Is 30 PPM, to high for Nitrates

Hello, I have a 110 Gallon, I got the tank from a friend, saved about 35 gallons, made the rest fresh salt. I have been battling brown algae for about 3 weeks, i have had the tank now for 5 weeks. I have cut down on the feedings and the lights, brown algae is minimal, however, i have noticed my nitrates are at30 ppm and holding..
IIS THIS TOO HIGH. I have only a few small fish and 1 anemone...

 

Yes, I would take steps to get rid of those nitrates as soon as possible.

 

How much Live rock do you have? What are the rest of the water parameters? Calcium, Alkalinity , ammonia, and nitrites? Temp and lighting?

I generally find, that when most of these numbers are in line, the algae will go away on its own....

 

My ammonia tested 0 and my nitites tested 0...as far as calcium, i havent got a test kit for it, although i do add purple up to the tank. My P.H. is around 8.3 and the temp is 76-78 and my lighting is minimal, i have a 24 inch and 48 inch setup, which is 65watts and 10,000k Daylight & 460 nm Actinic.
I have around 65-75 lbs of the live rock.. My brown algae has decreased greatly. I did a water change (around 30 gallons worth) and the nitrates did not drop. I have a pwerhead in the tank that has a filter attachment and i have a large sump....
I was thinking about placing some of that cheato macro algae in the sump...

 

Sounds all OK then. Are you using RO/DI water? Some municipal waters have nitrates in them right from the faucet. Chaeto should help !

I would get both Calcium and Alkalinity test kits. How do you know if you are adding too much of the purple up? or not enough?

 

you are absolutley right. I do not not know if i am adding too much or too little. Is alk, the same as PH.? and yes i am going to get the test kit next for calcium, and tonite i am testing my water. I do not have any special filters as of yet, straight from the tap at this point....

 

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia/nitrites/nitrates as well? Alk is not the same as ph but it does affect ph.

 

no not yet, i am going to test them tonight and see. My ammonia levels as well as nitrites seem ok. when i first tested my tank, i went out and got 20 snails and 20 hermits, to add to the few i already had, thinking i needed a larger clean up crew, like i said, i have only had the tank for 5 weeks and its a work in progress. i do plan to get maybe 15 more snails and about 15 scarlet hermits and cuople of starfish and a cucumber, as far as a clean up crew is goes.

 

The water in your tank will test differently than the water from your tap so don't use the tank test results as a barometer for the quality of your tap water. That being said, it sounds like your tank is experiencing a mini-cycle which is normal when you move a tank. Your best bet at this point is to just let the tank finish cycling and invest in an r.o. unit.

 

I agree....5 weeks is well within cycling time. I would not add anything else until those nitrates go down, indicating a working nitrogen cycle