fogging my fish?

Question
hey i need to fog my house to rid of fleas. Will this affect  my tank of barbs, a bala, rainbow shark, and pleco?

Answer
Hi Jana;

It can be done safely with some heavy plastic trash bags or clear weatherproofing type plastic and duct tape. I wouldn't trust something like saran wrap or other food wrap because it's awfully thin. Try to get something that will cover the whole top down to a couple of inches below the top edge of the tank in one or two pieces, or just below your power filter if you have one that hangs on the tank. You want to lower the risk of contamination by having as few seams as possible.

Right before you are ready to fog turn off and unplug lights , filters and especially air pumps if you have them. Unplug the heater and lights too, as well as anything else that extends from the top of the tank. Coil up all the electrical cords and hoses and tape them to the top of the tank so they are up out of the way of your taping and plastic covering. The idea is to create a clutter free area around the whole top edge of the frame of the tank.

Working quickly, get your taped-together plastic sheets or garbage bags and lay the fully assembled piece on top of the tank. Tape every edge firmly and cleanly to the glass of the tank (below the filter if you have an outside one). Tape all the edges of all corner flaps so you see no folded edges, flaps or corners. You don't want the pesticide to enter any of the flaps where it could work it's way inside the plastic. Use whatever amount of tape you need to get the job done. Better safe than sorry.

If your filter is a canister that is hooked to the tank with hoses, remove it and unhook it from the top of the tank and take it out of the house with you. Take your fish food containers, nets, air pumps, water conditioners, etc, or anything else not protected with you too. There may be residue that could hurt your fish that would not hurt people or pets.

Once the fogging is over with, gently and carefully remove the plastic and get everything back running again. The fish can be unhooked from filtration and heater for 2 to 4 hours as long as the tank is nor overcrowded and they have all been healthy. Being in the dark will slow them down so they use less oxygen.

Hope your home is flea-free very soon! I've been through that flea infestation thing myself and it certainly isn't fun. That's the price we pay for loving our four-legged friends I guess. ;-)

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins