Desiccating media

[barry cuda]

I'm wondering if completely desiccating a given amount of media (in this case the ceramic rings that came with my wife's Nanocube, and that she isn't using) would render them free of parasites & disease. The reason I'm thinking that way is because I've had some trouble maintaining water quality in my QT...I think I just don't have enough filtration to keep ammonia & nitrites down. I'm experimenting with putting a Gladware container full of these rings in the tank as a rinseable detritus trap and to provide some more bacterial growth surface.
Of course, this is really only viable if they are either replaced or rendered pathogen-free after each use. Would complete drying do the job, or am I wasting my time? And would these survive boiling if I needed to in order to sterilize?

 

[beth]

No, it would only "trap" waste with no filtration. Add more filtration or more water circulation. You can use a couple of cups of sand from your display as well.
Try a sponge filter.

 

[barry cuda]

Well, that's largely the idea. Since these are something I can just pick up and shake out in the wastewater bucket while doing a water change, they trap a lot of detritus that I can then easily remove from the tank.
I have a Penguin 125 minus the bio-wheel on the 20-gallon QT... is this filter possibly just not up to the task? More filtration is definitely an option I'll take if necessary.