Feed or not to feed??

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Hi Everyone~ 

Okay on todays episode of Sandra the fish rookies fish in cycling, we are on Day 3, Here are my parameters and 2 questions below I am hoping to get some advice on. 

PH 7.2; Ammonia 0.20 ppm; Nitrite 0 ppm; Nitrate 0ppm; KH 65 ppm; GH 120 ppm and water Temp 78.2. Because I am below 0.20 ppm should I hold off on a water change this morning, and wait to see what my chemistry looks like this evening? 

Last evening, the parameters were the same as above, and I added some Fritz Zyme in the evening (Day 2 I did a 10ish % water change, and added 1/2 cup of Fritz Zyme and prime in the AM and after repeat chemistry, added the second 1/2 cup of Fritz Zyme).

I have NOT fed my 3 fish and 1 snail since 09 Jan 2021.

1) Should I feed them a small amount today? Yay or Nay? Will this cause a crazy ammonia spike? 

2) Is there such thing as adding too much Fritz Zyme? I searched all over the intranet last night and the actual Fritz site, and could not get anything "concrete". I have given 2 cups to date. Should I relax on that? Use it again when I do a water change?  

Thanks everyone for your advice and support, its appreciated.

Sandra 🙂

[Dancing Matt]

Have you had your fish before the 9th? Were they getting fed by you before or come in from the store?

If you want to feed them, your prob just need to do a water change after. Or a few more in the near future.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

I have had my Guppy and snail since Dec 22nd, and my 2 cory cat fish since Dec 28th. I was feeding them VERY little every second day till my tank started to cycle on Jan 11th 

[FrozenFins]

Yes feed them again. Then do a waterchange.

I have never used fritz zyme so I wouldn't know how much is too much. I can tell you this though...

companys reccomended dose is usaully far less from the lethal dose. This is so a customer can't get mad at them for killing their fish because if their fish died they probably did more then the reccomended dose.

Edited January 13, 2021 by James Black

[Hobbit]

I agree with @Dancing Matt. I’d feed them and do a water change after.

1 hour ago, Sandra the fish rookie said:

Is there such thing as adding too much Fritz Zyme?

My feeling is at some point, adding more generic bacteria actually gets in the way of the development of all the thousands of specific species that live best in your tank. You don’t want the few species they have in Fritz Zyme to be outcompeting whatever species grows best in your tank. Since you’ve added a lot already, my guess is that whatever Fritz bacteria will survive long term in your tank is already nice and established, and now it would be best to let the bacteria grow on its own. But that’s not based on any reading or experiments—it’s just based on my understanding of bacteria. 🙂

[Dancing Matt]

I had an issue with an overstocked goldfish tanks after I did a filter change-up. I was doing weekly water changes to keep the ammonia down. I added bacteria but didn't notice a change so I just kept doing water changes and feed them less. It has been over a month and my ammonia test yesterday came back 0ppm. In the end it just took time. I also only feed them every other day for now.

[Sandra the fish rookie]

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I have fed them and will do a water change this evening.