# how long for wood to sink -- 5ft peice



## sean369 (Dec 29, 2006)

i got a large 5 ft peice of wood from a park (its cleaned good now) and want to know how long will it take to sink 
its 5 ft long a diameter of mayby half a foot and its forked branck for mayby 2 ft so its pretty large

the main reason i ask this is because my tank it double braced so i want to know if i would need to lower the water level (so it doent hit the braces)

would tieing it to a brik be good or should i just float it add let it eventually sink??


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Depends on the type of wood it is. Make sure that it is a wood that is aquarium safe. Soft woods will fall to pieces in the tank and should not be used. 

I would soak the wood in a separate container first before putting into your main tank. Weigh it down with a rock/brick so it is completely submerged. It could take a week(s), month(s), year before it sinks. Or it may never sink.


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## sean369 (Dec 29, 2006)

its a 5 ft peice of wood so theres nowere i can really soak it
what types of wood wont sink?


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## essabee (Oct 11, 2006)

sean369 said:


> its a 5 ft peice of wood so theres nowere i can really soak it
> what types of wood wont sink?


If you can lay your hands on six foot polythelene tube, you can tie up one end, put the wood in this, slant it, fill it up with water, remove the air, and tie up the other end.Now wait and hope it will sink.

You can get an idea when if it would ultimately sink by putting a small bit of the wood in a jar and observing it.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

sean369 said:


> its a 5 ft peice of wood so theres nowere i can really soak it
> what types of wood wont sink?


If you have no means of soaking before putting it into your tank, then just weigh it down with some rocks in your tank. Hopefully it will eventually sink.

I'm not sure what type of wood will not sink. I know I have bought a piece of driftwood wood that has never sunk, which as been in a tank for 2 years.

_How did you clean/prepared the wood?_


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

How big is your tank? A 5 foot piece of wood with a 2 inch diameter is pretty large!


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## sean369 (Dec 29, 2006)

the tank is 125 gallons (72x18x23) 
the peice of wood is around 4-6 inches diameter

to clean it i first hoesed it down then wire brushed it well hosed it again
then used a wire brush attachment on a drill used thats on full peice hosed it down then yesterday i put it in a bathtub to soak (10hrs) (the whole thing wouldent fit in so just the main part

now its in my garage drying

i aso put a small peice of wood in a cup of water to see how long till it sinks
i really hope it sinks cuz its a nice peice


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

> now its in my garage drying


 You don't want it to dry, you want it to get waterlogged so it will sink. Put it in a large Rubbermaid type container and submerge as much as possible. It would help to weigh it down with a brick or something else heavy, relatively inert.


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## sean369 (Dec 29, 2006)

it drying so i can see if it beed to be cleaned in places or if its good
i cant put it in the tank yet because theres an egg crate divider about 2ft in 
(4 ft on other side) and when my fish are close enought in size and i add them together then i will pput the wood in 
also i want to swich my substrate to soilmaster select , get lighting then plants and co2


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

trenac said:


> Depends on the type of wood it is. Make sure that it is a wood that is aquarium safe. Soft woods will fall to pieces in the tank and should not be used.


Very true. I have some wood my parents collected for me. The larger, nicer pieces ended up falling to pieces in the rubber tub I was using to soak them. The harder woods are almost ready to put in the tank (still releasing lots of tannins).

Essabee has a darn good idea provided the piece will actually fit. Good thinking.


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## sean369 (Dec 29, 2006)

ya i might try with a poylurithane (cant spell) tub but first im try ing to sink a small 1inch peice of wood from it to see how long that takes

i have a peice of wood in my newt tank that took months to sink (only halfs in water rest is on land) so im hopeing this peice will sink sooner 

if i think it will take a while ill probaly use the tub and weight it down and try to sink it there


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