No Nitrates... is this bad?

[ItalianReefer]

My nitrate testing results have been zero for months. My corals are growing slow and my zoas are struggling. I do have phosphates and some algae growing. I use red sea coral pro salts, I had a Marine Pure brick in my sump, but recently pulled that out and have my skimmer on a time schedule so it doesn't skim all day. My cheato doesn't grow either, it's still green, but no sign of growth. What should I do to help my corals grow more?

 

[redfishbluefish]

How old is the tank? What fish do you have? What do you feed....how much...how often? What test kit are you using for nitrate?

I'd also put the brick back in your sump......that's were the bacteria lives that converts ammonia to nitrate.

 

[ItalianReefer]

i have a 40breeder with a 20 gallon sump. I feed my fish pellets and frozen mysis, corals i feed a mix of reef roids and reef chili. I feed the pellets most days and mysis every few days. I have a kole tang, falco hawk, clownfish, two chromis, and a chalk bass. I'm using Red Sea test kits for nitrate and phosphate. I have plenty of rock and rubble rock in my sump to have enough bacteria for the nitrogen cycle. I have been reading how the Marine Pure bricks create a de-nitrating zone and suck out nitrates.

 

[ItalianReefer]

Also, tank is about 5 months old now.

 

[falconut]

If you've got algae growing in the tank, it could be using the nitrates so they don't show on the test kit. Also, I have no experience with your brand test kit, but some aren't the best for showing low levels of nitrates, so you may have some.

 

[redfishbluefish]

My recommendation is to have a local reefer friend test your water....or take a sample to your LFS. With that fish load, including a tang, and using Reef Roids, I'd expect to see N's and P's.