The molasses spill in Hawaii demonstrated the serious nature of having too many carbohydrates in the water. The bacteria and fungus grow so fast that it kills the fish. Not pretty.
I was thinking you might understand it better if I just described too many carbohydrates as "BOD." You probably already got it, but I have so little to do today I thought I'd post this for S&G.
Of course, adding the nitrates will temporarily raise the Biological Oxygen Demand of a system with too many carbs as the microbes assimilate the carbs into proteins. The carbs are the energy, adding the other nutrients enables digestion and cell multiplication. Al Gore might inform you that burning the carbs will produce greenhouse gas.