a general question reef related

[redseaapples]

ive been a member for ages ..had a few tanks over the years ..started with undergravels before wet dry was even invented ..now after a few years my original all in one wet dry is now a fresh tank which i was happy with ...but that ended up in me buying a broken 38 litre (all in one tank wet dry didnt work etc) which became my fresh shrimp tank for ages now ..well started with 11 red cherrys ..now probably a 100 in there ...but still i missed a marine tank until my mate brought me a 38 liter maybe less tall all in one wet dry ..well 6 months later now tank has cycled live rock looks ok ...no hideous hair algae so far ..all tests show 0 nitrite ammonia and nitrate is now zero as well as ive been doing the sugar dosing and it seems to work at about 1/8 teaspoon every day or so ...so to my question comment ..its great to see 0 nitrate and i only have one fish so far ...i am patient ..hes a scorpion fish so his tank mates are limited anyway ..he is happy eating ...but i lost my first leather coral seemed to have a cut at the base on the foot ...may have missed this when i bought it ...the only other coral is a small hammer type coral that seems fine but i dunno ..the water looks great tests good ..but i just get the feeling im missing something ..skimmer pulls dark greenish/brown skum ..i used deoinized water ..i want to put more corals but i want to know they will flourish not wither an die...i love the sugar idea but what else is it doing to the water ..seems weird putting sugar in ..i was always taught nutrient poor is better ...
thanks for reading my long first post in many years ..

[mcgyvr]

Sounds like you are well on your way.. You just need to put some socks on those cold feet and move forward. :)

The sugar is just a carbon source to feed bacteria to maintain a healthy/growing population to reduce nitrates,etc...

As we never have a complete vision of whats going on in our "small blocks of the ocean"
there will always be a risk that a coral or fish or whatever dies from "something"..
You've been lurking around for a long time and are probably well prepared to adapt to any issue that comes up.. Just part of life..
And this place is always here to help..

In general yes.. keeping nitrates/phosphates "low" has been proven to allow us to maintain happy coral reefs,etc... Some have found that when they get to "ultra low" levels that they find the corals don't do as well.. And some have found "ultra low" levels work well for them..
I have no problem keeping nitrate levels up to 10ppm and having a happy reef..
Some like 5max.. Some run 40+ and maintain happy systems.. There is more than just water parameters at play.. light..water movement.. feeding,etc...

[redseaapples]

yeah i am cautious ...this tank not a big one so anything bad will happen quick...so far all good...the prism skimmer rated at 40 gallons ..so bout 4 times an hour through the tank..wet drys not much just some bio ring things but the live rock is what i want to be main filter seems to all work...2 small power heads add flow so lts great water movement..friend almost bought me a clam tday...i have lurked around i guess ..read the forums as good knowledge and experience there (sugar dosing ..who wouldve thought)
on a side note ..my shrimp tank and marine are next to each other ..my dwarf scorpion gets excited sometimes ..wondered if he was seeing the shrimp..