skyhigh nitrates and zero fish

[e46er]

ok so last week before i removed my fish for QT my nitrates were 5-10 i did a 3 day blackout followed by a 50G or so WC and now my nitrates are like 40-50ppm
was this solely from the algae dying? i mean i introduced my first fish first week of january and ive gone thru 4 buckets of salt so im not skimping on WC at all but im starting to feel this is rediculous amounts of salt im going through

i am running a phos phate reactor and have chaeto in my sump with a light thats lit 18 hrs a day
will this eventually start uptaking the nitrates becuase i cant do 50 gal WC changes daily

[Jack]

I would say it was from the dying algae, yep.

[i have crabs]

what are you using as a filter? probably is from the algae but a dirty mechanical filter could be just as guilty

[e46er]

euro reef rs 135 sump with small fuge holds about 8 or so gal chaeto algae 120 lbs live sand 120 ish pounds live rock

ive been doing some reading on RC about vodka dosing anyone have any input or experince??