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Tips for sinking large driftwood

A

abcdefghi

Members
A few days ago I picked up a large piece of driftwood for my 125G, by large I mean it's about 48" x 12" or so. The problem is it is so big I cannot even fully cover it in water in a bathtub. It's about 75% submerged at the moment, started with hot water, going to change the water out tomorrow and refill with hot. It's beach driftwood, which I have used without issue in the past, so hope to again now once I can get this piece ready to go in. I have a refractometer and checking the salinity of the water it has been soaking in for a little over 24 hours it's barely registering any salt content at all, so that is at least a good sign.

But, any way I can possibly get it to sink faster? I have a 25lb weight currently holding it down, keeping it in the bathtub long term is not going to be realistic though. I could try attaching some pieces of slate to it, I'm just concerned that I will have to attach a crazy amount (4lb of weight did nothing for holding it in the water). So, just looking for tips on getting it prepared a little faster as I am looking forward to how it will look in the tank once it eventually goes in.

Thanks.
 
JLW

JLW

CCA Members
If you think about the amount of water that the driftwood displaces (e.g., if you filled the tank, then put the driftwood in, how much would wind up on the floor), that's the amount of weight you have to put on that driftwood, roughly, to make it sink -- so a big piece that takes up 5-gallons is going to take 40ish pounds of weight to hold it down. That can be considerable. If your driftwood is 48" x 12" x 12", that's 55-gallons, and that's a lot of weight.

Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of good ways to speed up sinking a big piece like that. You need water to penetrate all the way into the core of it. Hot water helps, but you'll have to sink it in hot water and keep it there. You could put it in a 55-gallon drum with a lid on it. Either way, you're looking at 6 months or so to sink it.

You can try drilling holes through it, which will help, but not much (unless its a lot of holes).

As an aside, you really don't want to soak driftwood long term in the bathtub. THe tannins that come out of it are going to ruin the tub... no amount of bleaching will get them out, and you'll have to sand and refinish the tub. (Which really isn't fun, I know I've done it... for... reasons).
 
Frank Cowherd

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
If you can put it in boiling water, it will not take long to sink it. But you need a really big tub for your size of driftwood. If you could put it in a pressure cooker, that is, boiling water with say 15 psig pressure, it would be even faster. If you can figure out how to do either boiling or pressurecooking, it has to be cooled in water, so it does not dry out.
Probably this is not of much help.
 
JLW

JLW

CCA Members
Frank Cowherd said:
If you can put it in boiling water, it will not take long to sink it. But you need a really big tub for your size of driftwood. If you could put it in a pressure cooker, that is, boiling water with say 15 psig pressure, it would be even faster. If you can figure out how to do either boiling or pressurecooking, it has to be cooled in water, so it does not dry out.
Probably this is not of much help.
Click to expand...

Sad irony, these tricks only generally work with pieces small enough to not be an issue... unless you live in Gotham, where large vats of boiling water are regularly available.
 
A

abcdefghi

Members
Thanks for the replies, I may try to source a 55G drum and boil it. I can see it taking absolutely ages with just letting it soak.
 
JLW

JLW

CCA Members
Realistically, I don't think you can keep it heated for long enough to make a difference. And I wouldn't want to pay for that much propane!
 
G

Goonie

CCA Members
I have a few xl piece i may try to do in a kiddy pool. Lol if I had a hot tub ild do them in there lol
 
A

abcdefghi

Members
IndianaSam said:
Why not attach the wood to a piece of slate? That’s what I did and then buried the slate in the substrate.
Click to expand...

That's what I am thinking of doing, was actually just looking at the tank and thinking I could position some existing rocks in there around the driftwood / tied to it, in such a way that they will hold it down but also look fine.

Of course, I am now also wondering (perhaps I should have thought of this sooner) how am I going to get the wood into the tank. Just measured it and it is 50" long, 15" high at the tallest point (most of it is under 9"), but thankfully no more than 5" wide at the widest point. The opening on the 125 is about 16" x 36" so I think I can slide it in at an angle and carefully maneuver it into place.

One thing I will need to be sure of, that I have decided exactly where it is going to be before trying to put it in there. Would stink to put it in and decide I want it around the other way.
 
IndianaSam

IndianaSam

CCA Members
abcdefghi said:
That's what I am thinking of doing, was actually just looking at the tank and thinking I could position some existing rocks in there around the driftwood / tied to it, in such a way that they will hold it down but also look fine.

Of course, I am now also wondering (perhaps I should have thought of this sooner) how am I going to get the wood into the tank. Just measured it and it is 50" long, 15" high at the tallest point (most of it is under 9"), but thankfully no more than 5" wide at the widest point. The opening on the 125 is about 16" x 36" so I think I can slide it in at an angle and carefully maneuver it into place.

One thing I will need to be sure of, that I have decided exactly where it is going to be before trying to put it in there. Would stink to put it in and decide I want it around the other way.
Click to expand...
What kind of wood is it?
 
A

abcdefghi

Members
Woody wood.... sorry, to be honest I have no idea. I have used a smaller piece from this same place before without issue, so would assume this is the same type of wood.
 
JLW

JLW

CCA Members
The other thing you can do, which does work, is to drill holes through it and use them to attach a few rounds of fishing line, the other end around a cinder block (Or bricks, if they'll hold it down). Eventually, you cut the line, remove the blocks, and go on with your life. :)
 
Freakgecko

Freakgecko

Members
abcdefghi said:
That's what I am thinking of doing, was actually just looking at the tank and thinking I could position some existing rocks in there around the driftwood / tied to it, in such a way that they will hold it down but also look fine.

Of course, I am now also wondering (perhaps I should have thought of this sooner) how am I going to get the wood into the tank. Just measured it and it is 50" long, 15" high at the tallest point (most of it is under 9"), but thankfully no more than 5" wide at the widest point. The opening on the 125 is about 16" x 36" so I think I can slide it in at an angle and carefully maneuver it into place.

One thing I will need to be sure of, that I have decided exactly where it is going to be before trying to put it in there. Would stink to put it in and decide I want it around the other way.
Click to expand...
I have got a 5’ stump and root ball tree into my 180 acrylic that has absolutely tiny access panels (like 22”x8” or something ridiculous like that). It takes some work, but can be done for sure
 
A

abcdefghi

Members
Well, it's in there. Not yet in it's final position, one end was not playing nicely with the rocks and so is floating and I could not find my fishing line to tie the rocks to it and hold it down on that end. The angels are not really sure what to make of it and have spent most of the day hanging out on the left side of the tank. I suspect this may be due to behind the wood being pretty thick with plants and the wood blocking the front, forcing them to have to swim underneath which they are not yet entirely comfortable over.

Every other fish is not bothered at all though, but they are small enough that the mass of plants does not bother them.

Of course, removing the old wood and putting this in also made a heck of a mess of the plants. Once the wood is eventually in it's final place I will probably re-arrange the plants a little, I do like the cluttered sort of natural look though.

20200925_144233.jpg
 
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