low nitrates tolerable ?

[deerleaf]

i've read & heard that no matter what,
a tank will always have a 'trate level, and
the trick is to just keep the levels very low
enough for the inhabitants to be healthy & live.my tank is now well past cycled, and
my 'trate readings are/or 2-5. i tested my
tap water for 'trates and the previous readings/levels were the result, though i use
a mix of dist. water & tap for water changes
and just distilled for top offs. is the levels of just 2-5 ppm acceptable to begin adding fish, polyps, soft corals ? and i do
do regular water changes, with also all other
readings at 0-amm.,'trites,phos.
what are your thoughts ?

 

[burnnspy]

Your levels are fine. But it is very possible to have undectable nitrates. I maintain zero nitrates due to a Plenum system in my 29gal reef and a very low bioload, many other people do also.
BurnNSpy

 

[mr . salty]

My 130 gallon FOWLR(100lbs+ rock) is keeping a level of around 5ppm since I switched to a DSB.I also have a 10 gallon algae refugium hooked into the setup with 15lbs of live rock and 10lbs of live sand in it.Before that I had a problem with high nitrates.Usually around 100ppm. Other than the obvious algae problems,the fish and inverts were fine. But my tank is much happier now.