So I was pondering this question recently after I got my first dino outbreak. For the first 10 months of the existence of my tank, I ran it with 0 Nitrates and had no problems (phosphates are a constant battle though). Things were growing and nothing was stressed from the lack of nitrates. Then, I decided to unplug my protein skimmer to raise my nitrates, and they did. But then, my nitrates bottomed out after I plugged it back in on a timer and now I have dinos. So it makes me wonder, how do people run these 0 Nitrate systems with little to no issues?