# How to make wood sink fast?



## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

Hey guys i am wondering how you make your wood sink. i have few pieces of pine that are pretty good looking but they float like no other any ideas as to how i can sink them. ??

Thanks.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

To get wood to sink boiling it is a good method. However I wouldn't put pine in your tank. It will leech resins into the water and will poison your fish


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

I think I had a similar thread a while back.

But to sum up the thread. Unless your wood is already very dense, which I dont think pine is. You will having to soak it in water for many weeks even with sufficient boiling.

Other methods:

1) attach the wood to a piece of rock or slate. You can attach with a screw through both the slate and the wood. Or put a screw into the wood with a large washer (larger and better surface), and then siliconing it to the rock.

2) for a more permanent layout, you can silicone the wood directly to the glass of the tank. (using the washer idea to create a good mounting surface).

3) I think there is a thread in the KWAS about this. Which is either screw or silicone suction cups onto the surface of the wood you would like to be at the bottom or side, and then just suction the pieces on.

The prob with 1) is that it is sometimes hard to conceal the slate and it would be a problem for heavily planted aquariums. Problem with two is the painful removal if you wish to change your aquascape. Another problem being that you would need to make sure the glass is dry, that with the toxicity of uncured silicone means that you would need to be setting up a new tank, and not modify an existing one. Problem with three is that you would need sufficient # of suction cups and you would need pieces of wood that has a good surface to add the suction cups to. 

hope this helps.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

mm sounds fun n all but i will try and find better wood lol. and KnaveTO the wood is fine its not fresh and has already lost all the sap etc. maybe ill check the stone method out. hmm thanks for the input guys.

Note. Does anyone know where i can find suitable wood for my aquarium then? cheap or free is best lol. Thanks again.


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## juanitow (Jun 21, 2008)

Tropicana said:


> mm sounds fun n all but i will try and find better wood lol. and KnaveTO the wood is fine its not fresh and has already lost all the sap etc. maybe ill check the stone method out. hmm thanks for the input guys.
> 
> Note. Does anyone know where i can find suitable wood for my aquarium then? cheap or free is best lol. Thanks again.


There's a thread around here for a place that sells hardwood used for fireplaces somewhere along highway 7.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

As for sinking really dry wood - you can silicone it to a heavy piece of slate, like the ones at the lfs. I like this way since you can have the wood sit at angles that it normally wouldn't want to sit at.

Trop, you're at the south end of simcoe right? There's probably some nice pieces washed ashore here and there. If youre worried about stuff leaching, just soak it for a few weeks before hand - I've done this before and it works fine.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

boiling will also help in the leaching out process.


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

yeah i will have to take a walk along the shore. im sure there are some nice pieces there. i do intent to boil all the wood also besides the pieces that wont fit in an pot lol. maybe bathtub it ;p. As for the Silicone i would rather not use anything to hold down the wood unless its an Amazing piece lol. so i will try to steer from that stuff. Thanks for the Comments.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

Good luck on the search 

I have about 10 pieces of wood soaking in the garage right now. Been there for 2 weeks now and planning to wait until sept so they can get some good soakage.


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## zenkeri (Jan 17, 2009)

I've used dried apple branches w/ success, been in the tank since Christmas w/ no problems. The bark peels off easily as it is paper thin. I also baked them in the oven at low heat for an hour or so to kill off any bugs hiding in the wood. It sank to the bottom after a few days for some pieces and others took about a week. if you can find some I would consider trying it. good luck


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

glue (silicone) it to a slate 

^^


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## JohnyBGood (May 27, 2011)

I just received a driftwood order from Thailand (that I placed on FleaBay) and one of the pieces of wood was not properly glued onto the slate. Either that or the customs person that inspected the box was extremely clumsy and broke it off (to see if there were drugs inside?). In any case, can someone recommend the specific aquarium-safe silicone glue that I need to repair this, inexpensively? All the pieces are very small and lightweight, so I only require a tiny amount.


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