rubber bands

[Da Squid]

I've just purchased some new driftwood and faster growing plants for my tank. The driftwood is being weighed down by rocks right now till it's water logged and I've just arbitrarily put the plants in the tank where they'll get sun, but I plan on rescaping everything after the driftwood is sunk.

I've two questions: Any idea how long a 17 inch long 5 inch wide piece of driftwood might take to get waterlogged? And the plants were tied together with rubber bands at the LFS. since I'll be uprooting them and planting again soon, I left the bands on so they'll all stay neat and together. Is this ok or should I untie everything?

Thanks!

 

[DragonFish71]

If it's manzanita DW it can take forfriggingever to water log. I have 3 pieces that have been in the tank since January that we still have rocks on to weigh down.

It it's grapevine, usually about 2-3 days depending on the size.

Mopani and malaysian dw should sink like a rock.



What type of plants are you keeping bundled with rubber bands? Most stem plants (like anacharis, ludwigia, rotala etc) will start to rot where the band is.

If it's a rhizome type plant like java fern, anubias, bolbitis fern, then you can use a rubber band to attach it to the dw. I use rubber bands, thread or fishing line. All 3 work well.

 

[Da Squid]

It's certainly not grapevine and it certainly didn't sink like a rock so I'll use process of elimination on this one. The plants with bands on them are a few different species of tall grass (I know they have a common name that is escaping me right now) and also some broad leaf plants with some pink in them. Based on your response I'll un-band them just to play it safe, especially since I've got a long wait till I can scape it all.

Thanks! Pictures will be posted on my "first timer w/a 55" thread eventually.

 

[Greenmaster]

An idea... if you plan on having rubber bands in your tank you could run a little carbon to ensure that the chemicals that are released from the bands don't harm the fish... (FW tend to be hardier then SW but I would use a little carbon if I was keeping it in my tank for long, just to be on the safe side.)

 

[Crepe]

I tied my dw to slate with fishing line....No rubber bands. 17x5 is probably going to take a long time to sink.

 

[Da Squid]

Ok. I'll just try to scape around the weights that are pinning the wood down for now. That way the plants will more or less be in the spots I want them sans rubber. Thanks everyone!