dirty water out for the final time with the sponge.

I then washed my two hang on the back (HOB) power filters, heater, and thermometer. I also of course cleaned all the suction cups.

I then took very hot water and cleaned the sides of the tank.

After that for the final time I removed the water with the sponge that was from the hot water cleaning.

I started at around 10:30 am and finished around 2:30pm. Mind you it was 93+ degrees and felt like (according to Weather.com) 96 degrees. I also took around a hour and a half break total so it took me about 2 hours to clean up the mess - Draining time included.