Why Isn't My Driftwood Sinking?

[WillyRBeek]

I went down to the beach yesterday morning and picked up a couple of small pieces of driftwood to put in my 2 tanks for my plecs. I boiled them for about an hour and a half when I got home, then put them in the tanks. They've been sitting in the tanks for almost 24 hours now, and they still havn't sunk. What's going on here?

 

[nmonks]

They're floating because air is still trapped in the wood. The old school way to treat "fresh" wood is to stick it in the cistern of the loo. After a few weeks to months, the wood will sink and any acids or pollutants should have leached out as well.

Alternatively, silicone the wood to a piece of slate, and bury the slate under the gravel. Most wood collected from "the wild" is safe to use, but do be aware than some, particularly resinous woods, might not be. This is especially true if you have fish (e.g., Panaque) that eat wood.

Cheers, Neale

 

[SJ2K]

You did change the water frequently while boiling right? Dont forget if you collected it off the beach it will likely be saturated with salt.

 

[WillyRBeek]

You did change the water frequently while boiling right? Dont forget if you collected it off the beach it will likely be saturated with salt.

I changed it once during the boiling process when the water became almost black.

 

[Waspy]

try using sinkwood instead of driftwood