fumigation and reef tank. HELP

James Miller · Jun 23, 2016

Ok, I try to keep my lawn bug free, ticks, fleas, etc..... Well a problem came up and caused a severe issue with fleas. I have sprayed and washed the dogs so many times I'm surprised their fur hasn't fell off. Mr. possum is gone now and now have to retreat yard again but fleas have moved inside. I have used bug bombs before and wiped them out but at that time i didn't have 2 tanks ( 1x 36 gallon fresh water and 1 x 75 gallon marine with refugium.) So now you see my problem. Any advice on how to bomb house with out killing both tanks?

AllSignsPointToFish · Jun 24, 2016

Have you tried Borax on your carpet to kill the fleas? Check it out...it might work out well for you.

Kungpaoshizi · Jun 24, 2016

If it were me, I would cover and tape the tank area in it's own bubble of plastic, and then run 4" duct hose to, and from, outside via a window. Add a duct fan and you're all good.

pickupman66 · Jun 24, 2016

They also have flea powders you can put in the carpet that work. Enforcer is one brand. BUT if that fails and you do need to bomb the house, cover your tank with a comforter and shut off the pumps and bomb away.

Elysium · Jun 24, 2016

I ran into a similar issue when I brought back fleas from a work trip and infected 3 cats (2 of which were allergic). Bombing the house is the weapon of last resort, and it can be done but I'd recommend doing the following first.

1) Get some Advantage flea treatment for your dogs (don't cheap out on this, you want the good stuff)
2) Get a spray insecticide like Enforcer or Bayer and treat baseboards and corners daily, bare-floors too
3) Get the powders for the carpets, treat daily
4) Vacuum daily, and if it is a bag filter throw some mothballs in to kill the fleas so they can't crawl out, otherwise toss the bag regularly
5) All bedding and clothes that had been on the floor need to be washed and dried if possible

I successfully killed off the bulk of my infestation in 2 weeks doing this with three cats and did not have to resort to bombing. Continue preventative treatment on the dogs until at least this winter.