Help me sink Driftwood to the bottom

I bought some driftwood thinking I'd be able to weight it down in my tank to give a cool looking wooden arch.

Being new to the hobby I underestimated the buoyancy of it and I can't secure it with the items in the tank.

Is there a safe type of aquarium weight I can attach to the driftwood to hold it on the bottom? I may just go find a rock, clean it/disinfect it and tie it off to that. But before I do, does anyone have suggestions on other ways or items I can use to get it to stay down there?

 

Soak it or boil it beforehand - once it takes on some water it should sink fine. It will also remove some tannins as well if that is something else you are after.

 

I used piece of oak. I drilled a hole in a piece of oak trim about 2x4 inches and 1/4 inch thick and used a steel screw to attach it to the wood. I put it in the tank with substrate covering the oak.

I bought driftwood attached to slate in this fashion.

 

Soak it or boil it beforehand - once it takes on some water it should sink fine. It will also remove some tannins as well if that is something else you are after.

It's a new tank. I rinsed it really well and it's it'ssoaking for 2 days. Is there more to soaking it than I think? Is it just a waiting game?

Boil it.... sounds interesting. I'll look into that and read up on the process.

I used piece of oak. I drilled a hole in a piece of oak trim about 2x4 inches and 1/4 inch thick and used a steel screw to attach it to the wood. I put it in the tank with substrate covering the oak.

I bought driftwood attached to slate in this fashion.

That's an interesting solution as well. Thanks

 

It's a new tank. I rinsed it really well and it's it'ssoaking for 2 days. Is there more to soaking it than I think? Is it just a waiting game?

Boil it.... sounds interesting. I'll look into that and read up on the process.

That's an interesting solution as well. Thanks

How big is the piece? A huge piece can take months to sink. A common trick for big pieces is to drill a deep hole into it and fill it with cement

 

How big is the piece? A huge piece can take months to sink. A common trick for big pieces is to drill a deep hole into it and fill it with cement

do you worry about the cement leaching chemicals for some time?

 

How big is the piece? A huge piece can take months to sink. A common trick for big pieces is to drill a deep hole into it and fill it with cement

Water Is a little off colored because it's a new tank going through its first ammonia cycle. And I just added the wood yesterday.

Pay no attention to the floss filter. I wanted to cover things up to see if it would work to stop small fish from getting sucked into the filter. I'll be using a sponge or a mesh of some kind to prevent that from happening, until then this is my short term solution.

So the wood is a fair size, not sure how long it'll take.

 

I have always managed to weigh them down with rocks, but another thing you can do is drill a hole and use a plastic tie wrap to attach it to a rock, you obviously have to hide the tie wrap with another rock or plant.

 

do you worry about the cement leaching chemicals for some time?

There are aquarium safe cements and leeching is minimal since there is little water column contact and the exposed end is buried under substrate anyways. An epoxy can also be used to seal the opening.

Water Is a little off colored because it's a new tank going through its first ammonia cycle. And I just added the wood yesterday.

Pay no attention to the floss filter. I wanted to cover things up to see if it would work to stop small fish from getting sucked into the filter. I'll be using a sponge or a mesh of some kind to prevent that from happening, until then this is my short term solution.

So the wood is a fair size, not sure how long it'll take.

For this size just tying it down to rocks with fishing line is enough. Drilling and filling it will also work. Just keep in mind this wood can leech tannins for years.

 

i also agree with others to boil it. not only will it sink the wood, it will also kill any unwanted parasites..eggs that is present in holes...cracks that we cant see.