Water Change at end of Cycle

[BHobbs20]

Hello- I am a newbie and looking to buy a biocube 32G for my first starter tank. I have been watching a ton of videos and reading forum threads to make sure I get things off to a great start.  The question I have is around cycling your tank. I have seen it mentioned a few times that when the cycling is complete you need to do a large water change in order to bring down the Nitrates. If you do this, won’t it make your water out of balance again? I thought the purpose of the cycle was to provide stability for the system. If you are changing most of the water anyway, why even cycle?  Just curious what everyone’s thoughts were around this... thx

[Ratvan]

Long story short. The first cycle you are trying to breed beneficial bacteria on your filtration (biological or whatever).

 

After the 1st Water Change. You are feeding the bacteria to keep the cycle going. 

 

Depending on tank size and other factors the other water changes are usually smaller. 

[BHobbs20]

Thank you for clarifying. That makes sense.