Quarantine Media

[JoshO]

I've seen a lot of posts about keeping bio media in sumps to use for quarantine purposes, should the need arise. However I've decided to experiment with a different method so I can reuse the same media, without the risk of cross contamination and without the need of restarting fresh media each time.

I placed the quarantine bio rings and sponges into Tupperware with dirty tank water and left them at room temperature. Each week I take the water that I've removed from the display, rinse the display sponges and floss in this to get as much detritus as possible into the "dirty" water, and then use this water to replace the water in the Tupperware, in a hope that this will break down into enough ammonia to keep the bacteria thriving on the media.
As of last night I restarted my quarantine as I'm getting a new fish on Monday, so I added the media to it, dosed to 1 with Dr Tim's Ammonia chloride and this morning it's at 0 with nitrate at 3 (tested using salifert kits). It seems as though this could have been successful. The media has been in the containers for about 40 days, I'm unsure how this would pan out in terms of longevity but this short period seems to have been successful.
I'd love your opinions as to whether or not you think this seems viable or whether it seems it could just be a false reading.
@Randy Holmes-Farley does this seem logical to you?
Thanks in advance!

 

[jwshiver]

Interesting but It seems that this would create an anaerobic environment. Curious to see what Randy says.

 

[JoshO]

Interesting but It seems that this would create an anaerobic environment. Curious to see what Randy says.

This was my initial thought, but as the water is being changed weekly I'm hoping it shouldn't result in too much of an issue.

 

[JoshO]

Quick update on this, I dosed ammonia to 2ppm last night, about 18 hours ago, and I'm looking at around 0.5ppm today.
This seems to have worked very successfully and will be the method I continue to use for the foreseeable.
If I can keep track of this thread I will update each time I set up the quarantine as I believe this could be very useful to people who want to reuse the same media or don't have space for extra media (HOB, AIO etc)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It seems like a reasonable plan, as long, as folks note, it doesn't become too stagnant and begin to smell like hydrogen sulfide. A powerhead or airstone would prevent that.

 

[JoshO]

It seems like a reasonable plan, as long, as folks note, it doesn't become too stagnant and begin to smell like hydrogen sulfide. A powerhead or airstone would prevent that.

I used a totally sealed container with no airpockets (filled and sealed underwater)
Would a week seem like a timeframe that would promote stagnation, it was also kept in virtual darkness (unsure if this makes any difference to stagnation)