Fogger bombing entire house?

[Wolf316]

Question how long can a drop cloth be kept on the aquarium 4 hour bomb then air out for 2 more will the fish be ok for that long?

[ErikH]

I know it's been done before, but that thing had better be air tight. Make sure your lights are off as not to overheat anything. It's a bit risky no matter how you look at it. If you have fleas, it's best to treat only the carpets. Flease have a long lifecycle andd require constant vacuuming because their eggs aren't permeable. Vacuuming awakens the eggs, allowing the fleas to hatch. Until they hatch you cannot vacuum them up because their eggs are so well attached to the carpet fibers.

If it's roaches, look for Fecal Focal Points and observe what cracks they are hiding in and vacuum them out. If that's not possible, use common roach spray which will make them come out, so have your vacuum handy. Gel Baits work well against roaches because they permit them from growing into adulthood, which means no reproduction.

I was a pest control salesman for Terminix and the best way for you to treat is with a vacuum. I know it sounds crazy, but we used to use the vacuums more than the pesticides. Its better for everyone!

Good Luck.
Erik

[Europhyllia]

I was a pest control salesman for Terminix and the best way for you to treat is with a vacuum. I know it sounds crazy, but we used to use the vacuums more than the pesticides. Its better for everyone!

really nice to hear that. I figured the companies would just be for nuking everything.

[alton]

We had a flea problem a couple of years ago and according to the Terminix man they sent out, he told me fleas are easy to kill it is the eggs that are hard to kill. We had to remove the cat for a day, but he sprayed away from my tank and I did not have any problems.

[d3rryc]

Wolf, I had to fog an appt years ago when I was running a 30-gal FOWLR. The appt next to us had a dog that wasn't well cared for, and the fleas came through the walls into our place where my flea-allergic cat lived. I draped damp sheets and towels over both my fish tank and the terrarium housing my boa constrictor after turning all of the lights off on both tanks. I spent a very nervous day at work, but everything came through unscathed. The damp fabric should do a better job of trapping any insecticide fog than dry fabric would. I would definitely making fogging a means of last resort, though.

[Third Coast Tropical]

I have multiple tanks and fogged several different times because of fleas. Turned off all pumps and lights. Covered with plastic when available and then sheets and/or blankets. 30 gal tanks. Pumps left off the entire time. No issues no losses. I thought about putting aeration in the tank but didn't have enough airlines at the time so tanks sat the entire one without pumps/aeration. Everything was fine. I don't have ahuge bioload in my systems though and oxygen demand was minimal. Put away any devices/ buckets/ food etc. That may get poison on it. If you have to do it, just use extreme caution. I used dry fabric and doubled up when I could. That whole damp fabric thing scares me. Have thoughts of poison settling on damp material and then dripping into system.

[StevenSeas]

i wouldnt recommend the airstone unless you ran your pump from out of your house otherwise it will pump in the air that is in the room that has the posion in it thus pumping poison filled air into your tank. just my thought Im not sure if this would actually happen but cant be too carefull. Also apparently they sprayed our dorms a few times in one week without me knowing it before hand (read the thing posted on the doors too late) and had no ill effects to my open top tank. However I was lucky as this was just spraying not fogging ... and a lot of luck

[dclegern]

Wolf........ I agree with Erik.
Hopefully you had someone come out and treat the flea issue for you.
Using baits (g-roaches) and sprays or specific canned products (fleas) instead of aerosols is the only real way to go. Obviously he was a pest guy for a while.
Bug bombs kill the adults, and then ya'll call us pest guys when the whole thing blooms out of control a couple of weeks later.
I didn't know if you were having problems with roaches, or fleas.
But either way, no aerosols should be used around an open tank. Those fine particles of pyrethroid will choke out an entire tank if pulled into the water column by any of the pumps.

[Teeb]

Last time I bombed, I lost all my fish. I had a sheet covering the tank, but forgot about the sump. Don't forget about the sump.