Preserving the good bacteria

Question
Hi Karen!
I have been wondering if removing the filter pads and keeping
them in a bucket of water for a week would preserve the good
bacteria during medical treatment of the whole tank.

I have been trying to get a hospital tank setup but freakout at
the price of filtered, lit,  heated tanks that would HOPEFULLY
rarely get used.  I did see a little bitty heater for a betta bowl
that might be okay. My current hospital tank is about 2 gallons
(plastic).

It is getting chilly here now in Australia (fiiiinally) and a heater
would be essential now.

It's just a query as I am going to get the hospital tank done, so
answer me last if you are busy!  No rush (for a change).

All the best,
Gillian  : ))


Answer
Good to hear from you again Gillian!
Hmm..I'm not sure the bacteria would survive without a food source to keep them alive. It's a very good idea though. Perhaps add a little flake food every day to the water to keep an ammonia source for the bacteria to continue to live.

A 2 gallon aquarium can work as a hospital tank. But it's small size means poor water quality can turn up in no time. Frequent water changes are the solution to this. If you could get at least just a 10 gallon that would be awesome. Or even a 5 gallon. ;-) A tiny heater might work for your 2gal. But they always say it's risky to heat anything smaller than 5 gallons but you could always test it out without any fish and moniter the temp to see how it does for at least a few days.

Chilly now in Australia huh? It's facinating to hear how the weather is in different parts of the world. Here in Texas, the first day of spring was just several days ago, but for some reason it's very cold! It's like winter this year was very slow to come. I do hope it does get warmer though. If you don't mind-- how cold does it normally get in Australia? Do you have snow frequently? We almost never have snow but like once every several years.
Thanks.......I'm just curious. ;-)

My best wishes and good luck with your fishkeeping!
Take care,
Karen~