Pesticide spraying

[spllbnd2]

Hello everyone at RF.

I have a question as to what I need to do to keep everything safe in my 20 gallon reef if I am going to have a company come out and spray my house for ants, spiders, and any other creepy crawly things. I would not be having to do this but I found a few carpenter ants and now need to call a company out.

I did ask the companies about what they do or recommend and one company said to turn off all pumps for 24 hours and cover the tank with a damp towel. I would think turning off the pumps for that long may not be a good thing.

Any help would be of great help with this subject as I have been unable to get any hits on my searches.

Thanks,
Alex B.

 

[gas4544]

Back on 2002, my roommmate/landlord sprayed diazanone quite liberally in the garage to take care of some pests. It was a hot summer day, and I had my second story bedroom window open. My 75-gallon reef was in that bedroom. Well, some of that toxic stuff wafted throught the air and ended up in my aquarium by way of my skimmer. I began losing fish and other critters soon thereafter and I eneded up losing my reef.

You ought to be okay as long as you take precautions and protect your tank. I would think that you should be okay running your pumps and turning off your skimmer for 24 hours or more. If possible, try to seal off the tank room with towels at the bottom of the door.

Other folks may have some other suggestions.

Gary

 

[returnofsid]

I recently asked a reputable LFS about this same thing. Was told that unless the tank is TOTALLY sealed off, including duct taping plastic to carpeting and everything, it'll wipe our your reef very quickly.

 

[spllbnd2]

Thanks for the replies. Very helpful. I am figuring that I will try and seal off the room that I have the aquarium in and hope for the best. I guess I am glad that I haven't got my 65 gallon up and running as of yet.

Also I found out I do not have carpenter ants but have what is called Odorus ants.

 

[spllbnd2]

I must say that I am suprised that not more folks here have had to deal with this situation.
I know when I was growing up in California my folks were always having problems with pests.

Thanks for the input thus far.
Alex B.

 

[spllbnd2]

So here we are again. I am going to finally have the pest guys come out and spray out side only. I am hoping that some others can chime in here before Sunday as I am scheduling it for then so I will be home.
The plan is not to have them spray inside the house and only the outside perimeter. Windows and doors will be closed and all three tanks are in one room so I will be sealing that room completely off. Sealing as in duct tape the vents plastic surrounding the window.
Also I plan on putting damp towels over the tanks to trap any pollutants that are in the air and turning off the skimmer for a while.

Any other advice other than not doing it would be helpful. I need to do it this time as I am prolonging the inevidale and I am getting infested almost to the point of going crazy.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[LottaRox]

Alex-
I'm sorry that this is a recurring problem, other than removing any and every stick of wood and living in a plastic bubble this may be a long fight.

Would you be willing to use an off the shelf product and DIY? I would recommend using diatomaceous earth, if it does get into your tank no harm. It's available in most hardware stores and garden centers. It is an organic product so it may not be stocked with all the chemicals, but its pretty easy to find. DE is a granular that can be sprinkled around entry points to the home as well as established routes to resources (food and water) for the ants. It works by scratching the exoskeleton of insects which causes the little buggers to dessicate, as they have no way of stopping the fluids from escaping. This is a non-selective physical pesticide--it will kill any bugs that come in contact with it beneficial or pest. The caution of use is that it can be an irritant if inhaled or gets in your eyes so be careful about tracking it in the house, and be careful with it around furry pets. I have had success with this product to control of ants, spiders and fleas. It does require reapplication after a rain, but we still have a month or so before it really starts up again. This is a pretty effective method to control those you see (scouts and workers) but I'd also use bait to get the one that you don't see (workers, larvae and queen).

In conjunction, if you want to try to get the queen, Grant's Ant bait. These are small enclosed discs that are attached to a stake that you put along established routes of travel for those ants. It contains a toxin that they ingest and take back to the colony. With any luck, it will get fed to the queen. Again, non-selective but toward ants. Enclosed so no chance of accidental exposure. These work great.

I hope this helps.

If you just want someone else to take care of it, you may also try calling on a pest company that specialize in "IPM" (Integrated Pest Management) or have more of a "natural" or "green" approach. I don't have experience with them but I know of Eden Pest Control and Eastide Exterminators. Also try the county extension service, they may have other solutions.

Good luck
-Janet

 

[spllbnd2]

Thanks Janet for the help. I did try the DIY methods and the eco freindly stuff as well as some pro granular stuff during the winter and spring times. No help what so ever. No matter from the pellets, granulars or the bait stations nothing has helped as they just move along.

I have the pest guys coming out on Sunday to do a perimeter spray and not treating in the house. Also they said it is okay for all people and pets to stay while spraying. So I don't think it is a misting type. We shall see what happens as the ants are in the garage and I cannot have that *lol* Both worker ants and swarmers.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[LottaRox]

I hope it works out, if not there's always the bubble. This kind of infestation often takes time eradicate with organics and your race is with a growing population. Sometimes the chemical option is a good way to ensure things don't get out of control (your house starts crawling on it's own).

You're probably right about not having a mist spray but still practice caution, you never know in what kind of condition those sprayers are kept. I'll keep my fingers crossed. -Janet

 

[spllbnd2]

Thank you Janet. I am hoping for the best possible outcome but I am also ready for the worst as well. Probably worried over nothing as I have had many different issues with my reef tanks over the past 7 years.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[spllbnd2]

So I went ahead with the pesticide spraying. Had the company power spray the foundation 1' up and 10' out along with spraying the eves and shrubs outside the house. Also had the crawl space and garage sprayed.

Thus far there are no ill effects to any three of the reef tanks. I decided to bite the bullet and let them run without turning anything off with the exception of the room ventilation. Everything is doing awesome almost a day after the pesticide application. And just an fyi... When the guy was spraying outside, he did not even wear a respirator. I did ask a lot of questions as to the product, the mixture ratios and all those fun fact finding questions.

So if anyone else has to do this then do as I and just go with it and do not over think these things. Just be sure to close all windows and doors before spraying. Sometimes I feel that everone over complicates there systems and needs everything to be in a perfect balance. No pesticide sprays, no chemicals in the room, no... no...no. Well what if? Just food for thought and I'll leave it at that for everone to ponder.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[gas4544]

Thanx for the update. Let us know how everything looks in a week or so, okay?

We have been battling moisture ants at out house and have been using Terro. It has done a pretty good job, but we still have random ants wandering around the house. Its funny - they ignore any food crumbs in the kitchen and I even occasionally find an ant floating in one of my tanks. Perhaps they are just thirsty. :?:

g

 

[spllbnd2]

Thanx for the update. Let us know how everything looks in a week or so, okay?

We have been battling moisture ants at out house and have been using Terro. It has done a pretty good job, but we still have random ants wandering around the house. Its funny - they ignore any food crumbs in the kitchen and I even occasionally find an ant floating in one of my tanks. Perhaps they are just thirsty. :?:

g

Hi Gary,

Yes I'll be keeping everyone informed as to my tanks status for a few weeks. As mentioned, it is now at the 24 hour mark with no ill effects on any of my tanks. And this was with leaving everything running, including the skimmers.

The type of ants that you are seeing are the very reason I called the pest control guys out. I have learned over the past year that you cannot beat these ants without the proper chemical treatments. Just like odorus house ants you cannot just spray stuff and expect them to all die. Sure you can spray that crap from the home improvement store around the areas you see activity, but they just up and move as I've seen.

Within an hour after the spray I started to see dead spiders hanging off the eves and dead beatles too.

Alex

 

[Bosco83]

What if you just moved your tanks to someone's house for a week or so?

 

[spllbnd2]

What if you just moved your tanks to someone's house for a week or so?

IMO moving just one reef tank can be a pain let alone three of them. Especially if only for a week or two, that is a lot of work. And I already had them spray yesterday. *lol* All three of my tanks are doing a okay even now.

Cheers,
Alex

 

[LottaRox]

Alex, that's really good news. I'm glad things worked out! No moonsuits or masks--always a good sign! Keep us posted! -Janet

 

[spllbnd2]

Well he did use a jumpsuit and mask in the crawlspace, but of course that is a confined space. Escpecially with a fully finished crawl space at that. No where for the spray to soak into other that the concrete. *lol*