Fumigating House

zemuss · Oct 25, 2010

Hey all...

What do I need to do to prepare my tank for Fumigation? We are planning on "bombing" the house this weekend. I have read that with damp towels over the tank should be enough to prevent the gas from leeching into the water. Is this true? Does anyone have experience.

Thanks,
"Z"

cmcneil · Oct 25, 2010

a guy in our local reef club did this and it worked great.he used a positive pressure system.basicly you duct tape bags over your sump and tank,then cut a few slots in the bags.he connected an oilless air blower up outside his home and connected a line from the blower to the tank/sump.this forces fresh outside air to the tank while keeping out the harmful gasses.the bags inflate like ballons and some air escapes from the air slots in the bag (so they dont pop).his home was tented for termites so they use some nasty chemicals and his tank survived without any issues.

skinz78 · Oct 25, 2010

I am not sure, I have always wondered myself so I'll be tagging along.

zemuss · Oct 26, 2010

cmcneil, thank you for the suggestion, but that seems a bit extreme for simple bug bombs. This will not be fully tented only setting off a few bug bombs to kill the palmetto bugs.

"Z"

Steve W · Oct 26, 2010

I would at the very least tape plastic over the tank and sump in a pretty tight seal with maybe one very small hole in each and then run an air pump outside into the tank/sump from outside. Air line is cheap compared to replacing your tank inhabitants. Why take a chance? I would also take all of my foods, and tank maintenance implements out of the house along with anything else you are going to be putting into the tank in the future. (or at least seal them in a plastic bag)

Steve W

Paul_N · Oct 26, 2010

zemuss said:
cmcneil, thank you for the suggestion, but that seems a bit extreme for simple bug bombs. This will not be fully tented only setting off a few bug bombs to kill the palmetto bugs.

"Z"

I would think the wet towels would work well as long as they were tight enough and not touching the water. I don't think you can be too careful when it comes to a bug bomb though. I spray painted a tank in my basement where my temp system is and had no issues. I just have a thin piece of acrylic that covered it and was not air tight or anything. I also turned the skimmer off while painting so I would also either turn the skimmer off so it doesn't draw in any vapors or even get longer tubing and run outside until house is clear. It's kind of a catch 22 cause the skimmer could also remove any pollutants quickly that may get in the tank.

Dave3112 · Oct 26, 2010

I did the bug bomb thing last year and all I did was turn off all the circulation and covered my tank and sump with a heavy blanket I had laying around. I taped up the ends where it touched the floor with blur painters tape and bombed as the instructions say. when it was done I opened all the windows and doors I could and let the house "air out" for about an hour and a half. Then I just took the blankets off and turned the pumps/powerheads back on. I didn't have any problems. Hope this helps.

zemuss · Oct 26, 2010

Thanks for all the replies. I think all have their applications and I will be going the towel plus plastic route. The air stones is a good idea also but I am not tenting the house and can understand the suggestion from CMCNEIL and its a good one. Usually when you tent a house its for 24 hours and I highly doubt we want to keep the tank shut down for that amount of time. I just don't think I need to go that extreme but we will see. I will report back with how it goes Saturday.

Thanks all!