Have to spray the house for fleas...now what???

[SlukBunWalla]

My house has become infested with fleas...we've done just about EVERYTHING we can to eliminate them, and it's not working. The only option we have left is to flea bomb the whole house. I have three aquariums set up. The two smaller ones (under 20 gallons) I could move out of the house for a little bit...but my main reef (65 gallons) would be an absolute nightmare to take down or move.

Has anyone dealt with this problem? Any ideas?

I can shrink wrap the whole tank in plastic...and I think that would keep the toxins out but as any of you can imagine, this still makes me extremely nervous.

Right now I need ideas, experience...and possibly to just be talked down out of the rafters. ANY help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[davocean]

I'd shut off any pumps that would push air into system, skimmer, etc.
Plastic and tape sealed.
Turn off lights so you don't melt plastic.
Seal sump if you have.
Air out well b4 turning system back on full.
Should be fine, done it many times.

[davocean]

Oh, and blue tape works best, doesn't leave glue residue.

[SlukBunWalla]

Thanks man. That's pretty much what I had planned...it's good to hear from someone who's ACTUALLY done it/

People are all full of ideas when it's not their tank...or say things that sound logical enough...

I appreciate you mentioning that this is your own experience. hehe

[laugh]

Don't bother with those bombs you get at walmart. What you need is this http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_34774_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1
Most of the fleas will not be in any ares that a bomb will reach. You need to sray under furniture and cushions. I would also spray down the carpet. You will have much better control with this stuff and WAY less likely to get any in your tank and it actually works.

[laugh]

Oh yeah I almost forgot. Once you have them under control use borax to treat carpets and such. It's like $3 at walmart. It will control ants and roaches as well if you put it under cabinets and behind the fridge squirts some in the holes where your pipes come through the wall and floor.

[jenglish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15333818#post15333818 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by laugh
Don't bother with those bombs you get at walmart. What you need is this http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_10551_10001_34774_-1______?rFlag=true&cFlag=1
Most of the fleas will not be in any ares that a bomb will reach. You need to sray under furniture and cushions. I would also spray down the carpet. You will have much better control with this stuff and WAY less likely to get any in your tank and it actually works.

+1 liquid applications are better than bombs. My step father owns a pest control business and he says the bombs are pretty ineffective. Fleas don't live up on the ceiling so the bombs are wasting a lot of their chemicals.

[DSR]

Just went through this same thing earlier in the summer we tried everything... sprays, both commercial and professional. Diatomaceous earth.... nothing worked... until I box six boxes of borax. I spread the borax on the carpet allowed it to sit for about an hour and then vacuumed it up. Did it again the next night. For the next week we vacuumed the house everynight and it worked.

When I did try the spray I covered my tank. Turned off all the pumps and left them off for the prescribed period of time.

But, really, it didn't work. Borax is the best way.

Yep. The blue painters tape is the only way to go.

[jimsplace]

I agree with the borax comments above. With 4 dogs and 4 cats, we get fleas. Have gone the chemical route several times, no luck. We have been buying a product at Pets Mart or similar place that you sprinkle on the carpet and brush in with a broom, let sit and vacuum up. It is probably just scented borax that I pay more for, but it does the job! If I remember correctly, it is effective for quite some time afterwards too. I just cover my tank when I sprinkle it on and brush it in, no big deal.

[SlukBunWalla]

I'll give the borax a try...that we haven't done yet.

All of our animals were frontlined before the outbreak. We've used shampoos, frontline spray and revolution. We've powdered and sprayed the carpet and we've been vaccuuming like crazy people...nothing has eliminated them. Sounds like borax is working for people, and I'm willing to try anything!

[GlassReef]

Will borax work in a house without carpets? If so, how would one use it?

[gcam4]

I'm gonna post this link because I believe it will help you, if it isn't allowed I apologize but i believe it will help SlukBunWalla. Kip is very knowledgeable in these kinds of things.

http://www.kipsreef.net/forum/showthread.php?t=272

[Elysia]

I haven't been following the news lately, so I don't know if you guys have had the incredible amounts of rain that we have, but our wet spring and summer have created ideal conditions for fleas here. Ever since Advantage and then Frontline & Frontline Plus came on the market, we have used them on our dogs, and for a decade we haven't had much of an issue with fleas. But it is as if the Frontline isn't working this year (I assume the dogs are just regularly picking up fresh fleas in the backyard or on walks.)

Some "all natural" flea treatments use neem (oil from the seeds of the Azadirachta indica tree) or pyethrum (from the seeds of Chrysanthemum cinerariaefolium.) Each of these ingredients act as broad spectrum insecticides, i.e. they will kill all insects. Today I read that each of these ingredients are toxic to fish, tadpoles, and other aquatic life.

We will have to try Borax on our sofas. Thanks for that tip!

[SlukBunWalla]

Yeah we had a really wet spring, and we're a year following the great flood...so fleas and ticks and bugs in general are terrible this year.

[davocean]

Another good trick is cut a flea collar into pieces, and insert into vacuum bags.
Vac sucks up and breaks flea eggs, flea collar pieces kill what survives in bag.
Need to vac often to rid eggs, break cycle.

[Janice12]

I think it's time to bump this thread up again.
Fleas, why were they ever "invented"????? Just like mosquitos, useless. But now is the time to locate the Borax in the stores.
I thought I remembered reading here about the Borax and fleas. But I stopped at a local pet store and bought this, Zodiac carpet and upholstery pump spray, justincase I couldn't find the Borax. So now I guess I give the pump spray a try and the other room will get the powder.