the water in my tank

Question
hello,  I am having problems with the ammonia levels in my tank. I have to do lots of water changes to keep it down. Right now it is at 6.0 the nitrate level is 0. The nitrite level is between 0 and .5. The ph level is 7.2 to 7.8. I have tried vacuuming the gravel, water changes, not feeding as much, ammonia eliminators. I have to be doing something wrong, but I don't know what it is. I only have one fish, it is a fan tailed gold fish. It has black spots on it's fins and tail. Any help you can give me would be appreciated. I have a 10 gal. tank.  

Answer
Hi Beth,
Thank you for your question. Link here for my holistic aquarium care page:
http://steamboats.com/aquarium.html
If you start with bottled water, use the product "Cycle" (friendly bacteria), and feed only 3 - 4 flakes per day, your pH and other levels should take care of themselves.
For food, figure a couple flakes per square inch of fish per day. Anything more than that will pollute the water.
I do not recommend chemical treatments. If the problem is polluted water, adding chemicals will just make it worse.
Write back if you want to discuss further.
Nori