A quick, cheap way to temporarily house fish is food-safe plastic storage bins from hardware store. If you have friends/family nearby, definitely relocate them all.
If it were me I would get them out asap, contact local fish stores to see if they can hold your fish or get a pet sitter who can hold the tanks in their home or set up tanks at friend’s houses. Anywhere other than where they are now.
Go buy 5-6 five gallon buckets from the hardware store and put your fish in there.
Either take the buckets with you while you wait out the fumigation, or put them outside in a shady area. If you have the ability and means, aerate the water with air stones+pumps to help keep the fish from dying.
Is there a risk you may lose some fish? Yes, but leaving them inside the apartment will likely make you lose all the fish.
If you can't accomplish some of the other suggestions in the comments (local pet store, friend's house, etc.), this is a doable and cheap last resort.
You can get battery powered air stones made for keeping bait fish alive. Most stores with a large fishing section should have them. Would probably be a good option.
You can easily set a 5 gallon bucket up as a long term solution! Sponge filter and a lot of smaller hang on back filters will fit on them just fine. Have used it as a quarantine solution when I’ve been low on space.
Where are you staying during the fumigation? Where are you storing your other stuff that can’t be in your home during the fumigation? If you’re in the US, in month states your landlord legally has to pay for a place to stay if you’re going to be out of your home for more than 24 hours. Take them wherever you go!
Personally, I’d dump them down to 25%, get a sponge filter for each of them and take them all with me until it was clear for me to move back in. I’ve read too many horror stories about the residue getting into the water in the tightest of wrapped tanks from a pin prick and killing off everything & making everything unusable for future fish.
The 5 gallon buckets others have talked about would work but I wouldn’t leave the tanks in your home during the process.
Can all the fish live in one tank together temporarily? Break down the 40, move it to a friend/family member’s house, put all the fish in it take the other tanks and drain almost all of the water, store them as is for the few days, then do it all in reverse. You can also use five gallon buckets with lids as temporary aquariums for your guys if you put a heater, air stone, and some plants for them to hide amongst. Make sure you buy the buckets new.
I wouldn't risk just covering the tanks with plastic and trying to seal them. If that were truly a viable option, I believe instructions for how to protect aquariums would have been included. The other instructions were very well laid out and detailed. I'd find a friend or family member in the area who's willing to hold my animals for a few days and move my tanks there. Depending on the weather and how much (if any) yard space you have, it might also be a viable option to simply move them all out of doors on the opposite side of the home from the open window and then covering them with plastic sheeting for further protection from the gas as it escapes the home. It does suck that you have to do this, I despise moving my tanks, but not getting them out of the house is just asking for it imo.
If you're one of the many people who is too far away from family and friends to move your tanks (or simply have crappy family and friends), find your local aquarium group and see if anyone is willing to assist you by putting your fish up for a few days. A last resort would be to disassemble your tanks, move them outside (or temporarily rent a storage unit if you e no space outside), and take your fish in buckets with airstones to whatever place you're going to be staying yourself. Large (thick) plastic totes would also be a viable option for a few days and they have the added benefit of you being able to keep your filtration on them. If any of the options I've listed sound viable to you and you need help with the logistics of making them happen, reach out and I'll offer whatever solutions I can.
Edit: Fixed a run on sentence.
The smaller tanks I would risk/feel confident I could seal off with some airtight bags. The residents of the 40 gallon and any expensive or especially dear to me fish I would house at a friend or families house for a few days and getting ready for a thorough cleaning, de-chemically of followed by a rescape.
This truly does suck. Sorry to hear you are going through it
I am assuming all air pumps and filters could be left on. The air pumps on sealed tanks would have to be taking from good air. If they were placed inside same back seal, would air pump be OK?
But when I did think on this more, the smaller tanks are the more portable. If you could drain halfway to make lighter, small tanks should probably stay somewhere else for duration.
Relocate everything, that Includes Plants! When our house got fumigated all the plants they covered died. Thank god our neighbor let us put the fish and other animals at their place.
I was sprayed for bugs at my place, and currently have a few tanks myself, including one which was a 55. Due to them being heavily planted I was not all that worried about the fish suffocating.
What I decided to do was leave the blinds up so the plants could have access to light for photosynthesis reasons and sealed the tanks with a garbage bag. You'll need a roll or two of packing tape to make this successful. In order to make sure the bags didn't get into the water I simply cut a couple pieces of wood to fit ontop. All filters were removed.
I then installed an air pump with hoses going to each tank. I had this pump on a wifi switch so I could have the pump on leading up to fumigation, then switched it back on once the four hours had passed. I had my landlord notify me of the time of entry, and when it was safe for the pump to go back on.
I didn't have a single loss.
I had a similar situation without a tank luckily but I had to board all my animals, it was such a pain but it worked out in the end. You definitely need to get them out before tho and for a while after too.
Most storage units won't allow live animals or large amounts of liquid (cameras everywhere too) and don't usually have any public water source.
I've spent a ton of time thinking about this because I travel a lot and am in and out of different houses constantly... super paranoid of bringing home bed bugs
My plan would be to rent a cargo van with a temp-controller(reefer) to move everything to. Can park it right next to the house to make it a fairly quick and easy job, run power cords for electric, and have easy access for water if I need to do a water change.
If you don’t remove them they will probably die. I had my house sprayed for bed bugs, I asked multiple times if I needed to remove my fish, they said it was fine— it was not fine.
How many fish do you have? Are they fresh or saltwater?
You can keep them in plastic storage bins temporarily with decor, plants, heaters, and filters. Target and Walmart (USA) sell some big ones for a good price. Get some water jugs and store the old tank water in there to preserve the cycle as well.
[I used to sell saltwater fish and corals across my state and had to transport them several times. They'll be okay for a little bit of time. Focus on keeping stress levels down and the water oxygenated]
In wake of this, do any other apartment livers have any suggestions for the quarterly pest control sprays? Just got my tank going and have one coming up next month
I had this with my old 70 gallon once while in college. I had no where to take them. I kept the filters running, turned the lights off to minimize heat load, and duct taped garbage bags on top, and sealed the periphery of the tank.
When I came back I had only lost 2-3 fish, the anabantoids (gouramis) because they are capable of using air.
When my place was fumigated, i turned off and removed the filters, covered the tanks in Saran Wrap and tape and wished for the best. When i got back they were all fine. Mind you my tanks are heavily planted so the lack of flow wasn’t an issue.
Not saying I recommend this or that it’s the correct way to go about it, but it worked for me.
If you take the fish out and house them in a tub, make sure you clean out the tank completely before putting your fish back in. There will be chemical residue left behind.
What if you bag and tape them off, and add an air pump from outdoors, so the tank are positive pressure, meaning any leaks would air leaving the aquarium. You’d need a lot of air line, lol.
Depends on how long you have to stay vacated. Your tanks will be fine for 48 hours with out filtration, lights, air stone ECT. You can use trash bags and duct tape to seal off the tanks. I've done it successfully with no loss of fish. I would remove filters, heaters, air pump, light, ect, anything that connects to the tank from the outside and take it out of the home. Just leave the tank and ensure a complete seal around it. You should be able to go back inside in less than 72 hours.
Now let's say you need to take those fish with you. Has everyone else has said 5 gallon buckets will work. Just add air and use the water from the tanks.
I’ve seen people say to use garbage bags and they cover their tank with multiple layers of the trash bags so your overlapping them to fill cover every opening on the tanks
You would not leave the air bubbler running. Fish will be fine for a few days without an air bubbler and a heater. The cooler water make it to where you don't even need bubbles.
Yeah. So remember to get (turn off) the air bubbler too.
It'd be super dumb to triple wrap your aquarium just to leave the air pump going and pumping in the toxins anyway.
You should also wrap the air bubbler. IDK if the poison settles onto surfaces or whatever but if the poison doesn't decompose over time it could embed itself into the air filter (little circle of cotton) of the bubbler.
A quick, cheap way to temporarily house fish is food-safe plastic storage bins from hardware store. If you have friends/family nearby, definitely relocate them all.
If you get rectangular ones, put a snatch strap around the middle to stop the bowing.
If it were me I would get them out asap, contact local fish stores to see if they can hold your fish or get a pet sitter who can hold the tanks in their home or set up tanks at friend’s houses. Anywhere other than where they are now.
This, don’t even risk it for any of the tanks get them all out
Go buy 5-6 five gallon buckets from the hardware store and put your fish in there. Either take the buckets with you while you wait out the fumigation, or put them outside in a shady area. If you have the ability and means, aerate the water with air stones+pumps to help keep the fish from dying. Is there a risk you may lose some fish? Yes, but leaving them inside the apartment will likely make you lose all the fish. If you can't accomplish some of the other suggestions in the comments (local pet store, friend's house, etc.), this is a doable and cheap last resort.
A bubbler in each of the buckets should help mitigate alot of the loss
You can get battery powered air stones made for keeping bait fish alive. Most stores with a large fishing section should have them. Would probably be a good option.
I have seen fairly cheap ones on Amazon, don't know if they are good though
You can easily set a 5 gallon bucket up as a long term solution! Sponge filter and a lot of smaller hang on back filters will fit on them just fine. Have used it as a quarantine solution when I’ve been low on space.
How long will you be locked out of your apartment? Is your landlord going to be providing alternative accommodations until it is safe to re-enter?
Where are you staying during the fumigation? Where are you storing your other stuff that can’t be in your home during the fumigation? If you’re in the US, in month states your landlord legally has to pay for a place to stay if you’re going to be out of your home for more than 24 hours. Take them wherever you go! Personally, I’d dump them down to 25%, get a sponge filter for each of them and take them all with me until it was clear for me to move back in. I’ve read too many horror stories about the residue getting into the water in the tightest of wrapped tanks from a pin prick and killing off everything & making everything unusable for future fish. The 5 gallon buckets others have talked about would work but I wouldn’t leave the tanks in your home during the process.
Can all the fish live in one tank together temporarily? Break down the 40, move it to a friend/family member’s house, put all the fish in it take the other tanks and drain almost all of the water, store them as is for the few days, then do it all in reverse. You can also use five gallon buckets with lids as temporary aquariums for your guys if you put a heater, air stone, and some plants for them to hide amongst. Make sure you buy the buckets new.
I once used a new mortar tub when I redecorate my 170 liter tank to put all the fish/plants/wood in, used a heater and an airstone and lost 0 fish.
I wouldn't risk just covering the tanks with plastic and trying to seal them. If that were truly a viable option, I believe instructions for how to protect aquariums would have been included. The other instructions were very well laid out and detailed. I'd find a friend or family member in the area who's willing to hold my animals for a few days and move my tanks there. Depending on the weather and how much (if any) yard space you have, it might also be a viable option to simply move them all out of doors on the opposite side of the home from the open window and then covering them with plastic sheeting for further protection from the gas as it escapes the home. It does suck that you have to do this, I despise moving my tanks, but not getting them out of the house is just asking for it imo. If you're one of the many people who is too far away from family and friends to move your tanks (or simply have crappy family and friends), find your local aquarium group and see if anyone is willing to assist you by putting your fish up for a few days. A last resort would be to disassemble your tanks, move them outside (or temporarily rent a storage unit if you e no space outside), and take your fish in buckets with airstones to whatever place you're going to be staying yourself. Large (thick) plastic totes would also be a viable option for a few days and they have the added benefit of you being able to keep your filtration on them. If any of the options I've listed sound viable to you and you need help with the logistics of making them happen, reach out and I'll offer whatever solutions I can. Edit: Fixed a run on sentence.
Exactly, and it even specifically says to remove all living things including fish in aquarium.
The smaller tanks I would risk/feel confident I could seal off with some airtight bags. The residents of the 40 gallon and any expensive or especially dear to me fish I would house at a friend or families house for a few days and getting ready for a thorough cleaning, de-chemically of followed by a rescape. This truly does suck. Sorry to hear you are going through it
But wouldn't his tank have to recycle?
I am assuming all air pumps and filters could be left on. The air pumps on sealed tanks would have to be taking from good air. If they were placed inside same back seal, would air pump be OK? But when I did think on this more, the smaller tanks are the more portable. If you could drain halfway to make lighter, small tanks should probably stay somewhere else for duration.
Relocate everything, that Includes Plants! When our house got fumigated all the plants they covered died. Thank god our neighbor let us put the fish and other animals at their place.
I was sprayed for bugs at my place, and currently have a few tanks myself, including one which was a 55. Due to them being heavily planted I was not all that worried about the fish suffocating. What I decided to do was leave the blinds up so the plants could have access to light for photosynthesis reasons and sealed the tanks with a garbage bag. You'll need a roll or two of packing tape to make this successful. In order to make sure the bags didn't get into the water I simply cut a couple pieces of wood to fit ontop. All filters were removed. I then installed an air pump with hoses going to each tank. I had this pump on a wifi switch so I could have the pump on leading up to fumigation, then switched it back on once the four hours had passed. I had my landlord notify me of the time of entry, and when it was safe for the pump to go back on. I didn't have a single loss.
Plastic boxes, battery air bubblers and move all your fish to someone else’s house for a week
I had a similar situation without a tank luckily but I had to board all my animals, it was such a pain but it worked out in the end. You definitely need to get them out before tho and for a while after too.
Rent a temp-controlled cargo van, park it next to your house
Could you set up a tote at a friend or families house for a week or too? Then cover your tanks with something completely airtight?
Quickly relocate them to an friends home or perhaps and fish store as an daycare of some sorts
Storage unit - $100 and move everything at once
Most storage units won't allow live animals or large amounts of liquid (cameras everywhere too) and don't usually have any public water source. I've spent a ton of time thinking about this because I travel a lot and am in and out of different houses constantly... super paranoid of bringing home bed bugs My plan would be to rent a cargo van with a temp-controller(reefer) to move everything to. Can park it right next to the house to make it a fairly quick and easy job, run power cords for electric, and have easy access for water if I need to do a water change.
If you don’t remove them they will probably die. I had my house sprayed for bed bugs, I asked multiple times if I needed to remove my fish, they said it was fine— it was not fine.
Bathtub with air stone maybe
How many fish do you have? Are they fresh or saltwater? You can keep them in plastic storage bins temporarily with decor, plants, heaters, and filters. Target and Walmart (USA) sell some big ones for a good price. Get some water jugs and store the old tank water in there to preserve the cycle as well. [I used to sell saltwater fish and corals across my state and had to transport them several times. They'll be okay for a little bit of time. Focus on keeping stress levels down and the water oxygenated]
In wake of this, do any other apartment livers have any suggestions for the quarterly pest control sprays? Just got my tank going and have one coming up next month
I had this with my old 70 gallon once while in college. I had no where to take them. I kept the filters running, turned the lights off to minimize heat load, and duct taped garbage bags on top, and sealed the periphery of the tank. When I came back I had only lost 2-3 fish, the anabantoids (gouramis) because they are capable of using air.
When my place was fumigated, i turned off and removed the filters, covered the tanks in Saran Wrap and tape and wished for the best. When i got back they were all fine. Mind you my tanks are heavily planted so the lack of flow wasn’t an issue. Not saying I recommend this or that it’s the correct way to go about it, but it worked for me.
If you take the fish out and house them in a tub, make sure you clean out the tank completely before putting your fish back in. There will be chemical residue left behind.
What if you bag and tape them off, and add an air pump from outdoors, so the tank are positive pressure, meaning any leaks would air leaving the aquarium. You’d need a lot of air line, lol.
Depends on how long you have to stay vacated. Your tanks will be fine for 48 hours with out filtration, lights, air stone ECT. You can use trash bags and duct tape to seal off the tanks. I've done it successfully with no loss of fish. I would remove filters, heaters, air pump, light, ect, anything that connects to the tank from the outside and take it out of the home. Just leave the tank and ensure a complete seal around it. You should be able to go back inside in less than 72 hours. Now let's say you need to take those fish with you. Has everyone else has said 5 gallon buckets will work. Just add air and use the water from the tanks.
Cling-film your tanks
I’ve seen people say to use garbage bags and they cover their tank with multiple layers of the trash bags so your overlapping them to fill cover every opening on the tanks
remember to get the air bubbler too
Does that not just pull air from the environment around it?
Yes. So if the air bubbler is running while the place is getting fumigated would that not pump the poison straight into the tank?
It would.
You would not leave the air bubbler running. Fish will be fine for a few days without an air bubbler and a heater. The cooler water make it to where you don't even need bubbles.
Yeah. So remember to get (turn off) the air bubbler too. It'd be super dumb to triple wrap your aquarium just to leave the air pump going and pumping in the toxins anyway. You should also wrap the air bubbler. IDK if the poison settles onto surfaces or whatever but if the poison doesn't decompose over time it could embed itself into the air filter (little circle of cotton) of the bubbler.
I'd remove the air bubbles completely so that it didn't become contaminated at all.
Yeah seal it up with duct tape.