exterminator toxins

[jamal]

im getting an exterminator to come and spray tomorrow and i wanted to know what i should do to protect my tank?

[treesprite]

I covered the top in plastic wrap for a couple days... just have to make sure it's completely sealed around the edges.

[HowardofNOVA]

First, what are they spraying for and where?

If inside I take it, then take a drop cloth over the entire system, shut off your skimmer during that time to keep the air intake from mixing the vapors (Same with someone painting). An hour or so won't hurt the tank.

Open windows to allow the air out as soon as possible too.

[jamal]

so i should turn off the skimmer for an hour but leave the tank covered for several days? will that hurt the new corals i just got? plus my precious hair algae wont like the darkness

[HowardofNOVA]

CLOUDY DAY OVER THE JAMAL LAGOON!

 

Besides the day or two with no lighting will put a kick in your algae growth!

[Rascal]

If you turn the skimmer back on while there are still toxins in the air you will be quickly introducing them into your tank. On the other hand, no skimmer and a completely sealed tank = 0 gas exchange ---> low oxygen + high co2 ---> low ph = bad stuff for your tank. No lights will excerbate the problem, since this also leads to a rise in co2 / dip in ph. A die off of hair algae under these circumstances will not be a good thing, since all of those nutrients will just go into the water column.

 

A lot of this depends on your bioload, but I would take a little more drastic action if it were me. I am thinking something along the lines of this:

 

1) Run an airline from outside the house to your skimmer, using a carbon filter somewhere along the way. I would still turn it off while they are spraying, but that way you can pump fresh air into your system even before the toxins fully clear out of your house.

 

2) Aggressively air out the house. Open all windows and doors as has been suggested, but I would also use some powerful fans to move air through the house.

 

3) Filter the air inside the tank. Getting a couple of high quality furnace filters and setting the thermastat to "fan on" will help, as will picking up a room air filter for the room the tank sits in.

 

Good luck.

[kngfisher]

once a quarter we have an exterminator come but they do not spray the floor where the tank is. The tank is in the basement and I close off that level of the house where they are there. When gone, all the windows get opened as to air out as quickly as possible......been threw this a few times w/o any losses......course we still have ants too :-)

[jamal]

wow that is an elaborate plan for which i dont have the supplies to execute. i will open the windows cover the tank and shut off the skimmer. how long should i keep the skimmer off and how will i feed the fish?

[fab]

Jamal,

 

Do get an air pump and a long line of tubing to supply lots of air to the tank FROM OUTSIDE, BUT TURN IT ON ONLY AFTER THE FUMIGATORS HAVE LEFT. Then be careful that there are no fumes wherever you put the air pump. High capacity air pumps and air stones are cheap insurance.

 

Keep the skimmer off until you are absolutely sure there are no fumes left in the vicinity of your skimmer and turn off any other equipment that could pick up fumes and run them through your tank.

I have a friend who poisoned the contents of a 700 gallon tank in less than 15 minutes because noxious fumes got pumped through his system. He lost everything, including the sand and the rocks and his support equipment. He was too afraid of reusing his pumps and skimmers because they had been tainted by the noxious materials. He did not believe he could clean them and KNOW that there was no poisonous stuff left in them. Besides, he had no way to test for the noxious material, shy reconfiguring his tank with "Canary" fish and other livestock as indicators.

 

 

Be very careful and good luck,

fab

Edited May 29, 2007 by fab

[bigJPDC]

ugh - wife had the carpets steam cleaned today and the stand doors were left off.

 

:(

[jamal]

should i run my powerheads while the skimmer and lights are out? also should i do a water change after the spraying id done? i just had issues with a salt change and stuff is starting to do well again and its been about 3 or 4 weeks. i wasnt going to do a water change for another month or so but if it will help the tank i will do it. what do you guys think?

Edited May 30, 2007 by jamal

[treesprite]

So are they actually fumigating where the stuff will be full force in the air and everywhere? I was thinking simple spraying along the baseboards, hence a relatively simple solution. Sorry about that assumption.

[HowardofNOVA]

Jamal,

Q#1 what kind of Spraying are you doing??

Bombing?

Baseboard Spraying?

Basement spraying/flooding?

Kitchen spraying?

Q#2

Where in relationship to the spraying will the tank be?

Q#3 how long are they recommending that YOU be out of the house?

More info please?

[jamal]

well they are spraying in the basement where the tank is located. i dont know what kind of spraying they will be doing but i would rather assume whatever the strongest is that thats what they will be doing. they didnt say i have to leave the house at all which i thought was strange since i thought if its toxic for my reef it should be toxic to me but here i am. so does that mean anything since i dont have to leave?

[davelin315]

There's lots of options for you that don't involve spraying chemicals into the air. I have 3 kids and had birds, the fish tanks, and dogs and cats. Whenever we had someone spray the house they used powder instead of aerosols and I made sure they targeted it only where it was OK with me. Also, if you do decide to allow the spray, don't let them mist, but rather apply a gentle stream. This will basically have the same effect but it won't be as airborne. Also, there are certain gels that they can use as well.

 

It's ALWAYS best to tell them what you're expecting and then see what options they have. If they don't work with you, don't use them! By the way, I had Home Paramount before and they were lousy, so if you're using them, make sure they are thorough. Most of them would not be very thorough when they came and now they've been fired.

[HowardofNOVA]

IMO

Take a large sheet of plastic to cover tank to the floor. Turn off skimmer, reactors, non lige supporting equipment and lights. Tape tarp to the floor. If you have powerheads in tank leave running and if job will take less than an hour, shut down return pump. If more leave running!

Once the ok is given for you to enter the room, turn on fan to blow fumes out of room outside. I don't see any reason to take the tarp off for the rest of the day so leave on.

But if not already running, turn back on the return pump.

Next day the heavier vapors Should have settled, so remove tarp and do a water change.

The heavier gases should be on the floor. Good luck!

[jason the filter freak]

Best wishes for your tank.

[jamal]

thanx guys! i feel a little better about this "adventure". i will post a thread to update how this goes. so the water change will be ok in light of my recent salt troubles?

[jamal]

all of my live stock came through unscathed but my recent aquisitions werent happy about the lighting and flow changes and rapidly detriorated. i am hoping that they will recover.i was especially worried about the anthias but no loses so thats good

[fab]

Congratulations!

 

Now what excactly did you do with your system when the exterminators worked you home over?

 

How about sharing with us what steps you actually ended up taking?

 

fab

[jamal]

sure! i covered the tanks and my sump with sheets and turned off the skimmer and return pump. i left the powerheads running in the tanks and disabled all lights including moon and fuge lights and phosban. i left these things off for a day and ran a floor fan away from the tank to the other side of the room. thats about it

[flowerseller]

What in the heck were they spraying for to cause all this commotion?

[lanman]

What in the heck were they spraying for to cause all this commotion?

 

Bug story of the week... this morning I saw a rather large spider sitting in the middle of the floor. So I snuck up on it and stomped it.

 

Whereupon, 50 baby spiders ran out in all directions!! Talk about stomp-dancing!!

 

bob

[jamal]

i dont know what they sprayed but it sux. i see more bugs now than before they came. i just wanted to be cautious. i dont want any casaulties

[Guest Arlo]

I get my exterminator to use the jell stuff now and there is almost no vapor from that. ask them about it.

 

Arlo