deep clean fish tank

Question
hello, I have a 40 gallon fish tank with a grave base substrate and river rocks on top and a couple of plants and fish. My question is a great idea to deep clean my fish tank by removing everything and replacing some of my substrate with new ones, or should I just continue to cycle of 20% of my water, if so will removing everything harm my plants, and how many times should i deep clean. If you could give me some inputs/advice that will help keep my fish tank clean.   
         Thank you

Answer
Hi Juan

You should never do a deep clean of your fish tank by removing everything. Doing so will do more harm than good to your fish and plants as it will kill all the beneficial bacteria and cause your tank to start cycling again. You should do 25% water changes every week. Use a gravel vac to remove the water and siphon waste out of the gravel.

Below are a couple of links to better help you with properly cleaning your fish tank..


http://www.wikihow.com/Clean-a-Fish-Tank

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/fishqa/f/faq0110.htm

http://www.firsttankguide.net/waterchange.php

Hope this helps you, good luck!

Richard