Driftwood/Rock help

[Maltimomma]

I have 3 pieces of driftwood that I have boiled and boiled and soaked and soaked for about 3+ weeks and it still will not sink. I know you can tie it to a rock and I have some really pretty rocks I'd love to put in the tank. Next problem - fear of the rocks harming my fish. I've also read that you can use slate in a tank. Is that true? If I used slate could you attach the wood to the slate using aquarium silicone? I would prefer the pretty rocks. I got them from my property and I live in a valley area of high desert Nevada. I'm about ready to just toss the driftwood and the rocks and just forget it. Any suggestions here?

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Pics of rocks
& what kind of wood?
Slate rock is safe for the aquarium
The dw tied to the rock should work
& the silicone should work as well

 

[molly100a]

I have read that if you put the rocks in white vineger and they fizzel they are not safe for aquariums as they contain lime.

 

[Maltimomma]

I have read that if you put the rocks in white vineger and they fizzel they are not safe for aquariums as they contain lime.

I already did that and they did not fizz or bubble. But I've also read that that is not really foolproof. One of my worries that since we live in a valley in the high desert of Nevada (near Reno) that there may be a lot of harmful minerals.

 

[Maltimomma]

Pics of rocks
& what kind of wood?
Slate rock is safe for the aquarium
The dw tied to the rock should work
& the silicone should work as well

Can't seem to get pics to load. To bad I can't use them they would look very pretty on the black sand.

 

[Xand3r]

You can definitely use slate in a tank, I have a "cave" made of slate in my 29 and haven't had any problems. The trick to sink your drift wood is to put it in a bucket , then put a couple of rocks on the wood fill the bucket with water and forget about it for a month or so. If you just let the wood float on the water it will never sink. I know that there are also other tests for the rock. I think that one of them has to do with the color?

 

[Maltimomma]

You can definitely use slate in a tank, I have a "cave" made of slate in my 29 and haven't had any problems. The trick to sink your drift wood is to put it in a bucket , then put a couple of rocks on the wood fill the bucket with water and forget about it for a month or so. If you just let the wood float on the water it will never sink. I know that there are also other tests for the rock. I think that one of them has to do with the color?

I did put them in a bucket with rocks on them for about 2 weeks. I bought about 10 pieces on Ebay and all but 3 have sunk. Guess I'll put them back in the bucket again. As for the color of the rocks they are kind of off white and shades of rosy pink.