My wife told me late last night that she intends to bomb the house for spiders Saturday. :-(" :-(" :-(" How can I protect my reefs??
So far I plan on running about 3X my normal carbon in a total of 4 bags in the sump of each tank. I also plan om fabricating a carbon filter for each skimmer, turning off all but moon lights, and covering each tank and stand with plastic.
Any other suggestions in minimizing the carnage in my tanks?? verdict_in verdict_in
Bombs are 3 hours before you can open windows right?
Most tanks can go without running for that. I would find a way to completely seal off the tank and sump. I would not want to get any of that bomb stuff in a saltwater tank at all.
Tape the plastic and make sure there are no air holes and just run the powerheads. I am sure there has to be a better way. I do know they make traps for spiders just like ant traps. I would try that route first if you have not already.
Cover it real good use plastic wrap if you have to shut off all skimmers air pumps so they don’t suck in theover flow. Martys wife was telling me she lost about 37 koi fish cause of her neighbors over spray going into there yards pond and killing all I wouldn’t worry to much about carbon most likley gonna kill every thing first bombing for bugs really dosn’t do much for infestations what bugs is she trying to kill? They have very effective bug spray called pyrethrum not shure on spelling but it’s made from crisenthium flowers and is harmless to mamels don’t know about fish still would keep it out the tank but rather then bombing and sealing up every thing dishes furniture find the source and attack it and that’s a bad idea for spiders they hide in your walls and in spots where the bomb probly won’t get to you might kill a few but doubt you will stop your problem better off going around sealing all cracks and holes up and spraying a spray all around the house in every nook and crany inside and out around foundation works great for me used to work for APM an that’s what we did no bombs
My house was treated for dry wood termites which involves tenting the house for 24 hours. I wrapped all tanks in shrink wrap for boats and shrunk it tight. Before wrapping I placed several air lines reaching outside the tent. Then hooked up a large air pump outside and made sure all tanks had positive pressure (shrink wrap ballooning slightly). Did not loose one single thing. Was giant pain but worth the effort
How close, or far… does one of those foggers need to be to the tanks pat? If its not going to be right near it, getting actual “wet spray” on or within 5-10 foot (the more the better) Then IMO, and what i would do and have done in the past( not with a reef, but the same tank but freshwater that had inverts) shut everything off, all lights and pumps… less water surface turnover exposed to the air, I used a giant blue type painters tarp… $10 at the depot… just layed it over top of the whole setup… tank, stand and all. After three hours (or whatever your can says) open windows, run a fan etc… get the most fresh air you can moving through… fresh carbon, and a w/c couldnt hurt, but dont go too crazy with the carbon, and strip nutrients too fast. I think you’ll be fine, as long as you’re not going crazy with over-doing the recommended sq ft treating guidlines on the can…after lots of fresh air for an hour or two, start the tank again…
Do be careful with what’s exposed… example… when i use them in my garage… which is often, spider farm verdict_in On a workbench (The actual spot that i set off the bombs… its a garage, no newspaper under it) I will still find dead bugs on it for up to 6 months after using it. It really soaks into solid surfaces like wood, plastic, concrete… so watch out for everything to be covered… w/c can… buckets, nets, scrapers etc…
fwiw, as long as the air is “still” in the house while the fogging is going on, then the fog spray/residue usually goes up, then settles down (duh John…gravity >LOCO<) what i’m saying is… if i left a drink, and a sandwhich on the kitchen table… loosely covered with lets say… tin foil, or saran wrap… then i’d just uncover it, and dig in when the fogging was done!
good luck pat!
Well Pat… is it done? results? and what “precautionary” methods did you use…
basically, how did you make out?
I hope you didn’t do it man that would suck my wife hates spiders but we don’t have too many i would go spider hunting first, can’t be that many.
I can relate though man… if a spider gets on me, I might as well be wearing a dress, and standing on a chair screaming :SURRENDER snakes, slugs, bugs, bristleworms, rats…etc… all good… spiders … instant b#%tch
[quote=“saltcreep, post:6, topic:4640”]
Well Pat… is it done? results? and what “precautionary” methods did you use…
basically, how did you make out?[/quote]
I took a great “precaution”, and showed her this thread, and one over on reef-geeks, and no bombing took place. I got some glue traps and so far got 1 small wolf spider and 6 or 7 other ones. Glue traps ROCK YahoO GolfC PoM!!! They slap-stick the crap out of spiders.
great! no bombing is best!
Good news that kind of stuff is bad for everything our health too so great
I also found out that diatomaceous earth(DE) is a great spider killer outside, or in basements. And as a plus if you get “food grade” DE you can consume up to 2 tsp a day with no ill effects, so breathing the dust as you apply it will not hurt you. My dogs sniffed it, then licked a little and didn’t like it but they are still fine. :GEEK:
Poor dogs no animal testing.
Better DE then some nasty insecticide. :
:
Well I look at things from the compassion standpoint. Insecticides quickly poison and kill an insect with (I assume) minimal pain and suffering. DE works by slicing through their bodies and allowing them to bleed out.
Glue traps work by trapping the insect and allowing it to starve to death.
Grossest thing I ever saw was a “glue trap” on a massive scale. I worked in a restaurant that had a bag of maple syrup tear open and leak on the floor under a shelf unit. One day we found 2 mice that tried to run through the swamp of syrup and got stuck 1/2 way through.
Survival of the fittest, one mouse started to eat the other alive.
I haven’t been able to use a glue trap since that day.
Lol haven’t used a glue trap. For mice we use traps and when we get mice is when it gets colder out. When we suspect a mouse I put five traps in certain areas within 5 minutes I hear snap and we are good for the year. Spiders and glue traps good idea. I personally will catch spiders and put them outside because they eat Mosquitos I hate them and with all the rain we all know
How bad they are now
cant you just go around with a canister vacuum cleaner with a hose and suck them all up when you see them?
Maybe let the kids hunt them with the vacuum cleaner, kinda like Eddie(randy Quaid) did to baby sit the kids by letting the snakes loose in the back yard to keep them busy catching them while he went out.
Or get a pet
and let it roam around the house.
Well I look at things from the compassion standpoint. Insecticides quickly poison and kill an insect with (I assume) minimal pain and suffering. DE works by slicing through their bodies and allowing them to bleed out. Glue traps work by trapping the insect and allowing it to starve to death. Grossest thing I ever saw was a "glue trap" on a massive scale. I worked in a restaurant that had a bag of maple syrup tear open and leak on the floor under a shelf unit. One day we found 2 mice that tried to run through the swamp of syrup and got stuck 1/2 way through. Survival of the fittest, one mouse started to eat the other alive. I haven't been able to use a glue trap since that day. Posted on: 09/26/11Posted by: Pat BI completely agree with you Craig. My house seems to be a spider hangout as soon as the weather gets warm, which doesnt bother me except that I have a little kid and dont want to have her bitten. Also dont want to poison my pets and fam with sprays and fumigation. Spiders hate eucalyptus leaves so you could try to place some of these in your house, also spray lemon pledge around doors and windows and any cracks and creviceses they come in. this has worked for me so good luck!
Lavender sprigs or oil is supposed to work, and makes the place smell sweet.
http://www.ehow.com/how_6172839_use-lavendar-natural-spider-repellent.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask
and some otheer stuff
My boyfriend and I live in a heavily wooded area near blackbird forest and have issues with brown widow spiders, so we suggested a pyrethrum when the bug guy came over, and he had a synthetic version (it comes natural) in his truck. We keep a ferret, multiple reptiles (beardies, snakes, monitor) as well as our salt water reef tank. He sprays that stuff outside, and gives us sticky spider traps for the inside and it works fine. No need to bomb, it’s messy and dangerous. Hope this helps.