# DRIFTWOOD??



## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

just bought a killer 3 1/2 fott by 2 foot drift wood .. .has no slates to weigh it down.. i put it in my tank and it is completely floating,,,,, how long appoximately will it take to submerge to the bottom? the way the driftwood is angles, i dont even wanna go through the process of getting slate and drilling it to the driftwood cause it might ruin it, so how long will this thing take to sink on its own?????


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## siliconslik (Nov 5, 2004)

man it could take a looong time. i have a couple peices soaking in a bucket and they have been there for over a month. both float just as much as when they went in. i guess it also depends on the wood you have. it could take only a few days....or it might take a year. just cross your fingers


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

it will float virtually forever.. well to you it would seem that way. if it didnt' sink to the bottom as soon as you put it in the water, then it'll float for a few years if just left in water. there are certain woods that aren't meant to be submerged. you have to weight it down if you don't want it to float, or wedge it into your tank so that it can't move. i've had driftwood in my 120g tank for over two years, fully submerged, but i had to drill them to slates. if i took the slates off, i know they would still float even today (don't know what kind of wood). i have other wood though, that was heavy as hell when i bought it, and does not float. it is "malaysian driftwood" and the other is "african driftwood" and both do not float, they are extremely dark in color and very heavy for their size (dense).


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

SpAzZy said:


> it will float virtually forever.. well to you it would seem that way. if it didnt' sink to the bottom as soon as you put it in the water, then it'll float for a few years if just left in water. there are certain woods that aren't meant to be submerged. you have to weight it down if you don't want it to float, or wedge it into your tank so that it can't move. i've had driftwood in my 120g tank for over two years, fully submerged, but i had to drill them to slates. if i took the slates off, i know they would still float even today (don't know what kind of wood). i have other wood though, that was heavy as hell when i bought it, and does not float. it is "malaysian driftwood" and the other is "african driftwood" and both do not float, they are extremely dark in color and very heavy for their size (dense).
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that's not necessarily true. i had driftwood that had taken a week to sink down. wood is wood and will all eventually sink as all wood absorbs water. it's just a matter of how dense it is and how fast it will absorb.


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

Hope your ready for a LONG wait. Most wood takes a very long to sink on its own


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## Guest (Dec 15, 2004)

I guess it all depends, one of my pieces sank after about 24 hours. It would still move when hit though. Still needed clamping down a bit although it sank. The p's could easily shift it!


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

hyphen said:


> that's not necessarily true. i had driftwood that had taken a week to sink down. wood is wood and will all eventually sink as all wood absorbs water. it's just a matter of how dense it is and how fast it will absorb.
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you're right in a sense it will eventually sink.. but when i said not all wood is meant to be submerged, i shoudl have clarified what i meant.

not all wood is suitable. some break apart and get really soft when submerged in water too long. yes, they may sink, but if you don't want to wait "virtually forever", add a slate to it.


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

damn so the best thing to do is get slate huh, but this thing is so big anjdf heavy what i f the slate is not enogh to weigh it down and how do i know how much slate is good???


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

Trial and error, prob your best bet. Being so large you may need a thick piece of slate to offset the bouyancy. Pick an ideal, solid part of the driftwood to anchor the screws into. Good luck.


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

traumatic said:


> Trial and error, prob your best bet. Being so large you may need a thick piece of slate to offset the bouyancy. Pick an ideal, solid part of the driftwood to anchor the screws into. Good luck.
> [snapback]798787[/snapback]​


i dont even know if a large slate would even hold this thing down, how the f*ck am i gonna do this, its the f*cking best piece of driftwood ive ever seen, it was 90.00 i told the guy to cut me a deal and i got it for 80.00.. is this price expensive? to be honest its a killer piece, many hideouts and also tall..


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## phreakah (Sep 20, 2004)

my driftwood is about 2ft long x 6in wide x 8in high and it was like $20 on ebay... i think ebay has the best prices for driftwood.. that i've seen anyway

mine doesnt sink yet and its been about 4 months. what i did was i got a plastic tuperware lid (a large one) and drilled 2 small holes in the driftwood and 2 small holes in the lid. then i took some fishing line and tied them together. i put the lid under the sand and it holds it down to the bottom perfectly with no sign of the lid, since its under the sand


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## Blacksheep (Dec 11, 2003)

I purchased a 2 foot long piece of driftwood for my tank in my office and when I put it in it floated as well.

1. Get yourself a heavy rock or two.
2. Position it in your tank so the whole piece of driftwood will be submerged.
3. Place the rocks on top of the driftwood so that it holds it under the water
4. Make sure that it is stable so that the wood does not shift and slide the rock off (protect your tank and your fish)

You will (right away) see air bubbles start rising up from your driftwood as the water pressure begins to replace the air with water. The problem with doing it this way is that you need to watch your water levels as you can get gunk floating on top of your water. Anything that was in the wood, will end up in your water.

Someone here on P-Fury gave me this advice and it has worked for me both times that I have done it. It took about a month and a half for the large piece of driftwood, and about two weeks for the smaller piece of driftwood in my tank.

Hope it helps you out.









Jeffrey


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

I've seen people screwing 2 slates to different ends of the log to hold down in 2 places. This may help. I'd like to see a pic of it in your tank, maybe we can come up w/ something definite.

I think paying $80 for a log that won't sink (I know you didn't know it wouldn't sink till you got it home) is a sucky deal, but you gotta do w/ what you got.


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

i dont know what the F to do.. it prob will need alot of weight to hold it down, it seems like i have to hold it down and its alot of pressure, what to dooooooooooooo??


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## Natt King Shoal (Aug 7, 2004)

I can't figure out why anyone would buy driftwood when you can go into the woods and find nice pieces. It may take some time, but $80 for wood?









I have a large piece of driftwood in my tank (22" tall by about 10" wide -- on the right in the attached pic). I found the trick is the amount of extra slab surrounding the piece that can be weighed down with gravel/sand. I used a piece of kitchen tile slab from home depot that is about 3" wider than the wood on all sides and the slab is covered with a shitload of gravel on all sides. Without this, it shoots out of the water like a rocket!

Without seeing a pic, I agree with Traumatic. You may need 2 pieces of slate. Its not the slate that matters but how much substrate you can cover it with to keep the sucker down!


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

Natt King Shoal said:


> I can't figure out why anyone would buy driftwood when you can go into the woods and find nice pieces. It may take some time, but $80 for wood?
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when i get home from work tonite im gonna figure this sucker out, im gonna weight it down w some big ass pieces of slate


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## The_Spoot (Nov 15, 2004)

Tie fishing weights to the bottom, and burry them under the gravel/ sand.


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## pinchy (Jun 3, 2004)

The_Spoot said:


> Tie fishing weights to the bottom, and burry them under the gravel/ sand.
> [snapback]799000[/snapback]​


your going to need a lot of weights for that size drift wood


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

pinchy said:


> your going to need a lot of weights for that size drift wood
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alooooooooooooooooot of weight... the driftwood is about 30lbs


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

piranhafreak007 said:


> alooooooooooooooooot of weight... the driftwood is about 30lbs
> [snapback]799126[/snapback]​


damn!!!







must be a nice hunk

slate and a week of waterlogging and you should be good


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

shutter13 said:


> damn!!!
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ill def try tonite














thanks everyone


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

Wow you paid 90 bucks! Ouch . Good luck and keep us posted.


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

there was a piece that i wanted to get.. i looked at the price and never thought twice about getting it again. it was $170. it was 5', thick as hell, heavy as hell, bunch of branches and was just what i was looking for. probably the nicest driftwood piece i've ever seen for an aquarium, but i'd rather cut down my entire backyard first before i paid that for some driftwood.


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

SpAzZy said:


> there was a piece that i wanted to get.. i looked at the price and never thought twice about getting it again. it was $170. it was 5', thick as hell, heavy as hell, bunch of branches and was just what i was looking for. probably the nicest driftwood piece i've ever seen for an aquarium, but i'd rather cut down my entire backyard first before i paid that for some driftwood.
> [snapback]800467[/snapback]​


lol, i swear thats the piece of driftwood i bought, its the best piece ive seen, ill get some pics of very soon!


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

Atlanta Braves Baby! said:


> Wow you paid 90 bucks! Ouch . Good luck and keep us posted.
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it was 80.00, and i think its worth every penny( if i ever get this damn thing under water)


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## killerbee (Aug 18, 2004)

definately get some pics up.


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

killerbee said:


> definately get some pics up.
> [snapback]800749[/snapback]​


ill try by tonite 11pm eastern,,, illl take some tonite


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## NegativeCamber (Nov 29, 2004)

*I have the huge ass stump in my 125 gallon.. I thought for sure it would sink... it was going to look nice too!!! I stuck it in the aquarium and .... ah sh*t it... it was floating... that was 2 months ago.. Right now it is floating and the piece of glass that separates the 2 lids are holding it underwater... see the photo

My wife likes the way it looks saying it provides a great effect.. About the only good this floating is, the rosey reds hide easy!!









See photos*


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## alan (Mar 11, 2004)

hello....DRIFT WOOD. it will float


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## Atlanta Braves Baby! (Mar 12, 2003)

Wow that is a HUGE hunk!


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## sasquach (Dec 6, 2004)

im not buying myn nemore im gonna find it and make, last week i found some on th ebottom of a lake so i took it it weighs a lot


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## piranhafreak007 (Oct 20, 2004)

Atlanta Braves Baby! said:


> Wow that is a HUGE hunk!
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mine is twice that size


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## Fido (May 21, 2003)

piranhafreak007 said:


> mine is twice that size
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wont that soften ph too much?


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