Somewhat urgent: turtle filter for fish?

So I have this problem...an in-law brought me some guppies and danios for Christmas. A short background, I have 3 large tanks, a 50, 55, and 60, as indicated in my profile. I have a 10gal hospital, 10gal empty, and other 20gal tubs I use for raising mosquito larvae and daphnia. The problem is, my quarantine/hospital is currently occupied. I can set-up the empty 10gal, it will be uncycled, and I don't know if I want to risk borrowing media from the other 2 large tanks (one recently had an outbreak of columnaris, and the other had some fish develop lateral line erosion, one of which is currently occupying the hospital). I had considered borrowing the filter from my turtle tub (housing 2 good sized red eared sliders for a year now), and moving them temporarily to the outdoor pond. So the question is, would a turtle filter be suitable to be used with fish?

To clarify: I'm not asking if it can handle the bioload, I'm pretty sure it can. I'm asking if turtles leave residues or something in the filters that fish might not tolerate well. I've never interchanged filters between fish and something else before. The fish are currently still in the bag, as I'm deciding what to do. And unfortunately returning them is not an option, so there. I can risk putting them in one of the two large tanks, but both have electric blue acaras in them, and I'm not totally confident that the tiny danios and slow guppies will be left completely alone...or will they be okay?

 

I would give the filter a good cleaning and put a new sponge in it, then seed it with a healthy tank. You mention you recently had a outbreak so it may be a good idea to go the tetra safe start route.

The media from the turtles may be okay but turtles are SO DIRTY so personally I wouldn't risk it. Would it be a better option to just get a cheap sponge filter and pump from the pet store? Or even a HOB filter. Walmart and pet stores sell them pretty cheap.

 

I would give the filter a good cleaning and put a new sponge in it, then seed it with a healthy tank. You mention you recently had a outbreak so it may be a good idea to go the tetra safe start route.

The media from the turtles may be okay but turtles are SO DIRTY so personally I wouldn't risk it. Would it be a better option to just get a cheap sponge filter and pump from the pet store? Or even a HOB filter. Walmart and pet stores sell them pretty cheap.

Thanks for the input. Yes, this is exactly my problem - I have currently no 'healthy' tank to borrow mature media from, save for the turtle tub. And...it's 21.00 at Christmas eve where I am, so stores are closed until the 26th. The filters are physically dirty, I'm sure, but are they particularly toxic? I would reckon with that amount of waste, and the resulting bacteria living there, it wouldn't be particularly dirty chemically, which is the primary concern, wouldn't you think? I don't really have much options at the moment. the fish have been in the bag for a good 7 hours now, so I'm a bit concerned..

edit: I don't have bottled bacteria on hand at the moment either, as I've always used the long method/seeding with regards to cycling, so..

 

Put them in the empty 10 gallon without a filter and do a 50% water change daily until you can get a filter. Add an air stone if possible.

 

Put them in the empty 10 gallon without a filter and do a 50% water change daily until you can get a filter. Add an air stone if possible.

Thanks for the input. To be exact - I am given 6 'green danios' (about half inch each. I'm not familiar with danios, but that's what she said they were), and a pair of silver guppies. Would they be fine in the 10 with 50% daily changes?

 

Thanks for the input. To be exact - I am given 6 'green danios' (about half inch each. I'm not familiar with danios, but that's what she said they were), and a pair of silver guppies. Would they be fine in the 10 with 50% daily changes?

I think so, and at this point I believe it's your best option. It's got to be better than leaving them in the bags.

 

Thanks for the input. Yes, this is exactly my problem - I have currently no 'healthy' tank to borrow mature media from, save for the turtle tub. And...it's 21.00 at Christmas eve where I am, so stores are closed until the 26th. The filters are physically dirty, I'm sure, but are they particularly toxic? I would reckon with that amount of waste, and the resulting bacteria living there, it wouldn't be particularly dirty chemically, which is the primary concern, wouldn't you think? I don't really have much options at the moment. the fish have been in the bag for a good 7 hours now, so I'm a bit concerned..

edit: I don't have bottled bacteria on hand at the moment either, as I've always used the long method/seeding with regards to cycling, so..

My turtles were always gross. So I'd be more inclined to put them in the tank clean the filter and run it without media versus using the turtle media. Do you have any airpumps at all? I had a time years ago where we lost power for almost two weeks. Almost all of the fish were fine and I ran battery powered air pumps to help oxygenate the water. So putting the filter in the tank even without media will help. The fish have pretty low bioloads so I'd just do a couple water changes and have the filter running and they should be fine until you can get something else from the store.

 

Thanks guys. Currently floating them in the 10 gal with an airstone right now. Will get them their own sponge and bottled bacteria for a fish-in cycle as soon as I can.