Cleaning planted tanks

Hi

Here is a few real beginner questions.

Planning a planted thank so there are some really simple questions I do not find a answer to.

1. If the substrate is complete covered by a carpet plant how do you clean it?
2. Do you still need to vacuum the substrate?
3. How often would you need to clean the tank and do water changes.3ft tank

THanks

 

1. Light vacuuming over the carpet. Do not disturb the substrate unless you want to continually replant :blink1:
2. Yes, but no deep vacuuming. Mulm and other gunk still accumulate and you need to remove the excess manually through vacuuming, without disturbing the plants.
3. Cleaning is only required if needed, such as wiping the glass, etc. Water changes depends on your fish load and tank style. High tech (injected CO2, high light, EI dosing) tanks need weekly 50% water changes, low tech tanks with low fish load need fewer water changes, or perhaps smaller water changes.