# Water Logging wood



## krazykilroy (Jun 12, 2016)

How long does it take to water log a piece of wood??

I remember one time back in 1990, I bought a piece of wood from a LFS, and I could NEVER get it to sink. It was never worth it! I was told to soak it in water, and eventually it would get waterlogged, but yeah, see the previous sentence.

So exactly how long to I immerse a block of wood in water in order to make sure it stays at the bottom of the tank??


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## Vociferus (Aug 10, 2016)

There's not going to be a single answer because of the size of the wood and type, as well as how dry it is. You can try boiling it or screwing it to a rock to sink it though.


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## iamoraal (Sep 5, 2016)

I found a small piece of beach driftwood. Boiled it for 30 -60 minutes. When it cooled I put it into the tank. No problems. When I moved from my 15gal to 55gal tank, the piece ended up outside on the balcony for a couple of months. I recently put into the 55gal tank and it was a floater for a few days. Now it rests quietly on the bottom of the tank.

If you want a quick solution, boil the piece to sanitize and water-log it. Then hot glue it to a rock.

I was just a the beach today to get a new root piece for my new 90gal tank.


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## awanderingmoose (Aug 11, 2016)

Or, just go with a dense wood like Mopani or Malaysian drfitwood. They'll sink straight away, and stay sunk, without having to deal with gluing to a rock.


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## krazykilroy (Jun 12, 2016)

Thanks guys, really great responses.

Currently, I use Malaysian driftwood because of the ease of use.

But If I can get my hands on a good piece of ordinary wood now, at least I have good ideas now.

thanks again!


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

One other thing not mentioned is the shape of the wood plays a big role. A large 'squarish' chunk will take a lot longer to sink than will a branch, due to less surface area to volume.

I have a large manzanita stump (3' long, and 18" tall) in my planted tank which took a while to sink, for the first year or so it needed help from several strategically placed rocks to ensure it stayed in place.

Most of the commercial wood I see sold is screwed to a piece of slate to help keep it down. Using a stainless steel screw.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Instead of using slate, I've had success with plexi-glass and the stainless screws mentioned. Easy to hide with substrate and easy to drill pilot holes. The weight of wet sand and stones ensures it's not moving anywhere...


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## MysteryMan (Aug 7, 2016)

Like nodima mentioned above, I too had a large manzanita stump and it took over a month to be fully waterlogged,

but the wood should be pre soaked anyways to get the tannis out of it so it doesnt dirty your main tank, also i recommend pouring some boiling water on it beforehand just to sanitize

KEEP in mind that the fumes from boiling some woods are toxic so keep that in mind if you boil it inside your home, thats why i usually go out back and pour boiling water on it

good luck


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