Fumigation/Termites **HELP**

cgrant

cgrant

Active Member
~6 months back or so we had to flea bomb our house due to my wifes mut and I went to menards (home depot or lowes will also carry the stuff)
and got plastic painters tarp, its like a thin drop cloth but made of plastic and wrapped my tank in it for 3 days, my tank was fine.
Just make sure you wrap everything up so no air will get in, I used 2" tape and the plastic tarp thing to wrap it and all was well.
I have never had my house bombed for termites but i thaught they sprayed stuff on the affected areas and/or in walls, etc. and not bombed the whole house for termites but not 100% sure?
 
T

tiberius

Guest
I just found this on a site when I googled Vikane.
How do I prepare my fish aquarium for fumigation?
Removing your fish aquarium from your home is the best possible option.
If that cannot be done, it’s important to work with your fumigation professional to determine the best way to protect aquarium organisms during the fumigation.
I have found several posts on other boards and 1 on this one that people were going to tent. But, the thing is that on none of them did the people come back and say that the tank was ok when they wrapped it. They never even responded back to say how it all went!
 
geraldwhite

geraldwhite

Member
Maybe you can talk them into using Orange Oil, it would be safe and you woulnt even have to leave the house for 1 day while they do the treatment. They have been using orange oil for sometme now for people who do not want to tent.
d-Limonene serves as a natural insect repellent for citrus fruits. Direct contact with d-Limonene can act as an organic insecticide. Experiments with fruit flies have shown that they by-pass this problem by laying eggs between the oil-producing glands. Also effective on Drywood Termites
You should look into this and then you wouldnt have to cover anything, they dont tent the house with orange oil treatment.
 
sjimmyh

sjimmyh

Member
I work in a fire-fighting trainer. We have a staging area that we have to keep the atmoshpere breathable while running smoke and heat in the actual trainer with only a door between the two.
Positive pressure is your answer. Covering the tank in a tarp or plastic and sealing leaks as best you can will help, but eventually the small leaks will allow diffusion of the toxins into the tank area. If you can somehow move clean air from outsidethe building to the inside of your covering, you should be ok. It needs to be enough to kind of inflate your containment area like a semi-balloon though, in my opinion, to ensure nothing gets in. You may be able to rent an industrial air blower like the ones the use to ventilate sewers and tanks prior to workers entering. Making sure it doesnt fail or someone turn it off in two days time though.... that's gonna be tough.
I would also run carbon through the entire fumigation since you are still bound to get trace amounts of toxins in your containment. This is the only thing I can think of that would work short of moving the tank.
 
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tiberius

Guest
Please come back and let us know what you did and if you had any losses. So many people come on and ask this same question and never come back to say what happened. It would be good to do so for future reference!
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
Originally Posted by SJimmyH
I work in a fire-fighting trainer. We have a staging area that we have to keep the atmoshpere breathable while running smoke and heat in the actual trainer with only a door between the two.
Positive pressure is your answer. Covering the tank in a tarp or plastic and sealing leaks as best you can will help, but eventually the small leaks will allow diffusion of the toxins into the tank area. If you can somehow move clean air from outsidethe building to the inside of your covering, you should be ok. It needs to be enough to kind of inflate your containment area like a semi-balloon though, in my opinion, to ensure nothing gets in. You may be able to rent an industrial air blower like the ones the use to ventilate sewers and tanks prior to workers entering. Making sure it doesnt fail or someone turn it off in two days time though.... that's gonna be tough.
I would also run carbon through the entire fumigation since you are still bound to get trace amounts of toxins in your containment. This is the only thing I can think of that would work short of moving the tank.
I agree. Here is what will work. I am not sure where to get it but people use them to store classic cars or motorcycles in. You basically pull you motorcycle into the clear plastic bubble ...zip it closed and turn on the blower. The blower inflates the "dome" around the object. As long as the fan keeps running the dome stays inflated...positive pressure....air is being pumped in and exhausted out ports...no bad air can get in...only problem is the blower motor needs to be outside in the fresh air so as not to suck in the toxins.
 
ifirefight

ifirefight

Active Member
How ironic..my neighbor across the street has to be tented... he has a 75 gallon aggressive.....we are currently moving everything into my 45 gallon QT tank....looks like it will be crowded but Its better than fumigating the fish. LOL
I told him to tape it closed with visqueen (sp) after all the fish are out. Hopefully that will save the tank.???? Is it possible to test the water for contaminates from fumigation??? Or should he completely start over??????/
Any help appreciated.
 
theappe3

theappe3

Member
Update.... well ive decided to move the tank. Better safe than sorry. I will be getting rubbermaid containers and moving everything I have in that. I will try to post some pics and stuff and I'll let you guys know how everything makes it :) Thanks for all the help...
 
theappe3

theappe3

Member
Update #1: Well yesterday I went to check on the rubbermaids and something had died. Let alone it was my favorite animal. My skunk cleaner shrimp died and all my other livestock didnt look too well. Everyone was breathing REALLY hard. Hopefully they make it for a day or so.
I was wondering why they where breathing so hard though. I had the temp maintained and I have a powerhead in there circulation water. My question is though... Doesnt the powerhead have to agitate the surface (break surface water) in order for adiquate airation to take place? Thanks for any help and I'll check in later to let you guys know whats happening with the other fish. Hopefully they are ok!
 
T

tiberius

Guest

Originally Posted by theappe3
Update #1: Well yesterday I went to check on the rubbermaids and something had died. Let alone it was my favorite animal. My skunk cleaner shrimp died and all my other livestock didnt look too well. Everyone was breathing REALLY hard. Hopefully they make it for a day or so.
I was wondering why they where breathing so hard though. I had the temp maintained and I have a powerhead in there circulation water. My question is though... Doesnt the powerhead have to agitate the surface (break surface water) in order for adiquate airation to take place? Thanks for any help and I'll check in later to let you guys know whats happening with the other fish. Hopefully they are ok!
YES!!!! I lost an entire tank when I first started because of this problem. All my beautiful fish :( all because my 4 powerheads had that stupid attachment on to direct the water down.
I am so glad that you decided to break the tank down.
 
theappe3

theappe3

Member
Update #2: Well I semi set up the tank and all the corals look like ass. I put in all the corals and rock in the tank however just so it can get good and acclimated. I cleaned my skimmer and filter and am running some carbon just in case. Im gonna keep the tank circulating for the night and then dump the fish in there cause the temps are gonna be matching. hopefully everything turns out ok.
 
theappe

theappe

Member
Sorry to bring up and old thread, but I think this is gonna be a service to some people. People always ask what to do and some people recommend to put a cover on the tank, but no one actually replies back if they did it or not and what success they had.
Well my house got tented for termites. They used Vikane. I covered the tank with a plastic painters tarp from the local hardware store and taped it around the base of the tank.
Important factors to consider:
1) There was no oxygen line running from the outside as some people have suggested
2) Tarp on tank was NOT super air tight, but i did my best.
3) I did not see my tank for like 17hrs, which I uncovered it afterwards.
4) 72gal reef tank and I only lost one fish.
Please feel free to ask me any questions as I feel that a lot of people would appreciate this information.
 
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tiberius

Guest
I haven't been on here in ages!
Glad to hear you had no tremendous losses.
I still have my 110g and never tented. Had a little swarm years ago and some went on my new stand but I caulked and painted all the cracks of it before I set it up in case they did swarm again. So I am pretty confident that none found a space to crawl in. But, I had another company come back and they used borate to treat inside all the walls. I kick myself in the pants for not having these guys in the beginning. The other company used Premise in the walls and sprayed the floors with it while they were bare. This borate never breaks down. It is the way to go.
 
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