# Driftwood refuses to sink



## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

I bought this gorgeous peice of driftwood. It is 24" long, 5 inches wide and 12" tall. I mounted it to a peice of slate and put it in my aquarium. I then covered the slate with 3 inches of gravel and about 10 pounds of river rocks. The wood still floats.

I really love this peice of wood and want to use it. Can you guys think of anything to weigh it down enough.

My dad wants to use lead? Maybe drill holes in the back and stuff it up. Does that sound doable?

or could i get a tile sized peice of lead, and use that like the slate tile?

Any ideas on where i can get lead?


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## pcrose (Mar 9, 2003)

Have you tried just leaving it in the water till it will sink? Sometimes this works.


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

I soaked it in a bathtub for two weeks, it came out weighing about three times more, but still floating like a bouy.


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## Outie (Feb 19, 2003)

Your going to have to attach something to the bottom to weigh it down. Usually like a flat rock, bottom of a clay pot will work. Also to drill into a rock of even clay your going to have to use a carbine tip drill bit. Regular bits won't work.


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## nitrofish (Jan 14, 2003)

get a larger piece of slate from home depo and atach it to the bottom


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

Have you even treated the driftwood before adding to your tank?? Go to SperNates site on how to propperly treat driftwood. You can do that, or just soak it in boiling water for a week!! Treating driftwood eliminates bacteria and robs the wood of oxygen making it 3X heavier its normal weight.


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## Mr. Hannibal (Feb 21, 2003)

I attach mine to stones, it works!


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## Sir Nathan XXI (Jan 29, 2003)

just use multiple pieces of slate and a longer stainless steel screw


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

My problem is the bouyancy of the wood breaks the slate. I have another idea:

1)Go out spend $10 on a marble tile (so it won't break)
2)get some longer screws 
3)silicone the tile to the bottom of the tank.
4)then if required put rocks around it to hold it down.

My questions:
Do you think the silicone would be strong enough to hold it down. Is there a better substance to use (ie epoxy, etc.)
Can you drill through marble with a masonary bit?

Not to mention, do you think my above idea will work?


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## Sir Nathan XXI (Jan 29, 2003)

pretty sure that marble will raise water hardness, thats not a good thing, how thick is your slate? They sell slate nearly 3/4" thick


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

The slate I used was a little 1/8 inch thick peice. I did not realize they made thicker slate.

Do you think the idea of siliconing or epoxying the tile to the bottom glass would work?


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## Sir Nathan XXI (Jan 29, 2003)

dont use Marble!

just get bigger slate pieces, if you get a 3/4" thick piece its not gonna floot


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

My current plan which i will try tomorrow is:

get a 3/4 (or thich heavy) peice of slate tile. 
Use long screws to mount it to the wood
silicone the tile to the bottom.
pray!


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## Sir Nathan XXI (Jan 29, 2003)

dont use silicone, just buy 2 pieces of tile, no way that your driftwood will float that


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## nitrofish (Jan 14, 2003)

serjuanca88 said:


> My questions:
> Do you think the silicone would be strong enough to hold it down. Is there a better substance to use (ie epoxy, etc.)
> Can you drill through marble with a masonary bit?
> 
> Not to mention, do you think my above idea will work?


 I have used marble tiles and you can accually drill it with a regular drill bit. I know your not supposed to, but it does work


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## RhomZilla (Feb 12, 2003)

serjuanca88 said:


> My problem is the bouyancy of the wood breaks the slate. I have another idea:
> 
> 1)Go out spend $10 on a marble tile (so it won't break)
> 2)get some longer screws
> ...


 Are you sure you wanna use silicone to hold the tile down permanently?? Once you apply it and position it to where you want, you'll never get to move it around anymore until you totally empty out your tank to pry it off. Also, driftwood and other chem (including newly paste silicone)will mess up your water perimeters. YOU still have to wait a couple of days until it dries out, and recyle your tank. Why not just boil or use Nates instruction on how to treat wood?? No matter which one you choose, they'll both be time consuming.


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

I have already soaked it for two weeks and I have used Nate's driftwood prepartation. I even have it marked in my favorites.

I'm not worried about not being able to move around.

I am about to go to Home Depot again and look at tiles and other alternatives. I bet I can find something this time, now that I know what I am dealing with.


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

Ok, i came home with two 1/2 earth gauge slate. Each tile probally weighs 10 #s. Im not sure it will be enough tho. If it isnt I am going to silicone it to the bottom of the tank as a last resort. Not to mention tired of spending money on something that should be really simple.


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## Sir Nathan XXI (Jan 29, 2003)

Is it a stump or what, I dont see how it could support 20lbs


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## serjuanca88 (Mar 19, 2003)

It is a solid peice of wood 12inches tall 24inches wide, and about 4 inches front to back. I dont think its a stump.

The tiles alone would not hold it down, but with a three inch layer of gravel on top it held down.


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## nyquil (Mar 29, 2003)

serjuanca88 said:


> I have already soaked it for two weeks and I have used Nate's driftwood prepartation. I even have it marked in my favorites.


i dont think putting super nates page in your favorites is gonna make the wood sink









why cant you use lead. i mean, if you drill a whole and stuff it with lead, then stuff the drill holes, it should be fine right? maybe i dont understand what he said, but can someone clarify that for me?


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## pythonwill (Feb 2, 2003)

I use Lead with stainless steel screws and it works fine


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