Our house gets termite tented

[siniang]

Hi,

our house will get tented for termites and I'm looking for some advice/experience on how to best handle this with my fish. We've been told everything needs to be out of the house by 10am one day and can go back inside after 6pm the next, so we're looking at 1.5 days. Obviously, I'd like to make it the least stressful for the fish, if that's even possible.

The fish will move into smaller tanks off-site. I've been thinking to move them the afternoon/evening before so they can just sleep off the stress, and move back the following day we're allowed back in, because by 6pm it's already lights out, usually. It's still being caught and handled and moved twice within just a mere few days.

How can I support them through this?

Will my fish be ok in the significantly smaller tank (I'm looking at 10 and 20 gallons) for 2 days? I only have two fish, so it's gonna be 1 fish each (one lawnmower blenny, one humu triggerfish).

As for the tank itself, I'd rather not have to go through the effort of having to move the entire thing. So I was thinking, does anyone know whether it would be possible to take out about half the water (to keep enough oxygen inside), and just seal it off with plastic bags real good? I guess my questions are:

Will my good bacteria/liverock die if there is no water movement for 2 days? I would use the filters in the smaller tanks with the fish.

Will the toxin be able to get through the silicone seal? I won't be able to lift the tank to bag it completely.

Anything I could do to potentially detoxify the water that remained in the aquarium, just in case?

Anything else I should consider/be aware of?

Thank you very much.

 

[brandon429]

I recommend this as the safest action you could possibly do, if you want less work and increased risk (leaving the tank in the house and trying to cap it off) then we can consider that

your best option is to have the main tank not in the home during treatment, set it in your trunk or back seat of car on blankets as padding. The safe way to take apart reefs and reassemble them is rip cleaning and no other surgical method is safer. Trying to seal off the tank and leaving it in the room risks cross contaminations


your oxygen and rock life and bacteria are fine in stilled water the cycle won’t undo


but not having the tank in the home is safest. That way is:

move fish off site per plan

finish draining tank down to empty and hold sand portion on its own, to be rip cleaned before re install

hold the rocks in a small tote on their own, or keep split up with the fish so they have surface area while in holding, so ammonia doesn’t build up. Clean these rocks off in saltwater so they don’t move detritus stuck to them from tank to tank.


now you have an empty tank, move it out of the house.


reassemble it all after rinsing the sand in tap water for hours until it’s clean, totally clear, final rinse in ro water to evacuate the tap.


this is a cloudless setup, you can hold it days in this clean setting and then reassemble it when you want and it’ll skip cycle because no waste rides back in the main tank. Filter bac aren’t killed in still waters and they don’t starve of o2. If you want to cap it off that’s fine, but a rip cleaned tank is safer and better in every way compared to removing and adding rocks over dirty sand, not rip cleaning is the unsafe mode.

the sandbed bacteria don’t matter, it’s why we are rinsing the sand all to clarity as the bacteria don’t matter. Rocks were cleaned in saltwater, it’s the bacteria that matters on the rock.


you can store the portions for days before reassembly using rip clean methods. It’s how we move large tanks to new homes, this exact same way. The reassembled reef gets all new water, matching temp and salinity to the holding water.

 

[siniang]

Thank you so much for your reply, @brandon429. Bear with me as I try to process all these information and terminology. What does 'rip clean' mean?

Ok, to summarize:

1) Move fish as planned. Anything I can do to support them? Stress coat? Reduce light? I will be using the filters from the original aquarium for their temporary homes, which hopefully should help with ammonia. 10/20 gal size ok? They will get hiding, but probably not a lot of rocks as to not make the small homes even smaller.

2) Drain the tank. Can I keep any of the water to re-use once I set the tank back up? I don't mix or have ROV, I use saltwater provided by the local aquarium.

3) Keep all rocks in buckets - with water? Or can they get dry? Rinse with saltwater before putting them in 'storage' or just before I put them back in the aquarium?

4) Keep sand ... where? And how do I rinse it?

3a) and 4a) (and possibly 2a) I live in Hawaii and it may get hot. I'm not sure I can find a storage spot that remains cool enough. How would that impact my bacteria on my rocks/water?

5) Once I'm allowed back in the house, re-setup tank. When moving the fish back, can I use the water from those tanks as well?

I'm honest, I'm terrified of this entire process as I'm very much a friend of 'never change a running system' and just aren't very experienced.

 

[Miami Reef]

I kept my reef tank in my house while it was tented and it was 100% fine.

 

[Woodyman]

There was a thread similar to this over the summer... I know @sfin52 offered lots of advice as I believe he works for a pest control company.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

There was a thread similar to this over the summer... I know @sfin52 offered lots of advice as I believe he works for a pest control company.

You beat me to taggin him, but I will do it again, as I feel like pestering him

@sfin52 get your rear over here and provide some guidance on what to do with a tank while a house is being tented!!!!!

 

[Woodyman]

Fumigation tomorrow. I decided to do nothing for my 450G reef tank system.

Fumigation tomorrow. I decided to do nothing for my 450G reef tank system. Will my fish die? " Sulfuryl fluoride Vikane or Zythor Wont penetrate water fish will be fine " according to this link. I have a 300G display tank with some complex plumbing to a fish room that houses 3 40G breeders. I...

www.reef2reef.com

That's the thread I'm referring to. Plenty of threads and advice, (but lots of reading) if you use the search function.

 

[plankton]

If you can’t move tank and or fish/rock then next best would be to tent with plastic that chemical (orange extract based or older school termite pesticide) can’t penitrate and run air flow in/out from a safe distance from house.

 

[brandon429]

To save time on my recap I’ll let you select which method you want, no use describing and linking rip clean training examples if in the end you just wind up capping it and taking a chance. If you select for a rip clean, which is still the safest of any linked method, then I’ll proceed with the address to the above questions. In the end, if you’re going to remove fish out of the house that means you’ll be digging around in the tank, and once you start that, even if your tank is fine with it, mixing up all that waste has invasion potential weeks after reset having nothing to do with poisoning or cycle control. If you’re going to cap it, keep the whole reef together and cap it.


if you’re going to do offsite holding of any portion, it’s better for the reef to be completely cleaned, a clean reef runs better than an aged one that has its parts mixed around and destratified

in the mean time study these threads, see how they held fish during takedown, this is the work involved


they all did rip cleans to fix an invasion but it doesn’t matter why one is ran they’re all the same method. You’re just Delaying the reassembly step a few days vs a few hours like in these five rip clean training examples:

Algae Identification

Any opinions on what type of algae this is growing on my rocks and sand bed?

www.reef2reef.com

recycles don’t happen because bacteria die, bacteria when kept wet aren’t going to die. Cycles happen when people take chances with waste casting all around. It’s for sure ok to reuse some of the current water, the last 1/3rd of it as you drain down will be too cloudy to use.

 

[brandon429]

Let’s see the tank in question as a swing vote on how to proceed

post full tank picture let’s see what’s all on the line between the choices

 

[Joe31415]

I think if it was me, what I'd do (or at least strongly consider) would be to seal off everything as best as I can. Saran wrap (or something similar, maybe the shrink film for weather proofing windows in winter) the tank and sump and in addition something (think giant plastic bag) over the entire setup and taped around the base of the stand.
Then...or actually before, an oversized airline running from the skimmer's air intake, outside, and well past the tent with an inline carbon filter.
Another thought would be to do the same thing, but instead of an airline running outside, you run a hose from an air compressor to inside the tented tank area. If it's large enough, pressurized high enough and pushing air into the sealed off area slow enough, it should go for quite a while before running out of air. In theory, that should have the added benefit of slightly pressurizing that area and the air exhausting through any leaks will help keep the pesticide from getting in through those same leaks. The first method will do that too, but probably not as well.

Then plan on a large water change ASAP, and probably more over the coming days.

And, no matter what option you choose, I'd imagine it would be a wise idea to run carbon and skim wet for a while.

Also, ask the people that are tenting the house. The is almost certainly not the first time they've dealt with this.

 

[siniang]

Ok, I have decided to remove the tank from the house in addition to the fish. It's not ideal, but after reading the above linked thread, I think is the best option.

To recap: I have one FOWLR tank. No reef. No skimmer. No inverts. There is absolutely no option to have air pumped inside a sealed off tank from the outside. My main concerns are:

- causing stress to my fish while moving to and from a temporary home off-site. And how to best possibly reduce it for them.

- destroying my cycle.

So, my proposed plan of actions is, as outlined above:

1) Move fish as planned the evening before the tenting. Anything I can do to support them? Stress coat? Reduce light? I will be using the filters from the original aquarium for their temporary homes, which hopefully should help with ammonia. 10/20 gal size ok? They will get hiding, but probably not a lot of rocks as to not make the small homes even smaller. Can/should I use water from their tank or new water? I'm actually going to do a regularly scheduled water change today or tomorrow. They move out late this coming Monday.

2) Drain the tank. Can I keep any of the water to re-use once I set the tank back up? I don't mix or have ROV, I use saltwater provided by the local aquarium.

3) Keep all rocks in buckets - with water? Or can they get dry? Rinse with saltwater before putting them in 'storage' or just before I put them back in the aquarium? Store in a dark place that hopefully doesn't get too hot.

4) Keep sand ... where? With water from the tank or can it get dry? And how do I rinse it? Any option to avoid having to rinse the sand? I regularly stir the sand bed when I do water changes.

5) The tank will not be stored in a car because we will need both our cars and the risk of damage from out bumpy roads is too high. I will put it in the backyard, bag it, and cover with a big plastic storage container (those black ones with yellow lids from your big hardware store, if anyone knows what I'm referring to). Any concerns? Should I rinse the tank completely to make it 'as good as new' or can I just drain it as best as possible and have potentially small amounts of sand/water remain?

5) Once I'm allowed back in the house, re-setup tank the same night. I plan on getting more 'fresh' water from the aquarium to use, similar to a big water change. Fish will move back in the next day. When moving the fish back, can I use the water from those temporary tanks as well to fill up my big tank?

 

[brandon429]

3 yes keep submerged it doesnt have to be circulated, this is 2 or 3 days at max correct? try and creatively keep them heated somehow, if not by a series of cheap wal mart heaters then turn up the heat ambient in the holding facility/ room

dont dry them, that ruins the cycle. letting them sit in a covered tank in the home was never going to ruin a cycle, wet rocks can't uncycle, they don't starve of o2 in a home setting. your risk wasnt cycle loss, it was poison cross contamination.


2 yes you can keep and re use water, make sure the last portions drawn off aren't cloudy with waste, kick that water out for new if so.


4. regarding sand, do a search on this site: the official sand rinse thread, its fifty pages of the same example over, and over and over and over, self directed study answers this one. messing with sand incorrectly is the #1 way this job can go bad and you kill all the fish, aside from poison.

5. nice job on back yard yes rinse it out with the hose back to clean glass, be thorough, that's a standout rule in the sand rinse thread from above.

6. water from holding tanks isn't ideal, it will be souped from the additives and potentially higher metabolites. in a setup this worthy of time and $, secure clean water to replace that portion.


the reason I didnt detail the sand rinsing rules here is because you'll think they're crazy man made up stuff unless you see it for yourself being ran in twenty thousand dollar sps reefs. we use tap water to rinse the sand to literal perfection, it'll take you four hours to do it right. final rinse in ro

the next inevitable question is then: won't that kill my bacteria? then I have to wonder why someone would think I'd harm their reef on purpose with a recommend...so its just better to self study whats on file for seven years running.

if you skimp one iota of effort on the sand rinse, thinking a little less than 100% cloudless will be safe, then you risk killing your entire reef. you'd better rinse it better than you've ever rinsed anything in your life, irony saves your tank on this crucial step. less rinsing is dangerous, over rinsing beyond needs is the safe way. search the thread and see

Official Sand Rinse and Tank Transfer thread

If you are reading this thread to cure a tank invasion from a link I sent you, we do not need to identify your type of invasion here we do not need you to test anything at anytime regarding nitrate, phosphate etc Above all, we do not need to see a microscope slide picture of your invasion at...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[brandon429]

please take pictures of all this reef tank surgery, we need it for that exact thread above once its all done.


this is a no bottle bac cycle for the assembled display tank. If fish are being held in buckets, adding cycling bottle bac like fritz or biospira will be better than Prime for sure. you can dose a little helper bac in the holding buckets of fish, its better if they sit in circulated water with saltwater washed off rocks to handle ammonia within their buckets or totes, but a little zip of cycling bac too in the holding containers is ok.

you can see in reading the thread above some critical unstated details: detritus transfer carries the total risk, waste clouding, its never lack of bacteria and this helps you plan as well. so when you lift out rocks to set for holding, or set some in a fish holding tote, swish those rocks off in saltwater so that waste doesn't stick to them and ride over into the fish tote. where waste goes the recycle risk goes. clean = no recycle. that thread is fifty pages of disassemblies so its worth studying before your job comes to start.


for the re set up tank, even with blast rinsed sand, the bacteria on the rocks is sufficient for the skip cycle but lets see a full tank shot. since you're heavier on the fish load than normal we really need to assess rock % here moreso than normal.

 

[brandon429]

also crucial


look at how these infection/irritation to human skin posts are unfolding. you'll be handling the substrates in question en masse, be ready for this 1% risk - to you

Reef tank causing bad rash

Do any of you have any experiences with getting a very bad rash right after putting your arm in the tank? In the last few weeks or so I have started to get a very painful rash that comes out as soon as I work on my reefs. I didn't notice any issues until about 2 weeks ago. I was changing filter...

www.reef2reef.com

cover all held fish so they don't jump but allow air transfer still, engineer their holding totes carefully. with motion, heat, covered + air, and some active surface area to prevent ammonia burn. a zip of cycling bacteria in each one won't harm, use fritz, dr tims, or biospira not the other kinds.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I read the link about not removing, I believe the chemical used made the difference. Anyone else with any experience not removing the system from the home? And what type of fumigation was used?

 

[HUTCH360]

I read the link about not removing, I believe the chemical used made the difference. Anyone else with any experience not removing the system from the home? And what type of fumigation was used

 

[HUTCH360]

I will be tenting my house shortly. With a 180g tank unable to remove. Has anyone gone thru this leaving tank inside tent with all the live creatures?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I will be tenting my house shortly. With a 180g tank unable to remove. Has anyone gone thru this leaving tank inside tent with all the live creatures?

What type of fumigation are they using?

Are they requiring you to shut down power to the entire house?

If so, will they allow you to run cords into the house to power up the tank?

: to me I think the heat, and no movement of water is going to be the worst part, I am worried about the tank just being still for 24-48hrs

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I kept my reef tank in my house while it was tented and it was 100% fine.

did you have it running? what did you do? I'm not seeing signs but it's been long enough id like to do it and with my reef tank in current limbo I was thinking it would be a good time to tent, but honestly I don't want to remove anything or lose my fish I've heard mixed reviews on leaving it in place... what was your experience? did you run your chiller? was it summer?