Stressing out... Helping hand please :/

Hi, the algone is a good product which I have used but only has a limited effect. I am not saying water changes are bad, I am saying doing them too often and too large of "over all" volume are bad or should I say detrimental. I used the term "over all" because most aquarists think if they have say a 55 gal. tank, that is how much water they have. This is false, unless you have no substrate or rock.
In the typical 55 gal. with plenty of rock and substrate the actual volume of water is 40-45 gal. So, if you told someone with little knowledge or experience to do a 30% change they would probably take out 16.5 gal. of water. In reality, though instead of having 38.5 gal. left they really would only have 23.5-28.5 gal. of water left so in true water volume they have done a 50% change!
In an emergency you may get away with that in an established tank but not in an unseasoned one. You may not be aware that there are different "types" of bacteria, some reproducing and growing very fast and some take time to establish themselves in the tank. Huge water changes can and will disrupt the bacterial cycle going on in the tank, not to mention throwing some other parameters off i.e. Magnesium, Calcium and Alkalinity.
In my 25+ years I have made mistakes through lack of researching and impatience, but I had sound principals taught to me from the establishment that helped me set up my first tank. One of them was to employ good filtration and cleaning habits and leave the water alone to get established and do water changes every 4-5 weeks. I have been doing it that way ever since, with the exception of my Biocube, I have to do it every 2-3 weeks because it is such a small system.
In your size tank a 50% water change is dramatic and excessive and I would advise against it.Water changes are but a band aid and false fix for nitrate. Employing macro in a refugium or a non-invasive macro in the display (if so inclined) such as Halimeda is a more prudent and sustainable long term remedy for a nitrate rise.