fumigation!!!!!

[danster25325]

I have :uzi: TERMITES!!!!!

Dry wood termites, and my house must be tented and fumigated because the evidence is found throughout. Spot treatment is not going to eliminate the problem because of how widespread it has become. I definitely need to fumigate.

I was talking to the inspector, and he was telling me about a LFS owner that recently had his house fumigated. The owner has a 1,000 gallon tank that would be impossible to remove. According to the inspector, the owner ended up sealing up the tank with ALL the contents (fish and coral) and ran an air exchange line to the outside from the tank. According to the inspector, the owner lost none of his fish or coral.

The inspector claims the gas is not soluble in water and that he has seen many fish tank owners, with very large tanks, be successful with this approach.

I personally would love to remove my fish and coral but I have a lot of coral and no where to keep it in the mean time. If I had no other options, then I will remove all of the tank. I just think that maybe this is true where sometimes you can't move a tank and will be forced to leave it in.

Has anyone else had experience with house fumigation and fish tanks? Please share. I will be doing the fumigation in mid October.

Thanks,
Danny

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I would do the same thing. Turn off the skimmer. Tape garbage bags all over gas exhange areas.

Be sure that its completely sealead. Also run a line outside too if possible.

I would ask Randy in the chem forum if its soluble in water first. It may be somthing said to make you do it anyway. But you need to find out what gass it is used first.

 

[danster25325]

The gas that they are using is CHLOROPICRIN.

I looked it up in wikipedia.com but it has a "?" in the space for solubility in water. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloropicrin

I am definitely considering just sealing it up and running a fresh air intake from the outside.

Anyone with experience in this?

 

[JmLee]

danster, i have read a few forums on people sealing there tanks and running a line from the outside with great results. No experience for my self however.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

I posted in the chem forum for him to look here and offer advice

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=926976

 

[danster25325]

Thanks soooo much boxfish. Hopefully there will be some chemistry guidance on this.

 

[danster25325]

bump^

 

[JmLee]

...............

 

[onetrickpony]

i would run lot and lots of carbon for air intake and to filter the water

 

[danster25325]

Well the air would come form the outside/fresh air, but I would use an air filter on the intake to keep critters from blocking the line.

I was planning on using a Maxi Jet pump with the air venturi and a Magnum canister filter with charcoal for the main tank and another Maxi Jet pump with air venturi for the refugium.

I would have to have the cords and plumbing sealed to the plastic that would be sealed to the tank and sump openings.

Anyone tried this??????

 

[marks.henry]

If you ever need to find out anything about a chemical search for a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for it. Just doing a quick for Chloropicrin, which you said was being used, produced this website:

http://www.e1.greatlakes.com/common/msdspdf/00025.pdf#search='MSDS%20Chloropicrin'

It claims that chloropicrin is soluble in water, at 0.2g per 100g of water.
Hope this helps

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree that lots of carbon will help, but I'd also be very concerned and think this is a big risk.

 

[danster25325]

Thanks for the MSDS web link. After reviewing the data, I may have to completely empty my tank and sump along with removing all the equipment.

What a pain in the ***!!

I hope I don't lose too much. I'm going to have to treat my tank as brand new and let it cycle once I put the sand and rocks back in. This will be the only time where I regret having a fish tank.

Thanks guys,

Danny

 

[miwoodar]

Talk to your LFS connection about how he did it. I read a great article a few years back that talked about sealing the tank and creating a POSITIVE PRESSURE inside the tent so air can only escape...can't get in. You can pump it in from outside the house with a fan and some ductwork, a large hose, or PVC.

I have never had to fumigate but if I did, that is what I would do. I would be nervous but the tear-down and re-install would be very tough on your inhabitants too.

 

[danster25325]

I think that's what the LFS owner did. It makes sense that this would be the only recourse for a large aquarium. I am not looking forward to a complete tear-down. The last time I moved, I lost some of my most prized corals.

I'm going to talk to the LFS owner and ask him about it. I'll post it on here when I find out.

 

[danster25325]

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!1

IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!1

I just had my house fumigated on October 3 (tuesday) and I am happy to report that all inhabitants are healthy!!!!:celeb1:

I ended up triple sealing the tank and sump openings with plastic and masking tape. I used an internal filter that has a heater and air venturi to provide some positive air pressure for the display.
I used a small fountain pump and separate heater for my sump/refugium and just placed an air line from an air pump for more positive pressure.

I got back to the house on October 5 (thursday) and found that everything was working well, what I huge relief!!!!:beer:

The fish were hungry being without food from Monday - Thursday but once I got back, I ran some carbon, did a 15% water change and everything looks better than ever.

Even though I would never say that this technique will work for everyone, I would definately recommend this instead of a complete tank break-down.

Thanks everyone!

Danny