How long does it take driftwood to get water logged? repost?

Question

This is a repost from earlier.  Thought I might get some more infomative answers by posting it again.

 How long does it take for drift wood to stop floating?
I bought some drift wood at the lps the other day and I've been soaking it for days now. It's still floating. Did I just buy the wrong kind? I know some types never get water logged and will always float. It didn't say what kind it was but could it be cedar? It kinda smells like cedar- but just faintly? Anyway, how long do you usually have to soak drift wood before it becomes water logged and will sink?

magicman116 · Accepted Answer

It can take weeks to water log enough to sink on it's own.

As for the odor, scrape or lightly sand a small area and see if the cedar smell increases, if so it could be a very suspect piece of wood.  I certainly wouldn't use cedar in a tank myself.  You can also soak it in a clean container over night ( weight it down) and see if an oily film forms on the water.  If so, don't use that piece of wood.

One "trick" that can help:  On a really stubborn piece of wood, or when you really, really don't want to wait on it to completely water log, silicon it to a fair sized piece of slate that you can then hide in the gravel.  That will hold it down in the tank whether it is water logged or not.

MM

Coral Reef Forum · Answer

it will take a while.

getting it so sink is easy,  but you have to cure it first.  Warm water for 2 weeks to a month will cure the wood.  which is important to remove the tannins from the wood.

How long does it take driftwood to get water logged? repost?

Related Questions

Trending Questions