Driftwood Won't Sink

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

BKyler

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Aug 20, 2024
Messages
34
Location
Pennsylvania
I've been soaking a piece of wood for three weeks in a laundry tub with a brick on top of it and it still won't sink. Any suggestions?
 
I've been soaking a piece of wood for three weeks in a laundry tub with a brick on top of it and it still won't sink. Any suggestions?
Some woods may take months to get waterlogged enough to sink while others can take days. It's just a time thing, not a type thing. Other options are: 1) getting a piece of slate or other heavy stone and attach the wood to that with a stainless steel screw to weigh the wood down. 2) If you see areas where bubbles are coming up from the wood, you can try drilling small holes into the wood to open the pocket to the water. 3) You can try boiling the wood to help expedite the release of any air inside the wood.
Other than that, you are just going to have to wait it out. (y)
 
Boiled it for three hours and going to put it back in laundry tub with a brick on it. Still won't sink. No bubbles coming up from the wood.
 
Boiled it for three hours and going to put it back in laundry tub with a brick on it. Still won't sink. No bubbles coming up from the wood.
Sounds like it's just going to be a time thing or you are going to have to attach a weight to the bottom. Unfortunately wood has a mind of it's own. Some will sink quickly and some take a long time to sink. There's just no telling what you have when it's out of the tank at purchase. :(
 
Sounds like it's just going to be a time thing or you are going to have to attach a weight to the bottom. Unfortunately wood has a mind of it's own. Some will sink quickly and some take a long time to sink. There's just no telling what you have when it's out of the tank at purchase. :(
Would drilling some holes in it make it sink quicker?
 
So that means that the air probably is not in large pockets but in the " veins" of the wood so drilling will most likely only make the wood look like swiss cheese. :(
This is what the piece of wood looks like.
 

Attachments

  • 20241030_092327[1].jpg
    20241030_092327[1].jpg
    178.4 KB · Views: 1
Nice piece of wood but the air could be anywhere in there. :( I wouldn't turn it into swiss cheese. Wood just naturally floats until it gets waterlogged. That's the nature of wood.
 
Back
Top Bottom