need to have house fumigated

[jc286006]

as the title says i have to fumigate my home do to high ant and spider infiltration because of the wet spring we are having.
i am hoping i can shut off all pumps in my system except the wave maker pumps in the DTs and cover my system with plastic and not have any deaths.
the home has to be shut down tight for 3 to 4 hours then fresh air sucked in with window fans.
there is nothing i can do with my tanks other than to cover them during this period and not doing this treatment is not an option the bugs are almost about to evict me .
has anyone had to do this before and what did you do to prevent any damage to your tank live stock.
thanks james

 

[Sk8r]

WHat I have done...turn off all lights, heater, etc, all power. Wrap tank and sump in plastic---visqueen, building plastic---and run one aeration stone on a lonnnnnng airline to a window, where, in the clear outdoor air, I have a decent airpump, an extension cord, and some sort of plugin.

I keep it that way as long as I can. Cover everything, and leave it covered, with potent fans to blow outside air in once done. THe visqueen should let you kind of watch your fish to be sure they're ok. I'd turn off the heater a while before this event so as to lower the water temperature as much as possible, maybe turn the fan on the water to knock the temperature down to about 76, and skim down to the last moment, to oxygenate that water to the max (cool water carries more oxygen).

I'd also order or buy a sheet of PolyFilter, and a supply of carbon, and run both once you get the visqueen off and start everything going. Those two should sop up any badness residual in the air once it's fit for breathing.

 

[iced98lx]

optionally leave your skimmer off for a few days afterwards or run the air line outdoors.

 

[sean357]

May want to run a couple airlines from out side, the benefit of this is not just the aeration for the tank but also that you turn tank into a positive pressure area if it is wrapped tight enough. Google how infectious disease labs work to get an idea of the concept with the infectious disease lab in this analogy being your house.

WHat I have done...turn off all lights, heater, etc, all power. Wrap tank and sump in plastic---visqueen, building plastic---and run one aeration stone on a lonnnnnng airline to a window, where, in the clear outdoor air, I have a decent airpump, an extension cord, and some sort of plugin.

I keep it that way as long as I can. Cover everything, and leave it covered, with potent fans to blow outside air in once done. THe visqueen should let you kind of watch your fish to be sure they're ok. I'd turn off the heater a while before this event so as to lower the water temperature as much as possible, maybe turn the fan on the water to knock the temperature down to about 76, and skim down to the last moment, to oxygenate that water to the max (cool water carries more oxygen).

I'd also order or buy a sheet of PolyFilter, and a supply of carbon, and run both once you get the visqueen off and start everything going. Those two should sop up any badness residual in the air once it's fit for breathing.

 

[salty joe]

Wrap tank and sump in plastic---visqueen, building plastic---and run one aeration stone on a lonnnnnng airline to a window, where, in the clear outdoor air, I have a decent airpump, an extension cord, and some sort of plugin.

+1

May want to run a couple airlines from out side, the benefit of this is not just the aeration for the tank but also that you turn tank into a positive pressure area if it is wrapped tight enough. Google how infectious disease labs work to get an idea of the concept with the infectious disease lab in this analogy being your house.

+another

 

[disc1]

WHat I have done...turn off all lights, heater, etc, all power. Wrap tank and sump in plastic---visqueen, building plastic---and run one aeration stone on a lonnnnnng airline to a window, where, in the clear outdoor air, I have a decent airpump, an extension cord, and some sort of plugin.

I keep it that way as long as I can. Cover everything, and leave it covered, with potent fans to blow outside air in once done. THe visqueen should let you kind of watch your fish to be sure they're ok. I'd turn off the heater a while before this event so as to lower the water temperature as much as possible, maybe turn the fan on the water to knock the temperature down to about 76, and skim down to the last moment, to oxygenate that water to the max (cool water carries more oxygen).

I'd also order or buy a sheet of PolyFilter, and a supply of carbon, and run both once you get the visqueen off and start everything going. Those two should sop up any badness residual in the air once it's fit for breathing.

I used this method once, but it was for a cichlid tank back before I was doing saltwater. It worked great. I had two big air pumps pushing air from outside into the little "tent" that I made for the tank. The trick is to make sure you have enough airflow to keep the tank under positive pressure relative to the house. You should see the plastic sheeting bulging out under the pressure.

Keep the lights off and pumps to a minimum. The tank is going to tend to build up heat under all that plastic and that heat is your enemy.

 

[jc286006]

thanks for the replies i will have to get some airstones and a couple of pumps and a bunch of hose the wife and i have 3 tanks 2 freshwater that are hers and mine being the last one our salt tank
thanks james

 

[herring_fish]

I did this on a salt water tank and had no problem. 3 hours is not long. Do what was proposed and make sure that you weight down the bottom of the Teepee at as many points as possible. Perhaps, use some 2 by 4's with something at lease on both ends of each. Of course leave a window cracked so that the positive pressure can go somewhere and not fight the air pumps.
Good luck

 

[Lrood]

All of the above are great advice. I might add that you make some NSW if you could keep it in a different location from the area to be fumigated. Definitely keep any air source (air stones, skimmer, etc) plumbed with tubing outside of your house. I learned the hard way that volatile chemicals are quickly concentrated into our tanks by skimmer and surface absorption when I had my hardwood floors refinished. I thought my tank would be ok because the main floor was were the work was done, and tank is in the basement. Within 24 hours the water clouded from a massive microfauna die off, then a major ammonia spike. I was able run mega amounts of carbon & poly, and did huge water changes over the next 3-4 days. Cost me a few nice corals, a couple of fish, and most of my snails - and I considered myself lucky at that!

 

[Steve Atkins]

...... the benefit of this is not just the aeration for the tank but also that you turn tank into a positive pressure area if it is wrapped tight enough......

THIS ^^^^
Did it once when looking after a tank in a shop that had to have its carpet fumigated due to a flea infestation. This included the floor immediately above the tank and near a stair well that would allow spray to drop directly on top of the tank.

Covered the whole tank in a couple of layers of plastic sheeet and taped it to the cabinet sides down near the floor. Had a big air pump that pulled air from outside the shop via a lenght of garden hose and pushed air in via another length of garden hose which terminated inside the cover and up near the top or the tank. Otherwise left the tank running as normal.

Shop was vented by fans before customers arrived the next morning.

Zero losses.

Steve