Home pesticides and our aquariums

[Bliz]

Hey guys,

We've been having a bug problem around our house and I'm considering bringing in a professional to spray the home (interior and exterior). I'm concerned about the effects, if any, on my aquarium. Can pesticides being sprayed in the home do harm to our reefs? Any advice on how to go about this if there can be negative effects on my tank? I'm sure someone has had to go through this before. Thanks!

[jiperalta]

Tell the guy to stay away from the wall where the aquarium is, put in some fresh carbon on the day of spraying and you should be fine.

[tebstan]

Will they do spray, or bomb? Spraying is containable if they take your concern seriously - make sure they do. I wouldn't risk a bomb, there's no way to guarantee it doesn't get into the tank.

[Bliz]

Any other thoughts on this?? My girlfriend wants me to spray today and I'm a little nervous. I'll probably do it and just avoid the living room, where the tank is.

[ihavtats29]

turn off your skimmer to keep the fumes from the spray entering your system and cover any open exposed areas with a trash bag, and keep them away from your tank. the pset control peeps wont even spray at my apartment due to my reef tanks the are scared of killing my stuff and dont want to be responsible for it . i ended up getting the same chemicals they use online and spray my self and only cost me $40 for a years supply

[disc1]

Run fresh carbon. Turn off the skimmer and anything else that is forcing air into the system. be careful you don't suffocate the tank though.

If you do have to spray near the tank or worse yet fumigate, one of the best ideas is to do your best to seal the tank up completely. Use some Visqueen or trash bags to create a bag around the tank that totally seals it up as best you can. Then put an air pump outside pumping a bunch of air in through a horse through a window or something and into the "bag" that the tank is in. This serves two purposes. It keeps the water aerated so your animals don't suffocate. But it also keeps the tank at a positive pressure relative to the rest of the room. So the inevitable small leaks in the seal job all leak out and never in. The more air you are pumping in the better, if you have more than you need for oxygenating the tank, just dump the rest into the airspace in the "bag" you've made around the tank. If you can seal the whole thing in plastic and get the plastic to puff out like a balloon, you ought to be safe.

[disc1]

Double Post.