How do you protect your tanks when the house needs to be exterminated?

[TimBeR]

Hey guys,

My wife and I are talking about getting our house exterminated for we have a few diff bug peoblems through out the house such as June bugs and what not. But I am not sure how or if this can be possible. because I don't dare want to loose anything in my tanks.

I have heard of several horror storries from people in apartment complexes and what not and I remember years ago when I hade fresh water tanks we use to just turn the systems off and cover the tanks with towels. but with the larger setups with sumps and all that option would be extremely difficult.

Is there anything I can do or should I just live with the bugs? hehehehe. It is not a major problem or anything yet I just wanted to prevent the house from being infested.

Thanks for any input on this subject.

[Rick O]

I've been using the same exterminator for about twelve years. The owner of the company sprays the house himself. I've never asked him how he does it but he did one day tell me that he doesn't spray in the vicinity of the tanks. Lately we've had a bit more of a bug problem and I've noticed that he put a couple of the bug traps behind the stands.

I would talk to the exterminator and ask them what precautions they take for spraying around tanks. I'm sure they know how to handle it but it wouldn't hurt to interview them as to the process.

[Jeremy1973]

How were you going to exteriminate? Fogger? Spray? I know this isn't quite the same, but when I was painting my room and there were fumes, I sealed off my tank, and turned off all air pumps etc. And the tank did fine. I don't know if something similar can be done to your tank. Use saran wrap or something to create a seal on the top of the tank. Forgive me if this seems like a silly idea. But, just a random passing thought. I seem to get lots of those. heh heh

[ShirleyM]

Hi TimBer,
I used to live in Baton Rouge (Roach Country) and the exterminator, hired by the townhouse owner, came and sprayed this liquid stuff along all the baseboards and such. Our Persian cat became extremely ill but didn't die.

From then on, I used Roach Proof (100% Boric Acid powder) and ran it along the baseboards and pipes in the bathroom and kitchen, door jambs, fireplace, etc using a teaspoon. Just dragged the spoon along the edges, leaving a trail behind. No more sick cat, and NO more bugs of any kind.

fwiw,
Shirley

[Junkzoo]

in our first LFS we had, located in a "mini-mall" type location,our landlord/neighbor, had his pizza place next to use "de-bugged". the fumes made it thru a double concrete firewall,only to wipe out the fish system (1000 gallons) along that wall, scratching our heads as to why the fish side went to heck,only to find out the pizza place was sprayed two days prior to the fish and system crashing
gotta have the mindset that bug killin' stuff is made to seek out/permeate(sp) cracks, crevices,etc. to do it's job.make sure you consult the place that's doing the work , and let them know what you got that might be harmed,and ask for things to do to avoid problems.i've heard some good responses/advice about this in previous boards, do some archive searches, and i think you will get some good advice/info.Good Luck!