Pest Control coming to house

[BlueCoast]

So I have the good old once a year pest control coming out to the house.... I have read about people covering tanks to prevent any mist from getting into the water.

Would a beach towel be sufficient to prevent any falling overspray? I would feel a little silly going through a roll of saran wrap on the tank & sump, but open to ideas.

What would you do knowing some guy with a death wand was coming to your house?

 

[Henry Bowman]

Take every precaution you can.


I'd use plastic and seal the entire thing up for a couple hours. I would also run a skimmer inlet extension out a window to keep the tank o2 up and tell the guy to stay away from the tank (possibly the room the tank sat in too).

A beach towel is porus and will let chemicals throuhg.

If you can smell the chemicals, some of the product is airborne and can get into the tank.

Better safe than sorry.

 

[cd77]

Have you asked the pest control company? Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll give you some good suggestions for sealing it up -- I'd imagine they've done other homes with aquariums before. Like Henry suggested, I'd seal it as good as possible and make sure it stays oxygenated. May want to kill your lights too while it's covered..

Either way, please keep us informed -- and I hope the best for you!

 

[BeanAnimal]

Have you asked the pest control company? Maybe you'll get lucky and they'll give you some good suggestions for sealing it up -- I'd imagine they've done other homes with aquariums before

That may be the last guy I would ask "Yup we spray em all the time, this stuff only kills bugs, it wont hurt nuthin else. Heck my boss even drinks the stuff!"

Then again you could get lucky and have a guy that really knows what he is talking about.

As others have said, your best bet is to take every precaution you can. Cover the tank and turn off the skimmer or pull the air from outside. Keep the guy away from the tank and room if you can. Turn off the AC vents in the room so that the chemicals are not distributed through the house. Open a window and use a fan to push fresh air INTO the room.

 

[GreshamH]

And run carbon when he leaves

 

[BlueCoast]

Sounds like some good solid advice here... will most definitely put it to use. I always chat with whoever works on my stuff, but I don't expect too much from em... They inhale this stuff all day, I wonder if they need some carbon? lol

On a plus side, it isn't a bug bomb so vapors should be minimal and I don't keep the tank in the kitchen Am also planning on using an old styro fish box to toss misc tools, cups, anything that touches the water into for safekeeping. I like the positive air pressure idea Bean, will help keep anything airborne moving away from the tank to settle elsewhere.

Thanks for all the quick replies, for some reason I trust all you much more than the people asking for a check (call me crazy) will follow up in a day or two.

 

[Reeferduke]

I'm super paranoid about anything getting into my tank so if its at all possible not to spray that room then I wouldn't let him even set a boot in there! Maybe have them spray outside the room, my parents had them just spray outside of our house and it always worked.

If not def run carbon after and do what beananimal said to do with airflow. Good idea to keep the box of all the reef tools as well. That would be awful if you protected you tank but not your turkey baster and it wiped out everything.

 

[mmotown]

Have them spray every where except by the tank!!!!

 

[BlueCoast]

The Exterminator came end of last week and all has been well since.... A GSP isn't opening, but it does that from time to time.

Of course he reassured me fish tanks are fine.... either way there was a 6' no spray zone around them. He used the classic little metal bottle and wand, so spray was very little. They went in the attic & dusted borax so the vents were closed to the fish room. Tank & sump were covered in saran wrap with a towel thrown over. No laughing, but the fresh air was from battery bubblers sitting outside the window coming in through a crack and into the tank.

Put a nice bag of carbon in afterwards for good measure and wiped everything down before uncovering. Thanks for all the good ideas and advice!!!