Question about tent and fumigation.

Webmanny

Webmanny

Active member
Hey team,

I was just told that I need to tent my house and fumigate for termites. I've never done this, but the first thing I asked they guy was if I needed to remove my Reef tank and he said that some people leave them and some remove them, but he wasn't sure of my specific case.

Any of you have had to do this before? Was did you do? Tell me about your experience.

I really appreciate any advise you can give me.

I have a 36 gallon mixed Reef bow front with a sump and skimmer.
 
Research the contents of the fumigation but i imagine you'll just confirm that you do not want your tank there when they fumigate. anecdotally whenever i have had my house sprayed for pests i always cover my tank entirely with a sheet to minimize the chance of any of it getting it. Your situation is a bit more extreme though.

You weren't at creative aquariums talking to the employee there about this yesterday were you? Because I remember over hearing some people talk about this subject when I was there yesterday.
 
Webmanny hopefully the few people I remember seeing posting the same situation in the last few years will chime in but I remember their outcome was they left it and I'm pretty sure they posted everything was fine...now.I think they had to seal the entire tank in a visqueen bubble and run a chiller and such ....maybe someone else knows where that thread was ...hope this helps ,good luck
 
in a visqueen bubble
Click to expand...

yea - i remember those threads. what they did was seal the tank but included an an air duct that was run outside . A fan or blower was attached to the other end of the air duct.

The trick was to keep positive air pressure inside the plastic to prevent the fumes from penetrating the tank and to provide the tank the required oxygen for the 3-4 day ritual.
 
paradox_of_reef said:
Research the contents of the fumigation but i imagine you'll just confirm that you do not want your tank there when they fumigate. anecdotally whenever i have had my house sprayed for pests i always cover my tank entirely with a sheet to minimize the chance of any of it getting it. Your situation is a bit more extreme though.

You weren't at creative aquariums talking to the employee there about this yesterday were you? Because I remember over hearing some people talk about this subject when I was there yesterday.
Click to expand...

They gave a piece of paper and it had the chemical name there. I will find it when I get home and report back. Also, no. I was not at Creative recently. Although it makes sense that more people are asking about the same thing, as I think the termite problem gets worse when it gets cold. I think that is what the guy said.
 
Ted_C said:
yea - i remember those threads. what they did was seal the tank but included an an air duct that was run outside . A fan or blower was attached to the other end of the air duct.

The trick was to keep positive air pressure inside the plastic to prevent the fumes from penetrating the tank and to provide the tank the required oxygen for the 3-4 day ritual.
Click to expand...

Thank you both. This is what the guy mentioned and now that I read it and visualize it. I think this is a reasonable solution. If I seal the tank with the chemical proof bags and run an air line outside of the tent, while keeping positive pressure on the tank, things should be ok.

One quick question on your comment. Do you mean like an air pump to bring in fresh air from outside. Right?
A fan or blower was attached to the other end of the air duct.
Click to expand...

I really don't want to move the tank. This alone is always a risk that something will go wrong and things will die. I was thinking that if I absolutely have to move it, I'd rather sell everything before hand and start over with a larger tank.

I'm pretty sure I can sell this to the wife. :)
 
Webmanny said:
I was thinking that if I absolutely have to move it, I'd rather sell everything before hand and start over with a larger tank.

I'm pretty sure I can sell this to the wife. :)
Click to expand...

IMO if you can convince the wife to let you upgrade go for it, everybody wants a bigger tank.

I know I had an opportunity to upgrade and the wife was on bored so I jumped. Now I think she might have second thoughts but it is to late now, the build is on, well the gathering of equipment is on,
 
I have heard it recommended to seal the tank in plastic with a source of fresh air, but have never heard anyone report back on the results.
 
When I've had to flea bomb in the past, I just covered the tanks with trash bags that I duct taped together. For a termite fumigation you'd obviously want to keep your lights off, but if you have it well covered and keep positive air pressure you shouldn't have any issues.
 
Postal said:
Here is a thread from a former TBRC member that used the tent method successfully using a blower and multiple chillers. The pics are gone due to the threads age, but it might give you some ideas.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1667249
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This is awesome. I'm glad to hear that this has been done successfully in the past. I'll have to stop by FAIOS and ask John too for some updated recommendations. I see him mentioned on that thread.

Thank you all. I am not doing this for another month or so, but I am getting mentally and equipment ready in advance.
 
Termite fumigation is typically Vicane gas, which sucks all oxygen out of the air. In theory, you can tent and keep positive pressure with intake far from the house. We had to do a couple for customers but opted to remove livestock. Sand and rock were reused and tanks set back up with no issues.
 
Years ago I left my tank in house for this with no problems. Mine was I think 4-6 hrs. I ran 1/4 in tubing out side to air pump for every 2 ft of tank have air stone. I used plastic tented the tank and taped the plastic to the floor. Turned off lights for the day. Last step I did don't know if it was needed , but I put long damp towel over all opening to water. sump and top of display. Figured it would work as a filter of sorts being damp/wet. This to catch any chemical that got through plastic. Poor taping safety. All lived fine. I didn't leave any big pumps on but I did run a small power head. but I set it not to break the water surface. If any questions lmk
 
The air provided to the sealed tank must be powerful enough not only to deliver fresh air but enough so that the house pressure is not greater, other wise its not all that positive of pressure hehe

This method is used in environments with toxic amounts of chems, nerve gases etc except that air is fed through water and other air filtration methods

Also, on the corals part, id leave a moon light on to keep photosynthesis going. In the dark coral change from photosynthesis to respiration and will demand more oxygen. Ive recently heard that chopped potatoes in vinegar will produce oxygen too, maybe left in cabinet to help?
 
Thank you all for the feedback. I think I have a few options to consider and decide on and I will start thinking about it in the next few weeks to decide which way to go. Just to recap the options:

  1. Sell the tank with everything now and once the fumigation is done, get a larger tank. (expensive, but may be the best way to go)
  2. Cover the whole setup(Tank, sump and stand) in a large plastic bubble and feed a blower from the outside to keep the positive pressure in the bubble.
  3. Disconnect and empty the sump and just seal the tank with just a powerhead inside and a few air stones and run an air line to the outside with a large air pump to keep the oxygen levels where they need to be.

On the last two options, I should leave some moonlight LEDs to keep the corals with some form of light.

I know that most of you would recommend I go with option 1, but please keep in mind that I have some very nice corals that I have paid good money to find, like my yellow octospawn and my yellow hammer and I know I will not get anywhere near fair value for my setup.

I have seen some people here selling extremely nice setups for next to nothing, because nobody wants to pay what they are really worth.

Therefore, I don't think I will even consider option 1, but it is an option.
 
With just bubbling tank an leaving sump etc empty, theeyll require a very good clean and rinse before it used again, at least that's what id do if you for that option.

Any excuse to upgrade is always the best reason to upgrade ('',)

For what its worth. A local reefer just a month ago had spay/fume done, bubbled tank with supplied air and is still a happy reefer
 
How about a revised Option 1 where you leave your best corals or favorite livestock with someone you trust whike you set up a new tank?
 
Postal said:
How about a revised Option 1 where you leave your best corals or favorite livestock with someone you trust whike you set up a new tank?
Click to expand...

well here is another option, do as postal suggests, take down the current tank give it a good cleaning, learn form the issues you had with the original setup and reset up the same tank again fixing any issues you may have had.
 
DubiousMaximus said:
With just bubbling tank an leaving sump etc empty, theeyll require a very good clean and rinse before it used again, at least that's what id do if you for that option.

Any excuse to upgrade is always the best reason to upgrade ('',)

For what its worth. A local reefer just a month ago had spay/fume done, bubbled tank with supplied air and is still a happy reefer
Click to expand...

I agree 100%, if I go with option 3, I would have to remove the rest of the components like the sump, skimmer, pumps, etc. and take then with me.

Once I return, I can set them up again and add new salt water to fill the sump up.

I'll consider all options, but this one sounds like the most cost effective for me.
 
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