help! a newbie with ammonia questions

[kruppasing]

i recently set up a small (2 gal) goldfish bowl for my daughter. i have a smallworld fishbowl UGF and a layer of gravel that i prepared and ran for a week before i put two small (~1 inch) goldfish in it. the fish have been it the bowl for exactly one week and seem to be doing fine, i.e., they are swimming actively and show healthy appetites when fed. i feed them 2-3 times a day, only an amount that they will eat in about 1 minute (about 4-6 hikari bio-gold pellets).

i just checked for ammonia with a test kit and it read 2.0 ppm, so i immediately did a 50% water change. now the ammonia reads 1.0 ppm. is this too high for the fish or should i do another 25% water change immediately to try to get the ammonial level down?

and is it true that i should never do a complete water change, but rather 25-50% water changes once i get the bowl to cycle?

thank you.

[bubbleboy]

Ammonia level above 0 ppm is too high. A 2 gallon tank is rather small and difficult to maintain. First of all, you are correct in assuming that the complete water change is not good. For such a small aquarium, I would suggest 20~25% water change once every 3 days or even every other day. And maybe don't feed the fish as much. Logically, more a fish eats more waste it produces and waste causes build up of ammonia. Does your aquarium have a filter? The aquarium won't cycle unless it has a filter.

[kruppasing]

to answer your question: yes, i have an under gravel filter (UGF). i have done 25-50% water changes every other day since i added the fish. but do i do another water change today to reduce the ammonia level, even though i just did one earlier today? and i will take your advice and feed the fish less--maybe only twice a day and only 4 pellets each? will that be enough?

[blueheron]

Actually, an ammonia spike is pretty normal once fish are added. If you have an undergravel filter, keep checking the levels and don't let them get too high. I wouldn't do 2 water changes in a day (although I've been known to freak out and do them). I don't know if this is correct, but my Local Fish Store told me to just wait it out on my 40 Gal. tank because I just couldn't get it under control with continued water changes. What I was actually doing was removing my good bacteria with each change so the water could not get cycled. There is a product called CYCLE that I've used with good success to start the eco. process. Try to make sure the fish are okay and the ammonia is not too high, but don't change too much water or you'll destroy the bacteria you need in order for the tank to stabilize. Does that make sense? It's a delicate dance at first.

[kruppasing]

so are you saying that i shouldn't worry too much and just let the ammonia levels remain at their current level (which has been around 0.5) and hope that my fish tolerate it?

[bubbleboy]

Continue with your usual treatment (25% water change every other day, etc.) but don't take any drastic measures. More than one water change per day is definite no-no. At this point you don't want to stress the fish too much.