Driftwood Issues

Cribbinator · 10-27-2005, 1:04 AM

Hello,

I have a 55 gallon freshwater tank that I am trying to place fairly large (12" to 15") pieces of driftwood in. I have soaked the driftwood pieces in a seperate bucket for 24hours but both pieces of driftwood still float to the top. Will this take longer ? Any reason why the driftwood pieces are not sinking to the bottom ? I've used driftwood in the past and I don't remember it taking this long. Any ideas ? Maybe I am just being impatient ?

Thanks,

James

Raskolnikov · 10-27-2005, 1:10 AM

I've had much smaller pieces of wood take months to sink. It's really dependent on the individual piece and type of wood. Consider using stone to anchor your driftwood if you need to use it in the near future.

Captain Hook · 10-27-2005, 1:48 AM

Boiling it may help, I'm not exactly sure. I've also used mopani which is heavy and dense. It sinks right away so you don't need to submerge it with weight for a long time. I've stories of people saying they soaked pieces for months+ and it still wouldn't sink.

flyfly · 10-27-2005, 1:51 AM

just be patient and it will sink. I have a piece in one of my tanks that has been in there for about a month and a half and it still hasnt sank. It will though^^

Staggie · 10-27-2005, 2:16 AM

I put a couple of pieces about the same size as your stating in my tank and they took 10-12 weeks to sink and before all the tanins had leached out of it. Just rememder if its still leaching tanins you will end up with yellow coloured water (like a cup of tea). What i recommend is stickin them in a bucket with a brick on top of them and changing the water in the bucket until 1 they have sunk and 2 the water is clear.

Cribbinator · 10-27-2005, 9:21 AM

Thanks for the replies.

If I want to keep them in the tank what is safe that I can use to anchor them with ? They are already attached to a small slate slab but the weight of the slab is not enough. I don't mind anchoring them but I want to make sure it is safe for any fish that I put in.

Thanks,

James

mvigor · 10-27-2005, 9:25 AM

You could drill a hole in a new bigger piece of slate and screw your driftwood to that.

Or you could silicone some big rocks to the top of the small slate that is already attached to your driftwood.

Whatever you do, just be careful to make it secure because the bouyancy of the driftwood might make it rise fast enough to end up damaging your tank in case the extra weight shifted off.

Cribbinator · 10-27-2005, 9:31 AM

Could I use aquarium safe glue and glue them to the bottom of the tank ? If I could is it hard to remove the driftwood from the glue if I wanted to relocate the pieces ?

Thanks,

James

mvigor · 10-27-2005, 10:34 AM

It just depends on how much upward pulling power the bouyant wood has. Most likely the glue won't hold against the pull, long term.

Cribbinator · 10-27-2005, 10:57 AM

Got it. I just pulled the pieces out and put them in a very large plastic tub and I am going to let them soak until they are ready. I guess I'll have to be patient and wait to finish my tank layout

Vigor, I like your wall tank idea with the frame, nice idea.

Thanks,

James