Spraying For Fleas with tank int he room

[Lrfox]

Well, this is one of those things that I'm not particularly proud of or excited to announce, but long story short, we have furry pets in addition to fish and like my live rock, the furry pets also brought with them some unwanted hitchhikers. Before you ask, a suggested 4 week quarantine for the cats was shot down by my girlfriend.

In any case, we now have to spray almost every surface in the house to kill these things. I'm worried about the tank and I'm wondering if anyone's had experience with this before? Our vet says that they don't "bomb" anymore, that it's an aerosol spray and it takes a few hours to set before people/animals can go back into the room.

Any thoughts on the fish tank? I was thinking plastic drop cloth around the tank/stand, taping off the bottom. Also making sure dry/pellet food is secured under that as well (or just put the food in the fridge). I'm probably being too paranoid, but obviously I don't want all the time/effort that went into this to be wasted.

 

[Vadafallon]

Don't spray. Get diatomaceous earth, dust your carpet and couch. Wait, vacuum. Done. Very cheap and i have not seen a flea in two years. Get food grade, don't breath it. That's about it. Also can use it for gardens and can take it as a supplement.

 

[Vadafallon]

Oh and it can be used on pets too. Basically its like tiny razor blades that get in their shells and cuts them up. Take a sheet and cover your fish tank, i never did, but it was fine.

 

[cougareyes]

That's what I would do, tape it up from the bottom of the tank. I get a bug service but it's not an aerosol, when they spray inside I just have them give a wide berth to the tanks.

 

[fishchef]

We used a Top Spot product on our dogs for fleas called Trifexis from our Vet. when we had a real bad problem a few years ago. One dose per animal and they were gone in days. The DEarth works very slow and we had no noticeable results. Do not spray around your tank. I would imagine they make one for cats, too. Frontline had become useless in our area. If you have a yard and they go out...we sprayed with nematodes.

 

[C.Eymann]

Don't spray. Get diatomaceous earth, dust your carpet and couch. Wait, vacuum. Done. Very cheap and i have not seen a flea in two years. Get food grade, don't breath it. That's about it. Also can use it for gardens and can take it as a supplement.

+1 safe and effective, we use it at my grandmothers house out in the sticks for brown recluses. She is 93 and has lupus so can't really use pesticides in her house.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/diatomaceous-earth-85-p-1716.html

A pet store I used to work at once was infested with these awful mites that bite the heck out of you, we sprayed Sevin insecticide and we covered all the aquarium systems in plastic while we were treating. No ill effect, got rid of the mites but it was risky in my eyes.

 

[zachxlutz]

Don't spray. Get diatomaceous earth, dust your carpet and couch. Wait, vacuum. Done. Very cheap and i have not seen a flea in two years. Get food grade, don't breath it. That's about it. Also can use it for gardens and can take it as a supplement.

We've used this on our dogs... a recommendation from a friend that I try and pass on to everyone!

 

[neiltus]

We use Bayer Suspend in the house along the baseboards. It's non staining to pretty much everything. No smell. Water base.

I would think a dilute application of this via non-aerosol means would not hurt the tank. Getting it in the tank or sump, different story.

FWIW, I don't have a license to apply these chemicals. So read the label and use common sense.

 

[johnike]

Also, boric acid kills household pests safely like nobodys business.
I use it indoors and out here in the woods.
http://www.epestsolutions.com/borid-boric-acid-powder-dust.html

 

[Lrfox]

Thanks for the replies. Diatomaceous earth sounds ideal to me if it works. About how long are we talking for effects to be obvious. The problem is that my girlfriend seems to be having more trouble with bites than I am, so she might not be as patient. I'm really, really hesitant to spray a chemical.

 

[davocean]

The DE is a wonderful alternative and agree boric acid another.
Basically it wears down the exoskeletons, so it's not immediate, it will take a few days, but I'd rather do that than use chems myself

 

[Sk8r]

You can fog, but you need builders plastic loosely! around the tank, and ideally an airline to the OUTSIDE of the house with a bubbler, because you sure don't want air from the house injected into the tank. You have to leave the house closed a number of hours, and without oxygen exchange, the fish will die after a certain time. Afterward, no matter the heat outside, you open all the windows and blast the air outward with fans. I've done it. But as a side recommendation, one of the flea preventatives like Advantage or Frontline, applied periodically to nape of neck, is really effective. We travel with our cats, and we used to use it before the trip so they wouldn't pick up fleas in hotels: that used to be a problem, but I suspect so many people use the preventative that fleas are just getting to be a rarity---to the relief and better health of all concerned.

 

[MuShu]

In addition to the DE, get capstar tablets and feed them to the animals. It will kill all live fleas within minutes.

Vacuum furniture and all carpet every three days for a few weeks. The vibrations will cause any eggs to hatch, so you can get those fleas as well.

 

[Lrfox]

Thanks. I talked it over with the girlfriend and we're going to give DE a shot first. We've been doing the Frontline treatments but they don't seem to work too well. In large part due to the fact that I think we have a good size problem in the house. We spent a week (with cats) in a relatively cheap "pet friendly" motel before we moved. I assume that's where it started.

 

[Sk8r]

My thorough sympathies. I used to live in OK, and the darn things would get into lawns and come in on your trouser legs. Horrid situation. The other thing to fear from hotels nowadays is bedbugs, which also bite with little red spots, but if the cats are scratching, it's likely fleas.

 

[Lrfox]

My thorough sympathies. I used to live in OK, and the darn things would get into lawns and come in on your trouser legs. Horrid situation. The other thing to fear from hotels nowadays is bedbugs, which also bite with little red spots, but if the cats are scratching, it's likely fleas.

Thanks. They're definitely fleas. I can hold the cats upside down and actually see them on their bellies. They're awful.

 

[Sk8r]

Poor kitties. They can get dangerously anemic from a bad infestation. Hope their ---and your!!---relief comes soon.

 

[2000se]

Capstar makes fleas dead in a hurry. But only the ones on the animals. Not the eggs in the carpets and such.

 

[davocean]

To kill eggs in carpet and such take a flea collar, cut into pieces, place this in your vacuum cleaner bag or chamber.
Toss after using obviously.
Also may want to look up essential oils for treatment.
I would try these methods before flea bombing personally myself, and know that does come w/ risk to your tank, especially if you do the airline thing, either end becomes disconnected and now your tank is vulnerable.

I spent 3 years doing carpentry repairs for a termite/pest control, I've seen and heard a lot of stories good bad and ugly, but at least I did pick up some helpful tips from that.

 

[C.Eymann]

I hope I never get a flea problem with my cat, I already dealt with ear mites on my non-declawed Bengal, he slashed me up good a few times when applying the treatments, yeeowwsas !