ACK!!!!!! termites
 

Looking for some advice as we are having the house tented for termites on Monday. We will not be able to return until Wed afternoon.

I looked around and found that people have had good luck shrink wrapping their tank once ALL EQUIPMENT is removed( filters,heaters, powerheads, CO2 etc.

I had eight tanks set up. I had to break down my vertical rack with four 40 gal tanks as the rack construction does not allow for a complete seal.
I'll sell these some time in the future.
That leaves me with a 75 gal, a 55, a 40 breeder and a 29 gal tank. All tanks have Eheim canister filters.

I do not know what's best as far as what to do once the filter is removed. Do I clean them after removal?
What if I just un hooked them and did not clean?
Pretty sure that would be a disaster.

Should I try to keep them all running in one trash can or is that a bad idea....


I need some Help - please
Thx

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Anyone?


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HMMM

as far as water movement,, i have built a carbon filter for air pump before that way u can keep water moving for ur fishies

i 1 inch diameter pvc pipe about 10 inches long filled with activated carbon will help absorb the chemicals. run the air line in one side and out the other, the tighter packed the better as the air has to seep past the carbon.

this way u can seal the tanks and keep fish alive

as for filters, stick em outside with some slightly ammoniated water in a garbage can and leave them running.. keep temps around 40-50 degrees and bacteria will keep on chuggin

Thanks for your reply Blazing wolf



The Termite company will not allow an air pump.
I have shrink wrap from Home Depot and some of the special bags they give you for food, meds etc

Snipped

as for filters, stick em outside with some slightly ammoniated water in a garbage can and leave them running.. keep temps around 40-50 degrees and bacteria will keep on chuggin[/QUOTE]


Ammoniated water .... Ummm can you say more so I might be able to understand the thought process.

If I do this I expect that I will clean each filter before hand with tank water. When I have all four filters clean can I use fresh water that has been declorinated.
Or must I use old tank water.

I cannot carry any weight as I recently popped a disc in my neck (C6-C7) But I probably can siphon water from second floor to rear yard.

What do you think.
I really appreciate your response



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old tank water would be perfect
and u could easily just drop some flakes of food into that water, it will give the bacteria in all ur cannisters all they need over the next few days


and if they say no air pumps with carbon filters. then they need to gaurantee ur livestock inthe event they die frm oxygen loss

In the garbage cans I would use a handful or two of a slower dissolving pellet food, perhaps shrimp pellets or a carnivore wafer to last a few days. If you can dose daily you could use ammonia that is sold for cleaning. No perfumes, no surfactant, just pure ammonia. Add enough to test 5 ppm the first day, then test and add enough to test 3 ppm after that.
Running all the filters is optional. You could dump all the media from all the filters in the garbage can and just run one pump or power head. The bacteria need good circulation, high oxygen levels and good ammonia levels.

I would clean the tanks and filters before. Yes, used tank water is perfect for cleaning the filters, and for filling the garbage can.

I would not feed the fish.

Really appreciate the responses. Not being one to move forward without a plan, I decided to check out the shrink wrap. The wrap is only 20 inches wide and it did not do what I had hoped....

Plan B
I already started cleaning filters and since I only use lava rock I can put all of it in a 10 gallon tank with a korallia. Do I understand correctly to also use an air stone? I will not have access during the tenting so I can add some shrimp food as well as fish flake food to the 10 gallon tank

I am going to use bags provided and use them to wrap up or seal the top. My larger tanks are acrylic, the others glass. I went to the local hardware store and got double sided tape along with the blue 3 m masking tape. I am going to lay down some blue tape first about 3 to 4 inches from the top of the tank. I will apply the double stick on to the blue tape. I have
Cut up the bags cutting out the bottom and cut it so its now a sheet. I will with my wife's help adhere the plastic to the rear of the tank first followed by the front and then both sides....like a Christmas present in reverse. Then I will put blue tape over the edges.
I will start the wrapping process tomorrow and seal the front early Monday morning.

All in all I have about 3o different plants. As a precaution I set up a little tank at work about six weeks ago. I managed to get 15 different plants in that thing...lol

I will be glad when this is over





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Any last minute advice



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Good luck!

All ready.....figured a pic or two may help someone in the future.
Vikane gas tomorrow morning -
I wrapped each tank twice, using the special bags provided. I have five tanks and broke down a vertical setup for emersed plants. I picked up 3m tape and double sided tape, about fifty bucks worth.
On my larger tanks I left one hole open for an air stone that will be removed in the AM as well as a heater. I did 50 % water changes three days ago and then agin today. I added no fertilizers.
Here are some pictures

Attachment 62793
Attachment 62801
Attachment 62809

I will post the outcome on Wednesday or Thursday this week.

Fingers XXX

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I hope this works out for you.

Thanks for good luck posts. Pretty weird in my living room this AM. I have had tanks in this house for at least 15 years and its dark in here.....lol
My lights usually come on for about 40 minutes before I jump in the shower. Feels weird not knowing if thIs is going to work or not .......

I am going to be busy Wednesday night......either cleaning or re installing everything. All in all it took up the weekend between getting stuff out, cleaning some of it( filter pipes still need a cleaning) packing it up and then getting it out of the house. I had to take all my rocks, DW, gravel blah blah blah and put outside. Actually it took longer than the weekend because I started this little chore two weeks ago

I hope I never have to do this again.......


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It looks like you've done everything you can possibly do short of removing the tanks from the house, which I know isn't feasible.

the best thing u did was the water changes. reducing organics reduces the biological oxygen demand for the tank which will help the fauna survive the next few days

Wow, that's scary. My fingers are crossed for you.

I think I would have put in some H2O2, as used for a whole tank algae treatment, just prior to sealing. It releases a lot of oxygen as it reacts. I've used it along with heavy aeration to more quickly reverse the effects of CO2 overdose. Not sure if it's necessary or even effective here though.