Filter Help/query

A little random but can someone help me? As you may know, I am doing a fishless cycle, the current filter I was using broke so I had to put the cycling media inside a spare filter and put that into the tank. I originally planned to put this filter inside my main tank to serve as a back-up in case I ever needed to get hold of some BB quickly.
I was just wondering if, after I have finished with my QT tank and I have my new fish completed QT, Can I put this spare filter into my main tank after using it in my QT tank? I would replace all of the filter sponges etc. to avoid the cross-contamination from the QT to the main tank but will the outside "filter shell" be ok or would I have to bin the lot and get a new one?

 

Are the fish in your QT sick? If not then there's no reason for you to throw anything out. If you want to toss the media though then that's ok. I would clean the filter housing with maybe a mild bleach solution and rinse it well before setting it up again but it should be fine to reuse.

 

Are the fish in your QT sick? If not then there's no reason for you to throw anything out. If you want to toss the media though then that's ok. I would clean the filter housing with maybe a mild bleach solution and rinse it well before setting it up again but it should be fine to reuse.

To be honest there are no fish currently, Sounds silly but I was just thinking to the future after I have had fish added and the Quarantine has been completed. In case there is a parasite or something sinister in the water. I'd hate to throw out a perfectly working filter

 

The hard parts of the filter should be safe to sanitize with bleach to kill any pathogens. Just replace with new media if you did have a disease in the tank

 

The hard parts of the filter should be safe to sanitize with bleach to kill any pathogens. Just replace with new media if you did have a disease in the tank

I don't like to use bleach but I will boil it with boiling water straight from the kettle and allow to air dry for a few days before adding my my main tank. Thanks for your help

 

There's no reason to qt fish if you don't have fish in the tank already...

 

There's no reason to qt fish if you don't have fish in the tank already...

Sorry, I can see how I may have caused confusion. I do have fish in my main DP tank. My QT tank is being fishless cycled ready to add new fish to my stock but they will live in the QT before going into my DP tank only when I am sure they are disease free. I was originally going to add a second filter to my DP tank (the spare that I spoke about) but due to my filter in my QT fishless cycling tank breaking, I have had to abort that plan and chuck my spare filter in there instead. I was only wondering if after QT had been completed, could I put my spare filter into my DP tank to quietly cycle away in the background for future uses even though it will have been used to quarantine fish before they join my main tank

 

If no diseases or illnesses pop up you can put the filter in the tank at the same time as the fish!

If you do end up with an issue, I personally toss all my media and soak the filter in super hot water then clean with vinegar and soak again in that one step from boiling water. Then I let it air dry and sit dry for a week or so before adding media and dropping it back in a tank to cycle again. If (which I have not done in ages) I were to treat with copper based meds I'd use a sponge filter and throw the entire thing away afterwards as to not have any trace that might end up in something with shrimp or snails.