Caryl Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 I don't boil my big pieces of wood dark and have never had a problem. I gather them from the river mouth so they have been sitting in salt water. Don't know if this helps or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 i'm kind of working backwards on this project I have a nice piece of wood i collected from a beach, and with a bit of convincing it fits in my tank - and looks great! when the tank is empty. the problem ariseswith the addition of water & from it being about 1400mm long, 60mm high and a 10cm radius at the thickest part, with a larger root/stump bit on one end. ...and of course, being overly bouyant. i'll be posting the pics when i get the film developed. i experimented on a offcut (originally it was about 3m long) by boiling the heck out of it for about an hour, and it sank. Of course boiling a piece of the aforementioned dimensions is proving a hassle - the largest vessle i have in the house is the tank itself and rather hard to get onto the stove. it (the log) stays down if i attach a 10kg weight to it, something that i only have in double measures in the form of cinderblocks, and not to be rude to any up-coming construction engineers come aquascapists, they look pretty darn stupid in my tank, esp with string attached. at the moment the log is sitting in the bath in hot water and leaching out tannin to its hearts content. tomorrow i am heading to the warehouse to obtain a gas burner ring, and then i will boil the heavy knotted end of it to death in an old rubbish bin. and although it sounds like i have it all sorted, i'm just playing - knowing my chances when i get it back in the tank it will rot, float, or turn into a giant freshwater squid and eat my flatmates - never know my luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 9, 2004 Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 Hmmm...How about moving some of the gravel around and siliconing it to the bottom of the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted April 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2004 dark can you get it out here? It can go in the pool over winter and leach to its hearts content. I also spotted in a marine equipment site this device for attaching coral to glass. Basically was a plate with prongs that fibreglass into coral on suction pads, all non metallic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Hey, that's an even better idea! Silicone a bunch of suction cups to the bottom! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 10, 2004 Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 Silicon the log directly to the base of the tank, the back wall, or both depending on the shape o f the log Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joze Posted April 10, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2004 bloody hell Ira I showed them to you. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 insane boiling of the log update: it worked nicely! the only problem was that the log was about 3 times longer than the bin i was boiling it in, so i only got the stump end of it in, so the end result was a log that sinks at one end! The other end is now weighted down with a brick that is cleverly concealed under the substrait - hopefully potential audience will think that bright green rope holding it down is some strange plant they don't want cuttings of! so, to conclude; boiling is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamboe2001 Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 have you ever tryd drilling holes in the bottom of the log and melting fishing sinkers int the wood and then cover with silicone works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman98 Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 fish sinkers are made of lead and that could pose a problem to the fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 I feed my fish zuchenni (spelling?) attached to lead weights. I think that every 2 a put in only 1 comes out. Must be 50 of them in there. Not a problem in this tank and setup over 2.5 years so wouldn't worry to much. Personally i'd just wait till it sunk though! Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 I think I'd have just flipped it over and boiled the other end... (Of course, I have no idea what it's shapedlike, maybe it wouldn't have fit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 its curved like a banana with a big knot on one end i tried using weight to keep it down, i needed about 10kg at each end to keep it in place and 15kg if i wanted it to stay there. - thats a lot of lead any suction cup i can think of would have posed problems, and silicon - although probably my most alternate idea, would have been a good idea when the tank was empty. as it was i had trouble getting it into the tank, having said that i had problems getting it into the car, and its not like i have a small car! i promise pictures to you all, for those that do not come over and laugh at it in the near future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 Andyman said fish sinkers are made of lead and that could pose a problem to the fish I have heard this often, and completely disagree with it. If the tank was to sit there, no water changes, then MAYBE I could go along with it. But due to the fact, any build up from the lead oxidizing is negated by water changes. If there is any reason to worry about lead implants in the log, the implants could be sealed. Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted April 28, 2004 Report Share Posted April 28, 2004 have to disagree Alan, while the fish sinkers themselves are perhaps not an issue, the hooks just down the line have been known to cause problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamboe2001 Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 quote]have to disagree Alan, while the fish sinkers themselves are perhaps not an issue, the hooks just down the line have been known to cause problems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.L Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 no one said anything about hooks I think Mark was just joking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 Not sure if it's applicable to Dark's monster bit of wood but you can also screw the bits of wood to old undergravel filter plates - then you've got a greater area to pile gravel onto and (hopefully) hold it in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MGilchrist Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 I think Mark was just joking grin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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