Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

[JStrider]

Kim has a big piece of driftwood that everyso often decides to float up and rearrange the tank and be a major pain to get back in place.

we are planning on changing the gravel in her tank and I wanted to weight the driftwood.

I am thinking about drilling several holes in the bottom and filling the holes with lead fishing weights, then sealing the holes with silicone.

anyone tried anything like this?

[rickykline]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

how big is the drift wood?? id think lead would hurt the fish

[Hanson77]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

Most everyone that I have seen drills a few holes in the wood and either screw it or zip tie it to a piece of slate or something.  Never thought about the fishing weight idea.

[CichlidFan]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

use something besides lead, maybe rocks or other natural items.  I have seen others post in favor of boiling driftwood in saltwater to soften and soak it, this also helps bleed the wood of natural colors that could bleed into your tank after time.

CF

[rickykline]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

use something besides lead, maybe rocks or other natural items.  I have seen others post in favor of boiling driftwood in saltwater to soften and soak it, this also helps bleed the wood of natural colors that could bleed into your tank after time.

CF

ive seen this.. we put some boiled drift wood in a 135 gallon tank and the next day the tank was reddish brown.. had to do water changes for a week to get rid of it..

[Zulaab]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

JStrider  --  add a piece of nice slate on the bottom to where it will rest on it.  You burrow the slate in the soil so you cannot see it, and the wood now looks like it sticking out of the ground.. very nice :)

[dblondfemme]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

I use fishing line and a nice piece of rock or petrified wood.  Or I use thread and after a certain amount of time it decays and by then it stays down on it's own.

[JStrider]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

we cant put anything below it unless we cut some of the top or bottom off.

the wood fits exactly between the bottom of the tank and the top, in fact we keep a rock on top of the glass top to help hold the wood in place.

arent the weights used to keep plants down usually lead?

I guess we are replacing the gravel, we could fill the holes with the old gravel and silicone it in.

[Zulaab]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

Honestly Jstrider.. here is what I would do... I would go get a nice piece of slate which you know FOR SURE will keep it down...   Then cut bottom off replacing it with the slate.. its the easiest and will solve your problem.  Cutting into the wood and filling it with stone or some other material you are going end up having to drill a lot to get the weight up there to where its going to be satisfactory.

Adding a piece of slate on the bottom will give you a solid surface that the fish cannot dig under and you know for sure the wood is not going to rise on you.

Just my 2c worth

[Fire_chair]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

An iceberg worked for the Titanic.

[dblondfemme]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

oh, I also wedge other pieces of driftwood around a few of my pieces in order to keep the appearance as well as maintaining the positioning of the wood

[blacksmith37]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

I have had sucess drilling hole(s) and pushing in steel rebar. You can find rebar around a building site ; building supply may have shot lengths. Pouring melted lead into holes will work. No health problem unless your fish have a good lawyer and he gets a dumb jury.

[PhishPhreek]

Re: Sinking unsinkable driftwood?

Ceramic tile comes in all shapes & sizes or you can cut it to fit your aquarium.
Silicone your driftwood to the tile or dril 2 holes and use stainless steel (or brass) wood screws
(you may want to run the bottom of the driftwood over a belt sander or use a wood rasp to make a flat surface.)
Remove all your gravel, place the driftwood and when your happy with the location put the gravel back in.
The tile may not be enough to hold the driftwood down but when you cover it with gravel it will do the trick

Or you can just glue the driftwood to the bottom of the tank