High nitrates are imo an indicator of being overstocked. It's evidence that the current tank size, maintenance systems, and maintenance procedures are inadequate for the current stock. Inadequate for the current stock means overstocked.
In your particular tank, the current tank size, maintenance systems, and maintenance procedures are only adequate for a much smaller stock. That means it's overstocked. You can of course make changes, some of which might drastically improve the situation.
To use an example, it's like an airplane that can't get off the ground when it has 10,000 lbs of freight. It's over loaded. One option is to add more engines or more powerful engines. Another is to reduce the amount of freight. But until changes are made it's still overloaded.
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skjl47
gave some great suggestions as changes you can make beside removing some fish.