Cockroaches

[lachrimae]

Hello,

I was setting up my auto top-off system tonight & it occured to me that having a small tank of fresh water sitting around would probably attract cockroaches.

Are you doing anything to prevent them?

Mark

[Polkster13]

I haven't had any issues with bugs in my freash water holding tanks (2 - 55 gallon containers). If you are really worried about them, try covering the top of the container so nothing can get to the water.

[Thunderkat]

I keep getting roaches in my fuge :lol

[C.Mydas]

Thunderkat- lol...I refer to them as underwater cockroaches too...

We've never seen a roach around our water...honestly the tanks would be gone if the top-off attracted them....

Anyone ever heard of water attracting roaches? I totally didnt know that. LOL. I can picture me going around the house drying up every drop of water spilled...making Brian dry the shower after each one..lol

[lachrimae]

I'm no roach expert (except for back in my college days ^_^ ) but my understanding is that roaches are VERY attracted to water. They can get by without food for quite some time but water is a necessity. They die w/out it like everything else...

I've considered covering the freshwater but was concerned about the water getting moldy (though I am running a small powerhead in there).

I was wondering if I should (carefully) spray the outsides of my container with some kind of repellant. Perhaps I won't worry about it until/unless I see a roach.

[lachrimae]

Oh, & while I'm at it, here's a related story:

My brother was keeping a Malawi tank many years ago & he & his wife decided to move to a new house, partially because of the horrible roach problem they couldn't get rid of. They had nuked the house several times, covering the fish tank with a sheet to keep them "safe", but the roaches wouldn't go away.

Turns out that when they took off the canopy while they were moving, a HUGE nest/roach colony was living inside. eeeek. My brother still thinks his now ex-wife created the roach problem to get a new house h34r

Mark

[CD]

I was wondering if I should (carefully) spray the outsides of my container with some kind of repellant. Perhaps I won't worry about it until/unless I see a roach.

We've never had a problem with roaches around our FW top-off supply, but if you feel strongly about it, get a "roach motel" or some kind of bait...do NOT spray any kind of pesticides around your tank or water supply. ;)

W.

[Alamo]

If you have a good pest service IE like terminix you wont have any problems... spraying the cans.... BAD IDEA... Bug Bombs.... real bad idea.