gunnstack Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Hi just a short question- I hope. At present we have a terrible fly problem at Foxton Beach. Open the door for 2 minutes and the ceiling is black with flys. A friend has offered us one of those Pyrethrum spray gismo's which you can programme. The question is will a constant spray of Pyrethrum afffect the fish-bearing in mind that all the tanks are covered. And will the pyrethrum if it does get into the tanks affect the fish-or plants. Regards Gordon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Buy a Venus Fly trap, mine catches all sorts of bugs in my garage where all my tanks are, they let off a sweet sent that insect like and are atracted to. humans cannot smell it and i doubt it affects fish in any way. A venus fly trap would grow like mad in the conditions you discribe. Shae 250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Hi Gunnstack, Pyrethrum breaks down in uv rays while it's airborne, the prblem is, if you have a a portion of the tank that is not covered the pyrethrum will sit on top of the water and will not break down therefore the more sprayed the higher the concentraton of pyrethrum sitting on top of your tank water. Depending on the spray you are using also will depend on how much pyrethrum will gather. There are ones out there like enviromist which have a larger droplet spay that is propelled into the airflow of your house and then again you have Robocan which has quite a fine mist sprayed out.So in short if your tank is sealed well on the top and the spray can't get in then no, but if it can I would cover the top well or rethink your plan. Hope This Helps B (Disclaimer The information in this post is not in conjunction with any companies named above and is only the information passed on to one who sells it from a non-affliated retail outlet.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 or you could just get a really cool cheap plant called a VENUS FLY TRAP!!! HINT HINT!!!! Shae 250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucid Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 trouble is shae with the amount of flies that gunnstack describes the plant you buy from a pet store won't be anywhere big enough to cope with it. not enough leaves to eat that amount of flies. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livebearer_breeder Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 so?......just buy 10, then you've got some really cool plants!! and a safe way of killing flys, and i bought mine from a garden store. Shae 250 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted December 16, 2004 Report Share Posted December 16, 2004 Most fly sprays use pyrethrum. I spray for flies at the opposite end of the room to my tank and don't have any problems but my tank is well covered too. If you have external pumps (like you attach to box and ugf's) they can suck the stuff in through their vents underneath. Can you get one of the auto things for a trial? Make sure it is as far away from the tank as possible. For the amount of flies he has Shae I don't think a room with venus fly traps on every surface could keep up with the numbers! :lol: They are a cool plant though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnstack Posted December 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Hi all-thanks for your info. By chance I was talking to a guy at Mitre 10 in Foxton about the problem who just happens to keep tropical fish (as well as build tanks etc.) He uses a pyrethrum spray to cope with the flies and has no problem with the fish (covered tank). Well by another coincidence a friend who has just moved to Levin has one of those expensive spray gizmo's that can be programmed a dozen different ways (about $170-unused) and has offered it to me for free!! There is a Santa Claus after all :lol: Regards Gordon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 I'm amazed people have that much of a problem with flies. We've had a grand total of about 3 flies in our house in the last year...Give or take 4 flies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aftaburn Posted February 8, 2005 Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 I once heard that Pyrethrum can be deadly to fish at a concentration of parts per billion. I wont allow it in my house. Cactus's also work well for flies if you've enough along the window sill, mine spear them regularly. What about a bug zapper?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnstack Posted February 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 Pyrethrum sprays are not deadly to fish unless you have your tanks uncovered, even then the spray would need to be at massive concentrations to cause a problem. At very high levels of concentration the spray will cause an oily film to occur on the uncovered water surface-hence oxygen starvation and poisoning will occur. Being oily the Pyrethrum will not sink but will remain on the surface. I have used an automatic pyrethrum spray for 3 months now to control the fly problem-the only deaths I have had were two Green Barbs who fought themselves to a standstill!! So long as the tank is covered and the spray directed away from the tank(s) there wil be no problem. We live in a rural situation and get the odd flush of flies. They come in, take one whiff and are gone again. Those that choose to stay we either Zap with fly spray or we find dead in the morning anyway from the effects of the Pyrethrum. I have yet to see any fish die as a direct result of the sprays. But with all sprays you have to use common sense and caution- never spray directly towards the tank and if you have to use sprays as we do use then with caution. Regards Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted February 10, 2005 Report Share Posted February 10, 2005 I spray all the surfaces where flies like to land in my house (like the roof, light fittings etc) with ripcord mixed with water using an old stray and wipe bottle, only do it a couple of times a year, and the flies they drop like.... well dead flies I fact I haven't even done it this year and havn't seen any live flies just a few bodies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 What is ripcord? Where do you get it? And does it work on spiders too? Cheers Jude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnstack Posted February 11, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 Ripcord is a water based chemical commonly used by commercial applicators to control many types of insects including flies, spiders etc. but available over the counter to the general public. We use it outside under the eaves, round the windows, any place where you are likely to get spiders or other crawling insects. We also use it on the calves when the Ausie biting fly appears!! You will find it at any Rural Supply (RD1, Farmlands etc.) outlets as well as hardware stores. It works well inside also but is very toxic to fish but can be used on indoor shrubs & plants. Also extremely good for controlling mites in the chook house and on the chooks. If you want to use it inside cover the tank with plastic sheeting for a few hours after application and leave the doors open. You would also be well advised to use a mask and goggles as the commercial applicators do because of the irritation it will cause to eyes and throat in a confined area. If your asthmatic you may have problems. Being water based it will be washed off on surfaces exposed to the rain. By the way if you are a smoker or have a discoloured ceiling from a gas or open fire the water and chemical wil tend to "pool" the discoloured areas causing little brown blobs-I know from experience so prefer to use Pyrethrum spray and fly sprays. Hope this of help. Regards Gordon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.