i have little tono nitrate in any of my tanks. we dont recycle the city water here, its straight from the aquafer plus i do regular weekly waterchanges
For whatever it's worth, this has nothing to do with the ammonia/nitrogen cycle going on in the tank. Nitrate is the result of aerobic bacteria breaking down fish waste (ammonia). If you have a zero reading with a heavily stocked tank (especially a new one), something isn't right.