Fumigation/Termites HELP

theappe3 · May 23, 2007

Well ladys & gents... I'm in dire straights. The appt where I live at got a nasty case of termites and they are tarping and fumigating it. I was wondering what the heck to do about my tank? I've never encountered this problem. What should/could I do??? Thanks for any help in advance!

jerthunter · May 23, 2007

That doesn't sound good. I have heard people ask questions like this before but never heard about anything easy to do about it. I would think you would want to move you entire tank or completely seal it off and hook up a high efficency air filter to feed the tank clean air.

theappe3 · May 23, 2007

The place is gonna be fumigated for 2 days. I dont know what to do? Any help would be appreciated!!

shrimpi · May 23, 2007

cover the entire tank in a plastic bag? This one is tough b/c the toxins are all in the air and unless you air-tight your tank, some will get in and pollute it.
Do you have one of those ionic breeze air filters or somethig comparable you could get your hands on? Maybe cut up garbage bags, then re-ducttape them together, suround your tank completely and then tape to the floor to create a giant 'bubble' like a snowglobe. and put the air purifier in there.
seems like some McGuyver sitaution but Im sure you can figure something out.

theappe3 · May 23, 2007

I wonder if anyone has ever had some exp with this.
I have a theory.... if i completely enclose the tank in a plastic bag and put a battery operated air stone in the water im sure that everything would be fine, except..... wont the oxygen run out eventually inside of the protective layer of the plastic bag?

shrimpi · May 23, 2007

I dont know how much O2 the tank actually uses in a given period. Maybe just make a big enlcosure to give it more. Maybe you could get some tubing and let a tube come out and put the tube out the window or something so there can be some exchange.
What a pain!

good alex · May 23, 2007

what size tank are we talking about?

theappe3 · May 23, 2007

30 gal. You know what, the tubing thing would be a good idea....but they are tarping the entire house. So the tube wont have any fresh air. So I think that my best bet would still be the idea of enclosing the tank and just have an air stone inside or something.... or maybe i wont need it since the power will still be on and the water will still be moving inside...!??

earlybird · May 23, 2007

Originally Posted by Shrimpi
seems like some McGuyver sitaution but Im sure you can figure something out.

do they make a swiss army knife with a tape dispenser?

nate0729 · May 23, 2007

Hey, i do pest control. You don't want to leave your tank in there. Even wrapped, the fumes will still get in and kill everything. Sorry about your luck. If it were a house, i might be able to give some better ideas, but the fact that it's an appartment you have no say so on how it's done. Sorry.
Nate

shrimpi · May 23, 2007

Originally Posted by earlybird
do they make a swiss army knife with a tape dispenser?

lol

patandlace · May 23, 2007

Originally Posted by nate0729
Hey, i do pest control. You don't want to leave your tank in there. Even wrapped, the fumes will still get in and kill everything. Sorry about your luck. If it were a house, i might be able to give some better ideas, but the fact that it's an appartment you have no say so on how it's done. Sorry.
Nate
I agree. Their are different ways to treat drywood termites. It doesn't look like that is an option though.

theappe3 · May 23, 2007

Well its a house that has a built in appt. in the back. What options do I have when it comes to termites. I could possibly talk to the fumigation company and the landlord. I dont live in an appt building so any ideas are welcome.

theappe3 · May 23, 2007

Originally Posted by nate0729
Hey, i do pest control. You don't want to leave your tank in there. Even wrapped, the fumes will still get in and kill everything. Sorry about your luck. If it were a house, i might be able to give some better ideas, but the fact that it's an appartment you have no say so on how it's done. Sorry.
Nate

Hey Nate, what can I possibly do so I can leave my tank in the home and not let anything happen to it? Or give me some options.....

patandlace · May 23, 2007

A different way to treat termites that would be safer for your fish tank and one that IMO is more affective is to treat with timbor or premise. It is done by treating the wood inside all the walls. It would probably cost less than tenting and there is usually a timed guarrantee as well. Most likely the company that is fumigating will try to dissuade you and your landlord from this treatment especially if they don't do it this way.

krazekajin · May 24, 2007

I have heard of this being done. They say you must enclose the tank completely with plastic. Inside the bubble, you presurize the bubble by either compressed air or oxygen (although oxygen is highly flamable. Mainly you would run a long hose from a compressor.
This creates a pressure that will not allow the fumes to enter into the bubble. an airstone is definetly a must.
ALso, since we are only talking about a 30g tank, I would dissmantle it and put the pieces in a larger rubbermade container somewhere other than teh apt. Then after the fumigation is complete, you can set it back up.
Make sure you have at least 60g of sw made up

tiberius · May 24, 2007

I didn't have my house tented but I had to break down my tank and move it to another room. They stripped the floors and sprayed the wood to kill/prevent termites. (I don't like tenting since the termites can still come back and eat the same wood.) Then they sealed the floors. The smell was really bad and it happened to be in July when this happened so I had to have the windows shut and the A/C on at 72 to dry the chemical. I had to seal off the door and window with thick plastic which led into the room for the tank. I sealed it on both sides of the door and window. There is rug in there. I had to block off the A/C vent that led in that room and the floor guy was nice enough to loan me his window unit and stuck it in there. The tank stayed in there for 4 months! It was still stinky in the house from the polyurethane. I had to run the A/C with the windows open to vent out the smell and burn candles and had cut onions in water and also a bowl of white vinegar.
Mine is a 110. But, for a 30 gallon. I would break it down and put everything in buckets and take all of your supplies out of there including the tank. I would rather be safe then sorry. That chemical is designed to get into all cracks. Are you going to be absolutely certain that you can wrap it in plastic and leave the lights off for those 2 days since it would cause the tank to over heat or worse a fire. Then you would have to run the air line to the tank and make sure that none of the workers messed with it. To chancy for me.

theappe3 · May 24, 2007

I was thinking of an air stone inside of the "bubble", but wont that deplete the oxygen inside of the "bubble". Im also gonna talk to the landlord to see what kind of fumigation is he exaclty doing. Im also gonna try and get in contact with the fumigation company and see what advice they can give me since im sure they've have this problem before.

theappe3 · May 31, 2007

I found out that im gonna get the house hit with Vikane. Do you think that it would go through the plastic?

tiberius · Jun 2, 2007

Originally Posted by theappe3
I found out that im gonna get the house hit with Vikane. Do you think that it would go through the plastic?
I wouldn't chance it. I would take everything tank related out of there including the tank!

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Fumigation/Termites HELP