Driftwood not sinking

[cowgirluntamed]

So...setting my 55 gallon up finally. Yay! Anyway, I bought a lot of driftwood a few years ago that someone on ebay got out of lake michigan. Really nice pieces. They used it in their personal tanks as well.

So...I just cleaned it off (running water and toothbrush) and now I put it in the tank. I sort of figured this would happen, but it's not sinking straight away like most of my mopani wood does....lol.

Right now I have a few pieces of mopani that are sitting on the rest of it making it stay under water.

Is there anything I can do to make it waterlog faster? Just figured I'd ask. I'm not sure I can boil it unless turning it one way and then another would work well, and I don't want it breaking down faster than it will just being in the water naturally.

I'm also asking because I need to order plants before Monday so I can get them shipped next Wednesday. Lol.

I do have rocks that I haven't tested....if I can get the wood to mostly sink...is it OK to put the rocks in there to weigh it down and take them out when done if no fish are in there?

But...yippee for getting this tank finally going!

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Yes, you can weigh the wood down with rocks, no problem. It might scratch the wood a bit if you're not careful, but if you are gentle with it that shouldn't be a problem. Maybe tie the wood down onto some rocks with fishing line.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Thanks! And it won't hurt if I don't test them first? They are Colorado River rocks that I got from a rock landscaping place.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

Apologies. I thought you meant rocks that were already in use in a fish tank. Yes, you do want to test & clean the rocks first. River rocks are probably safe, but test them to be sure.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Apologies. I thought you meant rocks that were already in use in a fish tank. Yes, you do want to test & clean the rocks first. River rocks are probably safe, but test them to be sure.

Ok, thanks! I have some muriatic acid to test with. Do I need to use that outside or can I like, put the rocks in the bathtub to do it? I have baking soda to neutralize it with too.

 

[IHaveADogToo]

I don't know how toxic inhaling those fumes would be. If it were me, I would just do it outside and not take the chance. Safety first.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

I don't know how toxic inhaling those fumes would be. If it were me, I would just do it outside and not take the chance. Safety first.

Ok, thanks!

 

[NickAu]

I have some muriatic acid to test

Do it outside as the fumes are toxic.

 

[Colin_T]

Use vinegar, it has a pH around 3 and that will react to any calcium in the rocks.

Alternatively put the rocks in a bucket of water and check the pH before and then 24 hours later. If the pH changes in the bucket of water then the rocks will change the tank water.

And just let your driftwood soak. When it becomes waterlogged it will start to sink.

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Use vinegar, it has a pH around 3 and that will react to any calcium in the rocks.

I've heard and read that vinegar is too weak to properly tell on some things though. People have used it and then the acid and found the rocks were not suitable by the acid. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Alternatively put the rocks in a bucket of water and check the pH before and then 24 hours later. If the pH changes in the bucket of water then the rocks will change the tank water.

24 hours just doesn't seem long enough to me. Though I don't plan on using the rocks long term...Unless I like them when they get in there! I can make caves for fish and put anubias plants on them if I want! Lol.

And just let your driftwood soak. When it becomes waterlogged it will start to sink.

Yes....but I'm on a time constraint that I put myself on.....lol. it's soaking in the tank now. Weighing it down with the mopani wood. I will give it as long as I can unless my rocks test really good and I can weigh it down with those!

 

[Colin_T]

Get some big fishing sinkers and tie them to the wood.

Limestone and sandstone should react immediately if vinegar is poured on them. They start foaming up and bubbling away.

A small amount of limestone or sandstone in a tank shouldn't cause any problems anyway, unless you are keeping a soft acid water tank. Then a few small bits can help stabilise the pH by neutralising some of the acids. But it depends on what you want the pH to be

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Get some big fishing sinkers and tie them to the wood.

Limestone and sandstone should react immediately if vinegar is poured on them. They start foaming up and bubbling away.

A small amount of limestone or sandstone in a tank shouldn't cause any problems anyway, unless you are keeping a soft acid water tank. Then a few small bits can help stabilise the pH by neutralising some of the acids. But it depends on what you want the pH to be

I will think about the sinkers if the rocks don't work out.

I don't want my ph or hardness going up at all. Sitting at 8.2ph and around 12ish gh/kh. So I have to stay with fish that are more adaptable to that and I don't want it going up more. Lol.

 

[Colin_T]

Basic rule of thumb for rocks, if they are white then they are usually limestone or sandstone and will raise the pH. If they are black or brown they are something else and probably won't affect water chemistry

 

[cowgirluntamed]

Basic rule of thumb for rocks, if they are white then they are usually limestone or sandstone and will raise the pH. If they are black or brown they are something else and probably won't affect water chemistry

I haven't looked at them in a while but I think they were a mix....lol. I'll try to test them today and let you know results!

 

[Ch4rlie]

I normally put new driftwood in a plastic tub filled with water, sometimes with a powerhead simply to keep water flowing around (whether that actually helps or not but I do that anyway as there is a little logic to it somehow, lol).

Then add a couple of small 500ml bottles filled with sand and place these bottles strategically placed on top of driftwood in a bid to keep the driftwood submerged and in a couple of weeks time the driftwood usually are waterlogged and will stay down with no or minimal effort then I transfer them to my main tank.

I do this for a couple of reasons, one, depending on my planned tank set up, to help keep tannins and little bits of debris from the wood itself out of the main tank, tannins do no harm to livestock at all btw, in fact can be benificial to certain livestock as is a natural antitoxidant.

Second, this helps me to ensure there are no nasties on the wood itself, I have gone through having damselfies eggs on wood and thus developed into nymph larvaes which predated on my fish and shrimps in main tank so this is my main fear, any critters invading my tank is a no no imho.

Third, to help get rid of any possible toxins in the wood itself, unlikely to be any toxins in the wood as long as you know wood is safe to use and bought from a reliable source but this helps to give me peace of mind that the wood has been in water for at least a week or two to help get rid of any leeched toxins in a water container rather than endangering any of my livestock in main tanks.

Perhaps a little OTT for most folks, but this is just me being me, lol.