Cycling And Live Plants

[dazbud]

Hi there

still having problems getting newish 100L to cycle.
Ammonia always between 0.25 and 1ppm. daily water changes. Nitrites register occasionally for one day then drop to zero, not to be seen again for a few days.
Tried filters starters Seachem Stability and Tetra Safestart, to no avail.
now 7 weeks since tank was started and 5 weeks since fish were added.

I started a smaller cold water tank at same time which fully cycled in 3 weeks.

The smaller tank has no plants, the larger tank has quite a few. I wondered if the plants are slowing down the cycle?

 

[CezzaXV]

Plants certainly can slow down a cycle as they'll absorb ammonia and nitrate, so you can't know what is the result of growing bacteria and what the plants are doing. If you have enough of them you can go through what is called a silent cycle, though you need to be pretty heavily planted for the effect to be significant.