Boiling Drift Wood

[FlipCyd]

Noob question:
How long did it take to boil your drift wood until it sank? Any input or personal experiences is welcome. Thanx

This is gonna be my 1st planted tank. I've done reefkeeping for a while now, I think it's time to give a FWP a try.

[vance71975]

Originally Posted by FlipCyd

Noob question:
How long did it take to boil your drift wood until it sank? Any input or personal experiences is welcome. Thanx

This is gonna be my 1st planted tank. I've done reefkeeping for a while now, I think it's time to give a FWP a try.

Dunno i wasn't that patient mine boiled for about 3 hours baked at 350 till completely dry and then boiled for another 3 hrs and it still hasn't sank and it has been in tank for about 2 weeks!

[DiscusIt'sWhats4DinneR]

it really matters what type of wood youre using.

some sink on their own, others dont. i have boiled a few pieces to get most of the tannins out, and a few i have just given a quick rinse and thrown in. i do a lot of water changes so the tannins never really get a chance to become noticable before they get pumped out anyway.

[Robert H]

Dunno i wasn't that patient mine boiled for about 3 hours baked at 350 till completely dry and then boiled for another 3 hrs and it still hasn't sank and it has been in tank for about 2 weeks!

Thats way overkill! Boiliing for a couple hours is more than enough by itself. Bakeing it in the oven does nothing, it certainly does not help it to sink! For it to sink it has to be water logged, all the air in the wood is forced out by water. You want the wood to remain wet, not dry out. Its like a sponge. A dry sponge will float until it fills up with water. Air is forced out and the weight of the water in the sponge makes it sink. A sponge sinks in a matter of seconds, wood takes a little longer!

hardwood, dense heavy wood contains less air. Sinks faster. Bulky, large pieces of wood take longer to get water logged, particularly if its softwood

[jmhart]

For most wood, boiling only slightly helps. Boiling helps kill anything that could be bad for your tank and it helps the release of tannins. Some wood takes months or years to sink. I know a guy that's had a rather large piece soaking in a 55g trash can for over a year....and it's going to be awesome when it's done.

For me, most wood takes 2-4 weeks to sink.

[newshound]

i have a piece that will not sink.
attach some slate to it...down it goes.