# driftwood not sinking anymore...



## toni-a (Jul 10, 2012)

Hi,
I had found at the local river a large piece of driftwood.
I had put it in bleach and cleaned it and it has been in my oscar tank for more than three months
Last week I changed the oscar tank, I let the driftwood dry before putting it in the new tank, it is now floating on water surface :-? :-? 
It's a wonderful piece of driftwood, how can I make it sink again ?


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Give it time to soak in water again...either in the tank or in a tub where you cover the driftwood with water. Keep your water clean if in a tub (do daily water changes). Eventually it will get waterlogged again and sink. Just give it time.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

anchor it down with something until it absorbs enough water to stay down on its own


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

I got a piece in my brichardi tank i have weighted down with some rocks. It makes it look more natural and helps hold it in place lol


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## jtwist01 (May 30, 2013)

toni-a, you can do your driftwood, like I did mine, if you take a piece of slate tile, you can drill holes through the tile, and using stainless steel screws, screw the driftwood to the tile. My driftwood points upwards, so I had to cut a flat piece so that it would sit flush against the tile, but I suppose you could use any type of anchor as long it would keep in the tank.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

i personally wouldnt put any type of metal in tank. stainless steel screws for example. thats just my opinion. seems risky as far as water quality goes


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## jtwist01 (May 30, 2013)

If you are worried about the metal being exposed to the water you can always apply aquarium grade silicone over the head of the screw, the rest of the screw is inside of the driftwood so would only be exposed to what soaks through... guy at the LFS said it is completely safe as long as you use the right kind of screw.


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## Dexter. (Oct 23, 2012)

When looking for stainless anything for water, try to find stainless rated as A4 as opposed to A2. A4 is marine grade and is even more resistant to corrosion, rust, etc.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

why risk it when there are other options. i wouldnt take a chance. imo


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I think the use of stainless screws to attach weights to driftwood is fairly common and seems to be without incident.


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## sumthinfishy (Jan 26, 2013)

i agree, but why risk it? u can just use rock or something else. i spend a lot of time and money on my tanks snd fish. not to mention that some are hard to get. i am sure all of u also spend a lot of time and money on fishkeeping. i am not arguing, i am just saying that if anything even was questionable as far as my tanks and fish go i would not risk it. i think this is getting a little blown out of proportion and off track, but my stance once again is i dont take risks with my tanks. even if that risk is minimal.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

sumthinfishy, that is a great approach. I tend to be conservative as well.


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## jtwist01 (May 30, 2013)

I see your point, I actually bought driftwood once that had screws in it already without inquiring with the staff, needless to say they used plain old wood screws which in turn started rusting and throwing my tank all out of whack, alot of the newer screws these days can even be coated with a protectant that doesn't wear off when screwing it in to something.


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## 6Gears1Speed (Mar 18, 2013)

When I used wood I have also used slate with a screw with no problems. Masonry bits go right through slate easily and a regular countersink bit will sink the hole enough for the screw to sit flat or under the slate. Pile some gravel over the slate and it looks good. I used a slate paver with deck screws. Deck screws are made to be outdoors and walked on so sitting in a tank of water untouched isn't a problem.


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## jusshatched (Sep 8, 2012)

I had the same issue the other week. I put some rocks on the wood to hold it down and within a few days it was water logged and stayed on its own again.


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