Nitrogen (nitrate works, though ammonia is usually more easily utilised) is certainly required for growth.
Having no detectable nitrate/nitrite/ammonia in the aquarium theoretically could limit growth...but in order for that to happen, all other requirements would have to be met.
It's far more likely that another trace element, micro-nutrient or macro-nutrient (or other environmental condition - anything from an excess of growth-inhibiting compounds to not enough food/light/etc) is the limiting factor for your growth, rather than not enough nitrogen.
That said, it would be pretty easy to check - lots of companies make nitrogen supplements for aquarium use. I like Seachem's Flourish Nitrogen, personally, but you could use any of them (in conjunction with a good set of testing equipment!) to experiment.