flea bomb or spray

sassyfrassy

New member
My house has fleas and I have to treat. What do I do for my tanks? Cover all three w/plastic if I bomb - that is a 4 hr. wait! Or should I spray in room w/tank?
 
We ran into this problem last year.

For my salt tank I put the fish in buckets with powerheads and put them next door (my moms). I would have put them in the car on a inverter if she was not so close. We put trash bags over the tanks and sealed them to the tank with tape. We came in aired out the house after bombing After about 6 hours I opened my tank up and ran just powerheads. The next day I brought the fish home. Make sure everything is sealed tight. It will take a little extra work getting the tape glue off.
 
That sounds excessive if you ask me. Putting the fish into buckets would be very stressful on the fish and hard maybe impossible to catch them all on some setups.
 
Are you using the spot medications like Frontline, that you apply to the animal for flea control?

Are the fleas just on the animal or are they bitting humans too?
 
I would not use aerosol bombs (total release aerosols) or aerosol spray cans around a reef tank. As a last resort only use course sprays from a compressed spray can applicator directly on the floor surface. You would need to cover the tanks with plastic and turn off all pumps for four hours or until completely dry. Do not spray directly around the tank. If you don't have fleas biting you in the room where the fish are, I would not spray this room.

I would use one of the spot medications like Frontline directly on the animal and if the fleas are not biting humans, then that may be all that is necessary (it will take at least a month for controls to kick in.
 
I agree with Cliff.

Treat any animals directly with appropriate anti parasitic chemicals. Be really careful if you have cats as some flea products for dogs will kill cats.

Increase your floor vacuuming rates, limit animals outside exposure, and potentially get a professional carpet cleaning service in to steam clean your carpets.

A buddy of mine bug bombed his house with his reef tank in it. He basically put a positive pressure bag around it with some slowly venting dive cylinders to keep the toxic flea killing agents out of the bubble. Said it was a ton of work to set up but worked ok.
 
Thank you all for your advice. The animals have already been treated. I have carpet in LR & BRs and I think I will bomb these rooms b/c they have doors that can be closed and are on the other side of the house from the den (where tank is). The kitchen is beside and open to the den (both have tile) so I will spray baseboards in these rooms. I can cover all three tanks w/plastic - water will still circulate b/t tanks. I also found a flea trap from Happy Jack that uses light and sticky surface to catch the fleas. I can use it in cabinets under tanks - nice dark place fleas like. Thanks all. Carolyn
 
If you insist on using bombs (aerosol spray cans or total release bombs) I would place a towl at the bottom of the doors to prevent the pesticide from entering other rooms.

These bombs go up into the air and follow any air currents and then slowly fall to the floor surface where the flea eggs, worm like larvae, pupae cases and adult fleas reside. Coverage does not go under furniture and other areas where air currents don't take them.

Buying the liquid gallon containers with a course spray attachement will alllow you to spray directly on the floor and other areas where the animals go. The liquid chemicals have residual action which will last around one month.

The bombs are usually pyrethrum or synthetic pyrethrums which are contact pesticides which break down in hours.

The chemicals have little effect on the eggs and pupae cases. It takes time for the egg to hatch out into the worm like larvae that contact the pesticide. The same with the pupae cases (not effected by pesticides). So you are better using the liquid chemicals sold than the bombs. ;)
 
I actually have a question regarding this topic as well. I am moving into a new home within the month, and we are going to bomb it before we move in. The people we are buying it from have many animals and do not treat for fleas at all and, it's bad bad. I will be setting up my new 150g within a couple days of the bomb. Does anyone see any problems with this situation?
 
Many of these store bought products now contain grow inhibitors which prevent the larvae from transforming into pupae cases. The growth inhibitors are not toxic. They do not effect the adults or pupae cases which hatch into adults, but will break the flea life cycle at the larvae stage. :)

Fleas have complete metamorphosis like butterflies: egg to larvae to pupae case to adult. This is why it takes at least 30 days to gain control of fleas once treatments are started. :)
 
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I actually have a question regarding this topic as well. I am moving into a new home within the month, and we are going to bomb it before we move in. The people we are buying it from have many animals and do not treat for fleas at all and, it's bad bad. I will be setting up my new 150g within a couple days of the bomb. Does anyone see any problems with this situation?

The danger when treating for fleas is during the treatment process. Once the chemicals are dry then they will not be able to get into your tank. The same with aerosol bombs, once the chemicals settle from the air and land on the surfaces and dry, the danger for tank contamination is over. :)
 
It sounds like a major & expensive project as we have 1.5 acres to treat as well. 3 cats & 1 dog, but we have got to get it under control - my animals are suffering! I use the treatments, but they only kill when the flea bites, which doesn't keep the fleas off them.
 
Flea control when animals are allowed to run loose, especially when they can leave your property can be a real problem.

You can treat your property, but for over 1 acre of land, it will need to be power sprayed using larger volumes of chemical than trying with a 1 gallon sprayer. You would want to use longer lasting chemicals (residual chemicals). Also, once the time period (usually at most 1.5 months) that the chemical lasts, re-infestation from squirrels, racoons, other cats and dogs.....etc, is high.

If your dog or cat leaves your property, it can pick-up fleas from other areas in large quantities simpy by going through an area where deer or other animals lay frequently.

I have used flea dusts on my animals in these situations with pretty good results, but you will need to re-treat when large numbers of fleas are on the animal(s). This can be a real PIA.
 
You will want to make sure your animals are treated for tapeworms as well, especially with heavy flea infestations. Tapeworms as well as other diseases are transmitted by fleas. Lyme disease is another good thing to have your Vet treat the animals for especially where Lyme ticks (live on deer and field mice) are found. :(
 
Dont bomb... That may only kill the live fleas it comes in contact with.

Treat your animals with that stuff that goes on their neck. Vacuum the carpets well and throw out the stuff in the vacuum. You have to get rid of the eggs. The fleas will get on your animals and die. You will see them disappear in a week or so. The eggs you missed from vacuuming will hatch in a few weeks and you have to vacuum some more. Keep applying the neck treatments too. In a few months you will win this war!
 
I have decided to try a natural approach. I am going to get nematodes to treat the yard (farm size). I'm going to use growth inhibitor for screen porch and inside house - it won't kill the adult fleas, but I was told they have a life span of only 2 week so they will die off soon. This will keep eggs/larvae from developing into adults. Also I'm going to use diatomacious earth sprinkled in carpets, under cushions on sofa, etc. This way I don't have to worry about chemicals w/aquarium or animals. I also found a spray by Sentry called Natural Defense which used oils of different herbs to spray on cats & dog. I just hope all this works as it is going to be very expensive. Has anyone tried any of these natural approaches? Natural (green) always seems to be more expensive - just like organic.
 
You will want to make sure your animals are treated for tapeworms as well, especially with heavy flea infestations. Tapeworms as well as other diseases are transmitted by fleas. Lyme disease is another good thing to have your Vet treat the animals for especially where Lyme ticks (live on deer and field mice) are found. :(

Dont bomb... That may only kill the live fleas it comes in contact with.

Treat your animals with that stuff that goes on their neck. Vacuum the carpets well and throw out the stuff in the vacuum. You have to get rid of the eggs. The fleas will get on your animals and die. You will see them disappear in a week or so. The eggs you missed from vacuuming will hatch in a few weeks and you have to vacuum some more. Keep applying the neck treatments too. In a few months you will win this war!

Thanks guys, yes are dogs are up to date on everything and we keep them on their monthly Frontline Plus. We are going to bomb, not only for fleas, but for all bugs. My question was aimed not at the treatment for the dogs I have that part down. I was just wondering if anyone thought it would affect the tank that I will be setting up about 3-5 days following the bombs?
 
I think a tank set up after the treatment would be okay. I had a tank in my apartment when the complex was treated for bugs with an insecticide. I could move it, but everything came through. The tank did look badly for a few days.
 
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