Termite Fumigation and aquariums

[Singlefin]

Recently we had to tent our house for termites which involves sealing the whole house with a tent and pumping poison in it for 24hrs. Obviously this is pretty stressful especially when you have $10k + in fish. There wasnt much info on people doing this so i figured ill do a write up for future reference.

 

[Singlefin]

The poison used, VIKANE, is not water soluble. I have 2 tanks, a 120g SPS dominant and a 40b LPS tank. From my research, heat buildup is a main concern. Even though my tanks are chilled, the house could turn into an oven circulating heat. Luckily both tanks are over chilled and that wasnt an issue. My next concern was if fish gulped air, it would be poisonous. The 120g, i sealed the top with plastic and pumped air in from outside using a septic tank pump. Just needed enough pressure to keep the seal ballooned

 

[Singlefin]

Both tanks i turned off the skimmers and made the pumps run constantly. (No feed mode)

 

[mmw64]

Interested. Following

 

[Singlefin]

sealed tank.

 

[Singlefin]

One article in Advanced Aquarist mentioned the tear gas used as a burglar repellant may have been the cause of some inverts dying so I asked the fumigator not to add tear gas.

 

[Singlefin]

Turned off the lights on the 120g to prevent heat buildup. I noticed my PH drop from 7.7 to 7.4 probably because it was sealed, so I turned off my calcium reactor. Which brought it back to 7.7. Thank goodness for my Apex.

 

[Singlefin]

Overall, I had zero losses. Even the pods in my sump were fine. I did have one SPS bleach to a light pink. In the 40b, half a dozen nems bleached to a light pink and and on a big head of hammer, some heads looked lighter. No invert, snail or urchin losses. No fish losses. Overall really happy with the outcome. Something I was researching and stressing about for a year.

 

[Singlefin]

 

[Termite Control]

I think there wont be any problem here. Termite control is a pretty common method. Wont harm the fish.