# Anchoring Driftwood



## 207cichlids (Apr 23, 2015)

Left my brain at home the other day and never thought about the fact that driftwood floats. Now I have a really nice addition to my tank sitting on the shelf with no use. Whats the safest/easiest way to anchor it down? Any and all ideas would be great thanks!


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

There are few ways to make drift wood sunk:
1. Boil it for several hours and then leave it over night in that water. Usually the next day it sinks.
2. Put it under heavy stone / rock in the water. In my tank it takes about 1 - 2 weeks before it sinks by itself.
3. Use suction cup. I zipped suction cup to the woods, and then stick it to the rear glass to make a perfect background.


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## KempDesign (Feb 27, 2014)

I use 12x12 inch slate tile that I drill so I can use stainless steel screws to hold the drift wood. I then burry the slate in the sand and if it is particularly large peice of wood I may put rocks over the slate as well. Works great for me.


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## 207cichlids (Apr 23, 2015)

Thanks Als49 and KempDesign. I think im going to try the suction cup method and incorporate it as my background. Never even had a thought like that cross my mind when I put my thinking cap on. Thanks again.


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## Manifest (Mar 8, 2015)

KempDesign said:


> I use 12x12 inch slate tile that I drill so I can use stainless steel screws to hold the drift wood. I then burry the slate in the sand and if it is particularly large peice of wood I may put rocks over the slate as well. Works great for me.


I used slate for my 3 pieces as well.

I boilded each piece about 4 hours-
I left them in the tank a month-

Still floated!


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## Cichlid Debby (Mar 21, 2014)

I used egg crate and plant ties. Same concept as the slate base. The ties are just like kitchen twist ties only longer and coated with green plastic.
Cut the egg crate to an appropriate size. Drilled a hole in the end of the wood and wired it to the egg crate and weighted with rocks. When I was ready to redecorate a few months later, I just cut the tie and pulled out the egg crate. Some of the wood sank and some was still a little buoyant. I guess it just depends on the wood.
I never boiled because I don't have a pot that big!


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Cichlid Debby said:


> I used egg crate and plant ties. Same concept as the slate base. The ties are just like kitchen twist ties only longer and coated with green plastic.
> Cut the egg crate to an appropriate size. Drilled a hole in the end of the wood and wired it to the egg crate and weighted with rocks. When I was ready to redecorate a few months later, I just cut the tie and pulled out the egg crate. Some of the wood sank and some was still a little buoyant. I guess it just depends on the wood.
> I never boiled because I don't have a pot that big!


This is a great idea! I used a sheet of plexi-glass cut to size with stainless steel screws(got the idea from Cjcichlid). Same concept as the slate and such.


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## Fishnut71 (Dec 7, 2014)

There's always the option of just letting it float in the tank until its water-logged. Although this could take a seriously long period of time to occur, floating dw doesn't look that bad in a tank. I've done it this way, and thought it looked quite cool. After all, wood/branches floating on the water are a natural thing in nature.


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