I do something a little different, that might help.
To emptpy the water out i attach a hose to the side of the tank, and put the end in. I go out side, swift suck on the hose, and the tank starts emtying itself into the garden.
I then tend to put the kettle on, as the water to go back in will have been prepared if not the evening before, several hours before. (I normally do any tank work on a Sunday mornin) I would recommend covering the end of the hose with something if you have small fish. You may find them on your lawn. (I think a member on here did this recently by accident, and found a tetra or something similar on their grass!)
To get the water back in, i cheat. Pretty good cheat, but its a cheat.
I now have a spare 2 footer that i can do this with, but until now i was using my bath.
I give the bath a bloody good rinse to make sure its uber clean (its also quite new). You dont want soap in your tank. Your filter will turn it into a bubble fest, and the fish dont need to be cleaned!
I make up my water in the bath, part warm, part cold, more on the cold side. I dont try to match the tank temp with warm water. I mix in the required dechlor, and stick my spare heater to the side of the bath. This is the indicator for when to start emptying (When the water is the right temp. No use emptying your tank if the water to go back in isnt ready.)
Once the water is ready i grab the other end of the hose from the garden, and put it in the bath. Same thing again, swift suck on the hose, and it starts filling the tank back up from the prep'd water in the bath.
This will of course only really work if the tank is downstairs, and if you are going to do it, take the heater out before you start filling the tank. The last thin you wat to hear from downstairs while your clever new system is working, is the heater exploding in your bath because you forgot to remove it.
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