# MOTHBALLS



## Antipofish (10 Jul 2012)

Hi all,

We need to eradicate and guard against little house moths unfortunately and I am a little concerned because in the back of my mind I have it that mothballs can cause problems with fishtanks.

Is this only if you have an air pump running, or would the mothballs be likely to affect the tank regardless ?  My tank is covered with a lid most of the time (with the usual 4cm square holes at the back to allow pipework etc). I do sometimes have the flaps up with a house fan running to help with temperature during the hottest days (thats a laugh!).

The ones I have are lavender scented and are meant to be left within their wrappers when strategically placed under the bed and in the wardrobe.

Anyone who knows about this, I would be very grateful.

Cheers
Chris


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## Antipofish (10 Jul 2012)

So no one knows anything about safety of using mothballs ?


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## ian_m (11 Jul 2012)

You should be able to go to the manufacturers web site and find a MSDS (material safety data sheet) for the product, that will list its toxicological & ecological information which often includes effects on aquatic life.

I don't know of any household chemicals (other than maybe flyspray and antspray) that can cause fish problems during normal use.


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## Antipofish (11 Jul 2012)

Thanks Ian.  I am a little surpised that the question has not been raised about this stuff before, or that so few people seem to know about it, as mothballs do give off something that goes into the air.  However I am going to just run with it.  The tank does not have an airpump and is covered.  I will see if I can find out the information the way you suggested too.  Thanks for your reply.


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## ian_m (11 Jul 2012)

I had a quick look at MSDS for napthalene and 1,4-dichlorobenzene (see Wikipedia article on mothballs) and nothing major aquatic is mentioned. Do remember these data sheets sound scary....the LD50 is the amount per kilo of subject that kills 50% of the population, which for say a 100KG man may be 50gr ie 1/2 a packet which is actually quite a lot.

Both I notice are relatively insoluble in water so unless you were adding mothballs directly to tank water I suspect no problem.

As I kid, I used to melt mothballs (napthalene) in test tubes, using a bunsen burner in the garage and you would get the most wonderfull crystals condensing on tube as napthalene sublimes rather than melts. Don't remember the flammability risk, but I can't believe I didn't melt them without any fire incidents. Still here 30 odd years later, so can't be that dangerous.


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## Antipofish (11 Jul 2012)

Cheers Ian.  I may have to drag ou my old chemistry set from the loft !  haha.


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## dw1305 (12 Jul 2012)

Hi all,
I've found out that naphthalene is already banned, and that 1,4-dichlorobenzene will soon be banned in the EU as well, as it is also a carcinogen. <http://echa.europa.eu/web/guest/vie...NCE_0Jp4/ea44ab48-5093-412e-8bf1-207da256b3d6>. The fact that your moth-balls don't smell of "moth balls", but of Lavender, makes me think they will be harmless to the fish.

If you've got "Case-bearing Carpet Moth" (_Tinea pellionella_), they are really difficult to control. We had them for several years in one room and only managed to get rid of them by a regime of intensive carpet cleaning and a de-humidifier on 24/7. Ours is a warm and dry house, if you live some-where damper I imagine they could be almost ineradicable. 

They don't like carpets with more than about 20% nylon, but if you have 100% wool they love it.

cheers Darrel


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## Antipofish (12 Jul 2012)

Thanks Darrell.  I imagine that is the little b4stard we are talking about.  Since sucking up around the carpet and placing the mothballs things seem to have improved.  Our house is centrally heated and always warm and dry so I don't imagine dampness is an issue, even with the fishtank in my room as it is well ventilated at all times.  Thanks for the information though.  Sounds like there are some nasty chemicals out there !


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## Aqua sobriquet (15 Jul 2012)

We had a patch of our 100% wool carpet eaten by them many years ago. It was a new house with a concrete floor and always warm and dry. Removing the source (an old wooden box) and constant cleaning seemed to get rid of them but nasty damage done to the carpet.


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## Antipofish (15 Jul 2012)

Aqua sobriquet said:
			
		

> We had a patch of our 100% wool carpet eaten by them many years ago. It was a new house with a concrete floor and always warm and dry. Removing the source (an old wooden box) and constant cleaning seemed to get rid of them but nasty damage done to the carpet.



Tell me about it, AND the annoyance of the little things flickering around !!!  These mothballs seem to be doing the trick and no ill affects noticed on the tank thank heavens.


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