Can no nitrates hinder growth?

[tebstan]

Some friends have graciously donated some xenia, zoas, mushrooms, and leather frags. (all very small) I'm a little heady with the sudden appearance of life in my tank! It's about 6 months old and all readings are good. A little too good, if that's possible. I am actually worried that I have no nitrates (!) and that it may hinder growth. Is it true that the presence of nitrates in small amounts is good for growth? How long should it take to see some of these frags growing?

Am I fool for wanting some nitrates? I've had multiple tests done to make sure I'm not reading it wrong. It's a 90g with sump and a skimmer, which I turn off periodically for feeding. Six T5s, two koralia 3s and one koralia 2. I do 5-10g water changes every 7-14 days. The skimmate pulled is small, but thick and gross. I soak/drain my food before feeding, and target feed where possible.

I guess mostly I want a "it will be okay" for all my new little babies. I'm going to permanently leave an imprint of my nose on the glass, if I don't stop worrying.

[corruption]

There are nitrates present, especially if you have a bioload in the tank. It may not be detectable, because algaes and corals that do consume nitrates (more algaes here than anything else) are consuming them quicker than they are being produced... this means you're at a good balance. I wouldn't stress it -- just keep up the good work!

-Justin

[alton]

I had this problem a while back in my 200. My Xenia crashed and GSP closed up. I added some type of Ammonia to get it back up to 1-2. Sometimes we forget softies love pollution.

[Bill S]

Just keep an eye on things - and don't forget to occasionally feed your corals.

I had this same problem running a Hiatt filtration system.

[Mr Cob]

Reminds me of keeping Xenia. I could never keep them...they would melt away every time...I always assumed my water was too clean. Now with my new tank and a small skimmer and decent amount of fish...they thrive (I just don't want them, so I recently got rid of them).

I also have an 8 gallon Bio-Cube and can not keep them...I'm assuming the water is waaaaaaay to clean since it's loaded with macro and no fish...only pods, mysis shrimp and one crab.

[CoryDude]

I think what you're seeing now is typical for a new tank. Plus, it sounds like you got a case of ants in the pants syndrome. Agree with all the above posts. Sounds like you got your routine down. Just keep doing what you're doing.

Just keep feeding your fish regularly and you'll be ok. The uneaten food and fish poo will feed the guys up the food chain.

I will say that when I kept a mostly soft coral tank, they did better with higher nitrates. I overfed to keep the tank dirty and nitrate levels around 20ppm.