cockroaches,bombing, and my tank

T

tdm12017

New member
hey guys, i'm a long time creeper on here but i really need some advice on what do to.

Background:
i have a 55 gal reef tank, 10gal sump, 15 gal fuge both located underneath the tank. its been established for 3 years going on 4 in aug. i live in an apartment complex, first floor.

probem:

the lady living above me is dirty.. like real dirty. i've living in this complex for 3 years and have never had a problem with cockroaches. well because of this lady, i have a problem with cockroaches..( and all the people that live around us). so my land lord tells me that the orkin man is gonna come in to spray. i wasn't home when he came, but my girl was, and he saw the tank and opted not to spray, but to use some gel stuff. he does some investigating and determines that upstairs is a nest. like female cockroaches carrying eggs.. so they are going to have to bomb my apt.


Question:

What procautions can i take? i'm really scared about this whole thing because i don't want to lose anything. My landlord has been really understanding about my tank from the begining, so i'm pretty sure she is willing to help me do what needs to be done. Also she's meeting with the orkin man today to see what can be done. is there anything else i should do?

my plan:

so far i know i'm goign to need to cover and wrap my tank. is there a certain plastic i should be looking for? can i use one of those blue tarps? also, i will not be able to get into my apt for 8 hours, i was planing on just running the main pump, skimmer, heater and pumps in the tank for those hours. (ie no lights) is this the right approach?


thank you guys for everything

ron
 
I vote using Stretch Wrap as tight and as many layers as possible over all open areas ( sump, fuge, tanktop) Im talkin LAYER it up. Get it as tight as possible and maybe use some blue painters tape that leaves no residue and tape the edges of the stretch wrap. That should do it.
 
my vote would be for a complete removal of your tank from the apartment. Not sure if there are stairs or other barriers to this but it's the only way to be sure you won't lose everything. Keep in mind that saran wrap is a semi-permiable plastic so some stuff can pass through it, also keep in mind that the bombing fog will be so concentrated that it kills ROACHES, even a little could destroy your reef.

If it was my tank I'd try to drain the water, lift the tank corners onto furniture dollies and roll it outside or onto a patio for the day.

If you don't have it too stocked you could put the corals in tubs with water and the fish in a bucket with an airstone. The rock and sand could stay in the empty tank in the room covered in plastic as described above. At least this way the majority of the tank water will be out of the poison zone and you can refill the tank at the end of the day. Either way I'd run some serious carbon, at least 5 pounds or more through a power filter. Be prepared to do some 25% water changes at least 3 times in the following days.

Good luck! ~Charles~
 
I also wouldnt take the chance with the fog....I dont see how you could completely make the tank air tight....and if you did wouldnt that suffocate the tank anyways?
 
man.. this is not sounding too good.. i've talked to the land lord and they said that they will be bombing upstairs for sure.. but since they know i have the tank, they are doing everything in their power to work around the tank. right now the plan is after the roach lady gets booted (she got served today) they will bomb the the upstairs apt. the fog won't travel down the walls to my apt will it? i was gonna tape up all my outlets jsut to be sure.


yeloyoshi- i've been there for 3 years now, never had a problem until roach lady moved in....

jendub- i don't have the equipment to move my tank and the way i have the corals arranged and the amount they have grown will make moving them really hard. i'll post a pic when i get off of work.


what if i used a thicker mylar type plastic sheet and use the blue tape to make it air tight? will that work? man i swear... that roach lady is gonna get it from me..

hmm.. what eats cockroaches? its like a reef tank right? if i have a problem i introduce a natrual predator that eats the problem and restore balance...


even better, what eats roach ladies? lol
 
when our units are treated they don't "bomb" they use a sprayer "thing".One of our tenants had a "problem" and had to leave for 4 hours but she kept her 29 gallon freshwater tank up and running(she did turn off the filter).The serviceman had told her she did not need to worry about it and nothing happened to her fish.

Ask your extermination serviceman/company what you need to do_Ours has been servicing our SFV buildings for over 16 years and seems to know his stuff.
 
My house was tented for termites a few years back. Moving the tank would have been the ideal solution, but it wasn't possible at the time.
What I did was turn off the return to the sump and sealed the tank with duct tape and the plastic the exterminators give you to store food items. Kept the powerheads and heater running and turned off the lights.
The main thing I did was run an airline from an outside compressor into the sealed tank. This provided not only fresh air to the tank, but more importantly positive pressure within the tank to prevent the entry of the fumigant.
Luckily, everything survived and has been running since. Just my experience and not one I wish on anybody. Good luck...
 
gina sofia,

the exterminator has visited me once, and he opted to not even spray but rather went with the gel/baits instead. but after further inspection upstairs ( the roach lady) he said it was the worst he has ever seen. they are spraying stuff up there and he said you can hear them falling and dieing. from what i can tell it seems as the problem upstairs can only be solved by bombing.. from what my landlord has told me, when they do a bombing, no one is allowed back in for 8 hours.

glaudds, where would i be able to find/rent one of these compressors?

is it normal for my apartment company to cover any losses i should have? i haven't asked about it, but if something does happen i don't want to be SOL.

again thanks to everyone for all your help
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6842159#post6842159 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tdm12017

glaudds, where would i be able to find/rent one of these compressors?

Click to expand...
Luckily, I had one on hand. You can also use a strong aquarium air pump.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6842159#post6842159 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tdm12017


is it normal for my apartment company to cover any losses i should have?

Click to expand...

No,especially since they are taking care of an issue and you have been forewarned..it probably also states in your lease that you're not allowed any pets without having written permission from the owner/agent.

Renters insurance probably wouldn't cover it either.
 
i have written permission for it.. i think.. i'll check my lease. but i know that when i moved in they specifically said it was okay to have the tank. (i have a cat which they also allow) mostly because my landlord also has a small freshwater tank and cat

thanks again
 
The company I work for allows some of the resident managers to have pets but not the tenants.

Just be careful,I've seen a few people lose large deposits because they thought it was understood that they had pets..without the permission in writing they fight a losing battle when trying to reclaim deposits.

Also,I was just reading the list of to-do's that Western gives us to give out..don't forget to keep your cat food in a sealed container.Good luck.
 
use really thick painters plastic and seal w/ 3" blue painters tape you will be good... same thing happend to me...my fish made it
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6842060#post6842060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by glaudds
My house was tented for termites a few years back. Moving the tank would have been the ideal solution, but it wasn't possible at the time.
What I did was turn off the return to the sump and sealed the tank with duct tape and the plastic the exterminators give you to store food items. Kept the powerheads and heater running and turned off the lights.
The main thing I did was run an airline from an outside compressor into the sealed tank. This provided not only fresh air to the tank, but more importantly positive pressure within the tank to prevent the entry of the fumigant.
Luckily, everything survived and has been running since. Just my experience and not one I wish on anybody. Good luck...
Click to expand...

If the tank must stay I'd follow this to the letter. Great idea!
 
[QUOTE
is it normal for my apartment company to cover any losses i should have? i haven't asked about it, but if something does happen i don't want to be SOL.

[/QUOTE]

I don't think so, abut 15 years ago, our lanlord had a termite guy come buy and spray while we were at work, and without telling us, it killed everything in the tank, I sued and lost.
 
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