Another Cycling Question...... but different

[GamerDadof4]

The traditional part of cycling we normally care about is ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. There is one more step where nitrate is converted to nitrogen gas. This only occurs in anaerobic areas such as deep in live rock. This doesn't happen much in newer tanks, and can be very limited even in mature systems. So, you can do a water change to drop nitrates, but they will not continue to drop beyond that unless they are consumed by growing algae.

And personally, if your nitrates are under 10ppm when you feel you are ready, I wouldn't bother with a water change.

I appreciate the explanation.