Tank Cleaning - How to do it?

[zxcs]

I have been very very lazy and on the whole have neglected my tank since Christmas (yes, that's no water change in 4 months :thinking.
What would be the best way to go about cleaning the tank, not only to get the physical material out of the water (algae, diatoms, plants etc.) but also to get the chemicals out as well? I have a 100g tank, what sort of cleanup crew should I get? How much water should I change? Any other helpful info?
I can relocate my 3 fish to a friend's tank for a while if needed.
Really need some help, don't want to completely ruin my tank. Thanks in advance.

 

[barchtruong]

wow, I wish I have that 100g. can't afford it.
Do a 20% water change now, and then 10% weekly after that.
get some emerald crabs, Astreas snails, and Blue leg hermits.
last but not least, put ur efforts in it.

 

[zxcs]

Thanks for the reply, I just did a 20% water change last week, planning on another 20% this week. Will the algae/diatoms go on their own or do I need to specially clean them?

 

[symon]

Once you get back on a plan for a few months, things should come together!
But you may have allowed some hard to get rid of alges to form, give it a few months and see what happens!