elmo Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Hey guys, I have a small flea problem in the downstairs of my house (the bloody dog must have brought them in). Now, i have never had fleas before in the house and I actually havent seen these guys but I keep getting bitten so I think that must be it! Anyway, I was going to set a couple of flea bombs off tomorrow and leave the house for the day, however, what do I do about the fish tank??? I cant move a 180litre tank!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Unless you can absolutely garantee that none of the spray/residue will get into the tank then don't do it. There's a reason they say for people not to be in the house for the day when it's been set off and if humans can't handle a large dose of the spray imagine what it'll do to the fish in the water who don't get exposed to poisons like we do every day. I guess a sealed plastic wrap with absolutely no holes in it would do the trick though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Cover it well (Gladwrap perhaps?) so it has no gaps. What sort of filter has it got? It needs to vent outside. Either remove the filter (keep it wet somewhere) or make sure it is outside so it isn't sucking in the bomb stuff. Never bombed with a tank in the house so can't guarantee it is safe to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 what flea treatment do you use with your doga all year round? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisP Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Hey guys, I have a small flea problem in the downstairs of my house (the bloody dog must have brought them in). Now, i have never had fleas before in the house and I actually havent seen these guys but I keep getting bitten so I think that must be it! Anyway, I was going to set a couple of flea bombs off tomorrow and leave the house for the day, however, what do I do about the fish tank??? I cant move a 180litre tank!! Is it mosquito season yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeyedfrog Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 I did the whole house last week after putting it off for ages coz I was worried about the tanks. I have read that some people just covered their tanks with sheets/blankets and turned off the air pumps and everything was fine. Me being paranoid wrapped the top of each tank with gladwrap then covered with a blanket. Took awhile with 10 tanks + frog tank. I turned off all the power. The bigger tanks have canister filters and the 4 smaller ones air filters. some have glass lids and some have wooden lids. I wrapped gladwrap all over the top and halfway down the tank! Sellotaped heater wires etc to the glass on the outside so that they didn't pull the gladwrap away from the side of the tank. Left the house for 2 hours then let it air for at least an hour before turning on the power but not the air filters. I left it a couple of hours before unwrapping and turning on air to tanks. I took the frogs out of their tank before wrapping it and put them out in the shed. All was fine- though I forgot to turn some heaters back on- luckily noticed in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmo Posted September 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Ok guys, thanks for all of the replies. The dog is treated by the vet twice yearly but remember, i only moved over from ireland where this was sufficient (the weather doesnt really allow for an infestation). Since moving here we have treated him once with advance. He is clear, but i just thought maybe he brought them in? I dont know..... Anyway, what I was going to do was lift the lid off, turn off all filters and cover it in glad wrap (put the lid over the glad wrap for extra protection) and not re open it until late in the evening (leaving a solid 6/7 hours)..... I think it's a risk i have to take unfortunately which is a pain in the ass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Yep, sounds like it's been done and done safely that way so go for it. Good luck! Fleas here are a real problem especially if the dog is a digger or spend a lot of time on the grass/dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Once every 6 weeks is how often you need to treat dogs and cats on average. You can flea bomb as you wish, but it is recommended to flea bomb the entire house / carpeted areas because there is almost no chance that you will have contained the fleas in one area of the house. Spraying / defleaing the bedding is also important. Pop a flea collar in your vacuum cleaner bag / cannister. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmo Posted September 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 Right guys thanks for all the help! Ill do the house tonight and move out for the evening! Ill get the dog treated properly tomorrow and I will stick a flea collar in the vacuum! Sorted! Ill let you know how i get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 can you get natural flee bombs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zayne Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 also i would think after you have done the flee bomb do a big water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted September 21, 2010 Report Share Posted September 21, 2010 can you get natural flee bombs? Would not make a difference. A poison is a poison irrespective of biological source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird73 Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 If you are fairly new to the house you may very likely have inherited the problem from the previous owner - like we did... :roll: Good thread, was planning to do this very soon to preempt problems this summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Would not make a difference. A poison is a poison irrespective of biological source. Chances are that flea bombs only kill LIVE fleas, more will hatch later from eggs. Check first. Your best option is to treat your dog (advantage or similar), vacuum the house repeatedly and thoroughly (get a carpet cleaner?) and just deal with it for six weeks while the last eggs hatch and die. I have gladwrapped tanks before for house bombing, it works, but it a hell of a lot of effort and you tend to feel a bit icky about all your surfaces being coated in poison after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh_S Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 I know someone who lost a tank of goldfish after bombing (or fly spray, i cant really remember). But they hadn't taken any measures to protect them. This is how i inherited my 60L hex tank (don't worry i gave it a very good clean before throwing in fish) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeyedfrog Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 The flea bombs I used were supposed to stop eggs hatching and kill fleas and lavae. Time will tell. It did work several years ago when I bombed- before we had fish. We have battled fleas long and hard this yr. We have spent a fortune at the vets on treatments for the cats and dogs. But within a couple of weeks the fleas were back. Vacuumed the life out of our vacuum Our old fossil dog suffers now with flea allergy so this was a last ditch effort for us. I hate using the bombs ( what must the chemicals be doing to us) but I reckon I must be slowly poisoning the animals with all the treatments too. I have got rid of fleas that were in just one room a few yrs ago with repeated vaccuming but I think there are just too many places for them to hide thru the whole house . I spoke to someone the other day who lost a large tank of fish by using fly spray near the uncovered tank. I am ashamed to admit that I have been beaten by a mere flea! :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Are you ABSOLUTELY sure it is fleas? You have seen fleas during each outbreak - actually caught and identified them? It sounds highly unlikely that fleas would be in one room only, and the topical treatments reliably last longer than that. With the topical treatments fleas are easy to control. Unless other animals are entering your house? Unless you are seeing lots of actual fleas, I am wondering if there is something else going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneeyedfrog Posted September 22, 2010 Report Share Posted September 22, 2010 Yep def fleas- check the animals with a flea comb and within a couple of weeks they have them again. The treatments used to last a long time years ago but not so in the last few years- for us anyway. I guess no matter how much you vacuum if some eggs get missed down the back of the couch or between the floorboards - the buggers will come back. They are probably outside too. New super fleas resistant to the poisons. :evil: Advantage works longer than the frontline for us but still not for long. I had a sick cat ( who usually lived outside) confined in the one room. And a while after I let her out when you walked into that room fleas jumped on you from all the eggs she must have dropped the first day before I treated her for fleas. So I vacuumed it every day sometimes twice a day then steam mopped - for a couple of weeks till no more jumped out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird73 Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 interesting to hear this - did you catch fleas on a frontlined dog? Did you keep them to see if they died later? As finding fleas on a frontlined animal doesn't necessarily mean its not working, it could just be that your animals are continually being reinfested from somewhere. There is a time delay between a flea jumping onto the animal & being exposed to frontline and then actually dying. Can't remember how long, but think it is around 8-12hrs. Would be very interested to know if they were still alive a couple days after you collected them. I have kids that are very sensitive to flea bites, and I use frontline plus on our animals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 ok I believe you now! :lol: and ick, what an annoyance! Ok, if you believe some sort of resistance is happening you should rotate your treatments. Not just brand name, check the active ingredients and use different things over time. The thing is the 'wild type' is usually more robust than resistant ones, so stopping using the chemical they are resistant to can result in a reversion back to wild type. Just depends on if the resistant allele has got fixed in the population (ie all individuals have it) Of course with fleas while the principle ought to be the same, there may be other factors, especially the contact your animals have with others. (They do this with HIV patients. The virus within *one person* evolves so rapidly that they quickly develop multi-drug resistant strains within their body. When that happens they stop treating and the virus slowly reverts to wild type, then they can blast it with the original drugs again!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted September 23, 2010 Report Share Posted September 23, 2010 make sure you really seal the tanks well. Amy and I thought we had, and out of 8 tanks, poison got into 2. Lost about $1000 retail of fish, and of course it was all my favorites :evil: Even though it can be done next time i'll be catching all the fish first and moving them else where while bombing the house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fenriswolf Posted September 24, 2010 Report Share Posted September 24, 2010 Note: to be really clear on fleas, if you're using Frontline, Advantage or Revolution, the treatment is active for 3-4 weeks on the animal, if applied correctly. Frontline does say 6 weeks, but has only been proven up to 4 weeks. This does not mean you have to deflea every 4 weeks, just that that's how long it lasts. Frontline is good because it is more water-resistant than Advantage (don't know about Revolution). Do not wash your pet for 2 days before or after treatment, because that strips the oils from the coat and prevents it getting into the follicle where it sits during it's active period. Usually it's a good idea to flea bomb a house before you move in to kill any dormant fleas in the carpet, but usually once you've done it once you don't need to do it unless you have a *serious* infestation. You can also buy sprays to do couches/carpet that do not coat everything. During winter a lot of the time you can get away with less-regular treatments, but it is animal-specific. I have 3 dogs and 6 cats, and they only get deflead every 3 months with their dewormer, and I've never had fleas in the house. We're just lucky, basically. /novel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunbird73 Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 ok, reviving this thread sorry... We are about to do a pre-emptive flea bomb of the house, animals have been frontlined but our kids are a bit allergic to fleas and we want to make sure we stay clean this year... Have got tanks in the garage that I am moving fish to tonight. So they will be out of the house. I can't be bothered moving the canister filter as well (unless absolutely necessary) - will that survive 24hrs turned off without killing all the bacterial goodness? My question is - how long would the fish need to be out of the house before its safe to bring them back inside? I was thinking 24hrs should be plenty long enough... ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted November 23, 2010 Report Share Posted November 23, 2010 Find out how long the poison is active for (2 days/week). Use that time + a few days. from what I said happened to me before, some one said to me the poison most likely got into my tank/s by a dying bug that tainted the water. Could be wrong, but just my opinion from what I've learn't / been told by others. Hope this helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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