Plants O Plants

[littlenemo]

ok so im cycleing my tank with plants in the tank. it going good ammonia dropping in 12 hours now but bloody nitrites wont drop still purple api test nitrate 10, ph 6.8
so question is is it taking so long cause of my plants should i leave them in is that ok??? also i want to put sand in can i take it out tomoz and change it or wait till i do massive water change

 

[Tizer]

getting to process ammonia is easy, nitrite usally takes 2 weeks to kick in there after, then you got a qualifying week, be patient,