sinking drfitwood

hey guys just got some driftwood today from bill and i was just wondering how long does it take to sink?

Couple of days is normal. If its locally collected driftwood then it may never sink and you'll need to anchor it down.

Amp. This piece came out of the Swift Creek Res. Like most of my pieces. Ry.. If you need to immediately sink/use it, as Amp said, you'll need to anchor it. I'd get a small slab of slate, and drill a hole or two through it, using stainless steel screws, screw into the wood. bury the slate in your substrate. OR..If your patient, In a clean garbage can, put the wood in there, place a weight on it to keep it submerged and add water. The deeper the water, the quicker the wood will absorb the water becoming waterlogged.

Got a turkey fryer? If the wood piece is small enough. You could boil it and leave it in the pot till the water cools off. The boiling action helps expel trapped air and by allowing it to sit in water while it cools off will also help the fibers to absorb more water. Only works on small pieces though.

I would just do what Bill suggested and use a flat rock and stainless steel bolt. I've used slate and flagstone. Slate works best since its very dense and flat but you'll need a masonry bit and possibly a hammer drill depending on how thick the slate is. Flagstone is generally softer and more prone to cracking but easier to drill with a regular drill and bit. Don't use a wood bit unless you absolutely must. It will wear down the bit to the point where it will be absolutely useless for drilling anything in the future. A stainless steel bolt is not a must but other bolts will eventually rust away.

Tip: the surface that will bolted to the slate should be either cut or sanded flat. This will reduce any possible torque on the bolt. Having an oversized washer between the slate and bolt head will prevent the bolt from cracking thin pieces of slate. May also want to tie the slate to the driftwood first and see if its heavy enough to keep the wood submerged. It would suck to waste a bunch of time messing with attaching the slate to only find out that its not heavy enough to work.

I have a very buoyant piece of driftwood and almost tore my planted tank apart getting it to submerge.

I finally just took a large piece of quartz that I had in a different part of the tank and set it on top of the wood. It created a couple of nice hiding places for my fish and I like how it looks more than I thought I would!

I think it all just depends on how large and how porous it is. I have an XL piece of driftwood that took a year to fully submerge, I had to sink it with a rock. putting it in really warm/hot water will help it open up the wood to suck in water, some people even boil it to sink it faster.

Sanding a mating surface into the driftwood may make assembly a little easier, but there's no need to do so for fear of stressing the screw - the driftwood and the slate both will give long before the screw. I would recommend piloting the driftwood, though. The washer is also a good idea. +1 on the stainless. You want a stainless steel wood screw - no need to get anything giant, a #8 with enough length to engage five or six threads should be ample.