Marine Tank Cabinet

[Cherlolo]

Hi Everyone,

Its something I think it's very important to share.

I setup my tank little over a year ago. Bought it brand new, tank and cabinet. Yesterday, I notice some saw dust like particles around the sump area and tiny pin holes in the center support wood piece. At first I thought it's dust and I vaccumed it away. This morning I saw it again. Immediatly Termites flashed into my mind. I did some research and realized it's not termites but another type of wood boring insect.

POWDER POST BEETLES (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powderpost_beetle)

In general, wood boring pest degerates the wood structure..Now I cannot stress enough of the danger here. My tank is 4ft x 2ft x 2.5ft. Fill it with water, live rocks etc...it's going to weight a ton. I cannot imagine the horror of my tank literally crashing onto the floor when the cabinet gives way.

Because of the pest's life cycle, it is very hard to tell immediately if your cabninet is infested. It took mine over a year to emerge. It never occurs to me that the cabinet is something to take notice of, because we seems to concentrate all our attention in the tank itself. Do yourself a favour, when getting that cabinet, make sure your tank maker/ carpenter uses chemically treated wood, HIGHLIGHT THIS SHIT TO THEM! MAKE THEM AWARE OF IT. If not you will end up like me. I'll be contacting pest control tomorrow to inquire some options.

Will update here when I get some solutions.

[surreal1228]

Hi Everyone,

Its something I think it's very important to share.

I setup my tank little over a year ago. Bought it brand new, tank and cabinet. Yesterday, I notice some saw dust like particles around the sump area and tiny pin holes in the center support wood piece. At first I thought it's dust and I vaccumed it away. This morning I saw it again. Immediatly Termites flashed into my mind. I did some research and realized it's not termites but another type of wood boring insect.

POWDER POST BEETLES (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powderpost_beetle)

In general, wood boring pest degerates the wood structure..Now I cannot stress enough of the danger here. My tank is 4ft x 2ft x 2.5ft. Fill it with water, live rocks etc...it's going to weight a ton. I cannot imagine the horror of my tank literally crashing onto the floor when the cabinet gives way.

Because of the pest's life cycle, it is very hard to tell immediately if your cabninet is infested. It took mine over a year to emerge. It never occurs to me that the cabinet is something to take notice of, because we seems to concentrate all our attention in the tank itself. Do yourself a favour, when getting that cabinet, make sure your tank maker/ carpenter uses chemically treated wood, HIGHLIGHT THIS SHIT TO THEM! MAKE THEM AWARE OF IT. If not you will end up like me. I'll be contacting pest control tomorrow to inquire some options.

Will update here when I get some solutions.

Great sharing bro. U need Bayer!

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

[Cherlolo]

Great sharing bro. U need Bayer!

Sent from my GT-N7105 using Tapatalk

They have a product for powderpost beetle?

[RayL]

It happened to my bathroom door before. I think due to constant moist. Homefix sells those bottles of solution. Quite effective. Quickly buy and spray the affected areas

[Cherlolo]

It happened to my bathroom door before. I think due to constant moist. Homefix sells those bottles of solution. Quite effective. Quickly buy and spray the affected areas

Do you have the name for the solution?

[RayL]

http://www.1stepdiy.com/universal/1step-universal-insect-granules.html

Something similar to this. Cost me $1X

[Cherlolo]

http://www.1stepdiy.com/universal/1step-universal-insect-granules.html

Something similar to this. Cost me $1X

Thx for the info.

[Shadow Walker]

Thanks for sharing

[Cherlolo]

An update on this.

Happy to share that a solution has been found. Thanks to RayL suggestions, I went to Homefix and got this pesticide that can deal with wood boring pests. It cost under $30.00, kinda on the high side, but when you have terror coming, S$30.00 is a steal.

What you need;

01 x Savilo woodworm ELIMINATOR!!

01 x Stringe

01 x Plastic disposable container (I use desert size)

01 x Paint brush

Newspaper

Cloth

I did the following;

1) Add 1ml of the solution with a stringe (throw after use) into disposable food containers and add tap water to half mark.

2) Gently stir with paint brush. You will get a white solution that looks like Dettol.

3) Lay newspapers at the bottom of the area where you will "Paint" the solution onto the affected wood.

4) "Paint" several coats of the solution onto the wood surface. Dab onto those little holes to try to get that soultion into them. When I'm applying the soultion, the wood is almost "soaked" with it. The purpose is to have the wood absorb as much soultion as it can. This will not only kill the lava, but will prevent future attacks.

5) Clean up woth cloth when you are done.

6) You can apply another coat after the wood dries up to further treat it.

Took me about 30mins to complete the job. The wood actually drys up about 45mins later. Next day I checked, it's as clean as I left it the day before. No more bugs and I can sleep better.

Note:

You can apply this to any wood surface or furnitures, it works the same. However, if the furniture is for very young kids, better to take precaution. After making sure the bugs are dead, wipe it down with water to make sure not solution is left on the surface before letting 'em kids use it.

[RayL]

Haha glad to help. For me the pest did come back again probably because I didn't coat the affected area enough.

So I increased dosage the 2nd round n they were gone for good.

So all in all, its cheaper than calling in the pest busters

[Damianiac]

Thanks for the guide. Hope i dun need it. But it is a handy thread.

[oceania]

Does the wood used for the cabinet actually make a difference? Like certain kind of wood is more prone to these insects and certain type having higher resistance?

[RayL]

Does the wood used for the cabinet actually make a difference? Like certain kind of wood is more prone to these insects and certain type having higher resistance?

Short answer is yes. But I think good practice is to wipe the cabinet dry everytime it is wet.

I just notice that these pest comes when the wood is wet constantly.

[Astronaut Phyo]

Thanks for sharing bro!