Ammonia In Water

[Byron]

Okay, looked around Planet Catfish, and I think I'll stick with peppered cories, I love their almost authentic natural look.
 
But I have been testing my tank daily as it said in the fish in cycle page, and I have been changing the water every other day once ammonia starts getting to high. The ammonia levels have been dropping lower and lower from about 0.5 ppm Sunday, and today it was only a trace about 2 days after any water change. Unfortunately I still don't have a trace of nitrate or nitrite, and my angelfish is still acting pretty stressed.
 
Should I continue doing water changes every other day or is it slowing down the cycle too much? Should I plan on getting some beneficial bacteria from a pet store? 

 
As long as ammonia or nitrite (when it appears) is above zero, do a daily 50% water change.  While some say this slows the cycling, it is far better than harming the fish, and elevated levels of ammonia or nitrite do harm fish regardless.  Having said that...with ammonia, if the pH is below 7 it is primarily ammonium which is basically harmless; similarly if you use the ammonia-detoxifying products I mention below.
 
The other thing I would do during this cycling period is use a conditioner that detoxifies both ammonia and nitrite.  Prime does, and another is Ultimate.  Once the cycling is over, you can use whichever conditioner you want that provides what you need.  But as long as ammonia/nitrite are likely, I would ensure they are being dealt with.  The water changes are still necessary with nitrite, since the effectiveness of Prime is limited as we discussed previously in this thread.
 
A bacterial supplement will do no harm, and may benefit.  I have used Stability with definite success (even though it is not the identified bacteria).  Tetra's SafeStart would be my preference (I couldn't get this locally at the time I needed it).  Dr. Tim's One and Only is another.
 
Byron.

 

[ezipf]

I have been using an ammonia detoxifier, but I will do a water change and plan on getting bacteria.

 

[ezipf]

Today the tank was zero all across the board, ammonia:0, nitrite:0, nitrate:0. So the tank isn't making much progress cycling.
 
But I tried again to feed the angelfish, and today he finally attempted to eat the pellets, but he kept spitting them out and reattempting to eat it. Should I be worried?
 
But other than that, he is acting normal and happy. Thanks for all the help and sorry for all the questions!

 

[Byron]

Today the tank was zero all across the board, ammonia:0, nitrite:0, nitrate:0. So the tank isn't making much progress cycling.
 
But I tried again to feed the angelfish, and today he finally attempted to eat the pellets, but he kept spitting them out and reattempting to eat it. Should I be worried?
 
But other than that, he is acting normal and happy. Thanks for all the help and sorry for all the questions!

 
Nothing here would worry me.  Numbers are fine, fish is better.  Fish often feed by taking in the food, chewing bits off, spitting out some, repeating...all normal.