Gretal Posted September 14, 2005 Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 It's been in the tank for about 3 weeks now, with a 5kg bag of stones sitting on top of it, but it is still floating when I take the stones off. Before that, it was in a big rubbish bin full of water for a couple of weeks, but because of it's size, it wasn't fully submerged. How long is it going to take before it stops floating? Or should I just give up and throw it out? :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted September 14, 2005 Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 It really depends on the piece of wood, no way of telling for sure. I got three pieces at the same time, one took two weeks to sink, another a month and the last a month and a half. Try submerging it in very hot (boiling if you can do it) water and add baking soda to the water. This apparently 'sucks' all the little air bubbles out of the wood. I used this technique to sink my last piece after I got tired of waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretal Posted September 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 A month and a half?!?! I would put it in boiling water, but I have nothing big enough to put it in. I don't want to add boiling water to the tank incase it breaks. We don't have a bath to use either I could try the rubbish bin, but the top piece sticks out of the water about 20ish cm, so wouldn't that make it a waste of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted September 14, 2005 Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 If you're not using your bathtub, you can use that :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretal Posted September 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 We don't have a bath, only a shower Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted September 14, 2005 Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 Would it fit in a cooler? That's what I used for my piece, but it only fit half in so I kept flipping it around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretal Posted September 14, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 Well it fits in my rubbish bin, but the top end sticks out. However, if flipping it over works okay, then I'll try that. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monaro1 Posted September 14, 2005 Report Share Posted September 14, 2005 not all wood sinks, i have a old jetty pillon that was totaly sunk for most of its life.when it broke off it floated straight to the top.its been in my tank for 2 years now and it still floats without being held down. looks to good not to have it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretal Posted September 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 Is there any way to keep it down, such as hanging sinkers from it / tying it down etc? Or would sinkers leech lead into the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misnoma Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 not all wood sinks, i have a old jetty pillon that was totaly sunk for most of its life.when it broke off it floated straight to the top.its been in my tank for 2 years now and it still floats without being held down. looks to good not to have it With something that big I would drill 1-2" holes in the bottom, and find cylinders of lead to fit into it... shouldn't be too hard to find a way to embed lead into it without it being visible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klaymann Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 misnoma is right .. is the best way to get wood to stay down... you can find lead on most old house roofs and industrial roofs where the top center trim meets the main roofing corrogated sheets :lol: .... but first melt the lead outside so as to burn off the toxic paint fumes that are on them :lol: :lol: .. not that I have done this before.. only surmising :lol: :lol: :lol: ........................ 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caper Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 I didn't know you could put lead in tanks. What about those little lead sinkers they use for fishing would they be ok to use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 I was thinking if you found some of the pyramid shaped sinkers you could drill a hole so that it is a tight fit and basically bash it in (loves big hammers :lol: ) You could try having a ring around to find out where you could get some in bulk, thinking possibly engineering maybe coachbuilding type places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted September 16, 2005 Report Share Posted September 16, 2005 I tied sinkers to a piece of wood. The sinkers aren't visible as they are covered with gravel and the wood is nice and stable. I drilled holes in the wood to give me something to tie the sinkers to. You could also weight the wood down with rocks until it stays submerged by itself Cheers Judy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 Or you could get a bigger piece of driftwood and wedge it between the bottom and the tank bracing at the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gretal Posted September 17, 2005 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 Thanks for all of the ideas! I don't think I could get a bigger piece of wood in there. It was hard enough getting that bit in past the centre brace. Think I will try the lead thing. Even if I only manage to anchor one end, and have the other end floating, should be okay. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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