Texansis, actually, it was jones that you quoted, not me. I, personally, disagree to some extent with that statement.
The filtration process all works together. The bacteria that builds up in a tank, be it substrate, filter medias, plants, etc.. all works together to break down ammonia and nitrite. When we deplete any of these sources, we interupt the biological process in the tank until it has a chance to rebuild and catch back up.
The thing to note with the bacteria culture... you won't have more bacteria than you have waste product to feed it.
When a tank is cycling, the bacteria population builds until there is enough of it to meet the need. In an established tank, the bacteria is usually equal to that of the waste levels (unless the tank is over populated and not cleaned often enough), so when waste levels drop, so does the size of the bacteria culture. If waste levels increase, thus, so does the bacteria culture.
If we begin destroying the bacteria culture by using tap water and/or chlorine solution to clean our media... any of the media... then we are destroying part of the culture in that tank. Now the question becomes, is the amount we destroyed in cleaning sufficient enough to cause a "mini cycle" or will it replenish itself safely? Who wants to take that chance when there is a safer way to clean that media?