Used Polyfilter Pad for cycling

[Thomasflynn15]

I am trying to cycle a 5 gallon quarantine tank. Can I take used PolyFilter pad from my display and use it to cycle it given I discard it after the Quarrantine is done? My concern is the nature of PolyFilter to absorb chemicals and nutrients (hence why we use it) and it possibly leaching into the tank again. Is that possible?

 

[Spare time]

Just grab a bottle of fritz (turbo ideally or zyme 9) or biospira and call it a day. I wouldn't use the polyfilter as biomedia

 

[Miami Reef]

Quarantine tank for fish or corals?

Polyfilters don’t remove nutrients in saltwater. It is false advertising. It only removes nutrients in freshwater because saltwater have many ions that are more abundant and bind in place of PO4 in a polymer.

If the QT is for fish only, I’d use the poly filter as a biomedia.

If it’s for corals, I’d ask @Randy Holmes-Farley what he thinks. Can poly filters release metals in high concentrations if transferred from a large tank to a small new one?

 

[Garf]

I am trying to cycle a 5 gallon quarantine tank. Can I take used PolyFilter pad from my display and use it to cycle it given I discard it after the Quarrantine is done? My concern is the nature of PolyFilter to absorb chemicals and nutrients (hence why we use it) and it possibly leaching into the tank again. Is that possible?

Sounds like it should work. May take a few days to ramp up though.