# weighing down driftwood



## Bob1

Hello,

I have a very large and long piece of driftwood that I would like to weigh down in my tank. I think it will tank sometime for it to become water logged. I would like to weigh it down so that it doesn;t interfere visually with the aqua scape that I plan to plant. The only way i can think of doing this is to use say a 20 lb cast iron dumbell weight that I would screw to the bottom of the wood. How would the rusting of the cast iron effect the health of the tank and it;s inhabitants?

Thanks Bob


----------



## treyLcham

Bob1 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have a very large and long piece of driftwood that I would like to weigh down in my tank. I think it will tank sometime for it to become water logged. I would like to weigh it down so that it doesn;t interfere visually with the aqua scape that I plan to plant. The only way i can think of doing this is to use say a 20 lb cast iron dumbell weight that I would screw to the bottom of the wood. How would the rusting of the cast iron effect the health of the tank and it;s inhabitants?
> 
> Thanks Bob


U can water log it in your bathtub for a week and it should be good to go after that.
p.s. using hot water will help the process go faster


----------



## caza

Could you use a large, thick piece of slate drilled into the bottom of the piece of wood? Personally, I'd be leary of using a dumbell. Not just the rust but also the paint and any other contaminates that might be on the item.


----------



## Bob1

Well the driftwood is 6 feet long so I am not sure that slate will hold it down. The driftwood weighs about 60 lbs.

Bump:


treyLcham said:


> U can water log it in your bathtub for a week and it should be good to go after that.
> p.s. using hot water will help the process go faster



The log has been submerged in the tank for about a week already


----------



## caza

Oh wow! I'd love to see pics once you get that setup! Hopefully someone else will have more options. Can totally understand your concern about getting it weighed down. Just curious ... how big is the tank if the driftwood is 6'?


----------



## Bob1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq6TNcNSZUE&feature=youtu.be

6 foot 125 gallon tank

Bob


----------



## Bushkill

Wow, I give you lots of credit for threading that monster into the tank!

You could try 2 12" slates set pretty far apart. Drill two holes into the slates so you can wrap the whole thing with a cable tie. You can eventually just cut it loose.


----------



## Clear Water

There's a lot of different ways to do it. You could attach a piece of slat to the bottom or just pile a couple rocks on it. If your ceiling isn't to tall I have used a board to hold it down. But the best as someone else suggest would to presoak it. The longer they soak the less it will tint your water.


----------



## treyLcham

Bob1 said:


> Well the driftwood is 6 feet long so I am not sure that slate will hold it down. The driftwood weighs about 60 lbs.
> 
> Bump:
> 
> 
> The log has been submerged in the tank for about a week already


O lol its 6ft long om yea idk lol


----------



## lochaber

I'd avoid the dumbell.

If the slate isn't enough to hold it down, maybe the big terracotta tiles? They are thicker, so I assume they are also heavier. Might be slightly more difficult to drill through.

You should be able to get an idea of how much weight it will take to submerge it by pushing it underwater with your hand. If you can't figure out the estimate, maybe try using smaller weights to figure out the minimum you need to get it to sink.

If you can't get enough weight with slate or terracotta tiles, maybe adding a brick or two (make sure they are clay bricks, and not the cinderblock/concrete type.) Usually you can find 1/2 thickness clay bricks, those might work well as far as hiding in the substrate.


----------



## PlantedRich

By nature, I would go for some limestone rocks to screw or ty-wrap to it. But if those are out for you, there are other ways that make work but be more trouble. You want it to not show that it is weighted/ that means internal weight. How are you set for large drilling? If you have hole saws or large bits, you can drill lots of holes on the bottom/ back side and add inert rocks for weight. 
If drilling is not it, maybe sawing out the backside with a Skilsaw would fit better? If bricks are handy, they are an easy item to tie together and droop over the log to get the correct weight to sink it. Once you see how many bricks, weigh the bricks and then switch to the rocks of choice.


----------



## Diana

I would do PlantedRich's last idea: 
Use bricks or rocks in a mesh bag, in pairs, and hang one of each pair on opposite sides of the log. The mesh bag might be something food comes in, perhaps avocados, for example.


----------



## Bob1

Diana said:


> I would do PlantedRich's last idea:
> Use bricks or rocks in a mesh bag, in pairs, and hang one of each pair on opposite sides of the log. The mesh bag might be something food comes in, perhaps avocados, for example.



Yup I agree thats an excellent idea! 
Will post pics once its done. 

Thanks Bob


----------



## PlantedRich

I have bricks with holes so I just run cord through the holes and hang them on. In my case, I have extremely hard alkaline water so I have gone the easy route for weight on large stuff. Quik-crete cement is much easier to fit into the holes I cut. NOT something I suggest for many people who have different water, though. It DOES bump the PH way high for the short term.


----------



## WestHaven

Where did you find that driftwood?


----------



## snarf

PlantedRich said:


> I have bricks with holes so I just run cord through the holes and hang them on. In my case, I have extremely hard alkaline water so I have gone the easy route for weight on large stuff. Quik-crete cement is much easier to fit into the holes I cut. NOT something I suggest for many people who have different water, though. It DOES bump the PH way high for the short term.


Could you leave 1/4 of the hole empty and seal it with silicone to waterproof it? I would assume that would stop the PH bump from the cement.


----------



## PlantedRich

There might be several ways to avoid the PH bump from cement, but then that would make extra work in my case so I have never tried it. We often do enough water changing that the effects of things we put in the tank are not the really big problem we read about. I have used lead shot to weight down some things that were hard to find ways to fit. For that I have used silicone but I never really knew whether it stops water from entering over time. I suspect it might eventually get in.


----------

