Vacuuming Pill Bugs

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T

TFP-Guy

Active member
May 24, 2019
40
PNW
My indoor pool seems to attract a lot of pill bugs (aka sowbugs or woodbugs). They get into the pool room through the tracks in my sliding glass doors and then eventually make their way into the pool where they drown (I suppose?). This means that on most days, I'll get between 5-10 new pill bugs at the bottom of the pool. Normally, if it's just a few bugs, I'll use the net to scoop them up. But often after a few days, it'll be quite a large bunch of them.
  1. That's when I bust out the vacuum. However, should I be vacuuming to waste, or is a Sand Filter able to deal with the organic matter without long-term affects?
  2. Any tips to prevent these dang bugs from getting through screen door tracks? They literally are able to squeeze into the gaps in the tracks that the screen door slides on. I cannot fill the space without affecting how the screen door glides.
If I can, I'd like to vacuum it to the filter as that way it doesn't mess up my pool chemistry. When vacuuming to waste, the water level drops really quickly, takes over 30 minutes to refill (a 2-3 minute vacuum) and then I have to re-balance the levels.

Thanks!
 
Talstar P Professional insecticide is the bomb. You can get 96 oz for about $50 from Amazon and domyown.com. You only use 1 oz. per gallon so you've got enough to last a few years. Talstar has a shelf life of 3 years. I use it every few months. It kills just about all insects, including pill bugs. It is pet safe after it dries. A granular form may work better depending on your surroundings. Check out this site for more info and research. Pillbugs | Do My Own
 
Read for yourself, just for peace of mind. When I did my research, I learned the liquid concentrate is safe after it dries. I have a young daughter running around here as well. I haven't used the granules yet, so not sure on that product.
 
The first thought I had was to use garden DE near sliding door tracks (inside and out, but not in the track). Second thought I had was the use of something sticky (like the traps used for mice) near where they're getting in. A somewhat inexpensive DIY sticky trap could be pieces of paper with double sided tape near where you think they're entering.
 
I think that should be available here to try. I'm hesitant to use anything indoors as the pool is less than a foot away from that ledge which will invariably mean whatever we put there will be splashed, and possibly go into the pool.

But outside, I'm really not as concerned. I'll look for some DE and try it out.
 
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gonfishin said:
The first thought I had was to use garden DE near sliding door tracks (inside and out, but not in the track). Second thought I had was the use of something sticky (like the traps used for mice) near where they're getting in. A somewhat inexpensive DIY sticky trap could be pieces of paper with double sided tape near where you think they're entering.
Click to expand...

Getting back to this, is DE effective in the rain? Where I would place this on the outside (or inside) will get significantly wet.
 
I just checked the directions on my bag of garden DE. It does not mention wet conditions at all :(. It does say for best results, try to dust directly onto the bugs or in the path they take. Last summer when I was using it, I just redusted certain areas after each rain. A little bit goes a long way, so I wasn't too worried about using up the bag quickly.
 

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