Detergent spilled in my media

[SlimJimmy916]

My sister spilled some detergent (Tide Plus Ultra Oxi) in my bucket that contains my filter media keep in mind it’s a small drop. Do I rinse the media and start my cycle all over?

[SlimJimmy916]

You can't really see the spillage on the side of the bucket but it was most likely equivalent to the size of a water drop

[Colu]

I would start again risk of contamination is high I wouldn't risk it

[nabokovfan87]

If you don't have a choice and you want to save the media itself, I would run it through water, clean the bucket itself and then put the media into the bucket and run water through it for a considerable amount of time.  You'd definitely want to start cycling new media or have something else for the time being and dost some bacteria to try to populate that new media (or this media when it's cleaned).

As a final resort to "clean it" I would run it through carbon with a powerhead in the bucket for 3-5 days just to try to absorb any contaminants.

I'm in agreement though, I don't think it's worth the risk.  If I could I literally hand you a bag of media I can't use to try to replace what was lost. 😞

[Melkor]

Its not a great idea. A small amount of certain contaminants in a closed system can be devastating. Do you have other tanks? Can some if not all of the fish from the contaminated media tank temporarily go in those if so?

[Guppysnail]

Hi @SlimJimmy916, 

This is not as bad as it seems. If your tank is cycled. That means tons of beneficial exist in the tank itself. They will quickly reseed your media. 
Wash everything in contact with the detergent very thoroughly. Test daily until you are certain things have settled in. I would do water changes as needed to keep the ammonia and nitrites down. 
If it is a long running tank with lots of plants you may not even have more than a slight reading of ammonia and/or nitrite. 
If it is a newer tank you may see more. 
I hope that helps set your mind at ease.