Archivarium 2004

Raggamuffin · Members Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia

I was lucky enough to find a really excelent piece of bogwood. its a single branch with a fork near the bottom. looks amazing.

my tank is a tall 20 gall and I want to have this branch protruding out of the substrate, pointing up into the top of the tank. to do this I plan to bolt it to a piece masonite or plywood (poisonous?) or some other flat wood to bury in the substrate. has anyone got any ideas about what I should use as this base? I was thinking maybe a bathroom tile could work. also, how should I attatch it? bolt? screw? twine? fishing line?

also this piece and a few others I have are irritatingly bouyant. how do I get them to sink?

benedictj · Advisors Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Location: new york, ny

I would avoid masonite and plywood. Masonite is basically a sponge when it hits water (I just bought a house. The folks who redid the porch used masonite for the ceiling of the porch about 10 years ago, it is now sagging and water logged. I can't imagine what it would do when submersed). Both are held together with glue, which will probably leach into your water as the wood slowly disintegrates.

The easiest way to approach floating drift is just to put it into a big container with some dechlorinated water, weight it down with some rocks, and let is soak until it floats no longer.

Another thing you could do is lock it down with some aquarium sealant. If you already have water in the tank, you'll have to afix it to something heavy. Or you could pick up one of those planting rocks (the faux rocks with a depression cast in the middle, repleat with holes). Screw it in with a stainless steel wood screw.
_________________
Best,

Jake

Raggamuffin · Members Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia

I attactced the biggest peice of driftwood to an old piece of terracotta floor tile with some brass (apparaently rustproof) screws. looks great but is still floating, even though it has been weighed down in a bucket for a few days now.

any idea how long it will take to sink?

I'll post images of the tank once it's done.

benedictj · Advisors Joined: 05 Dec 2004 Location: new york, ny

If you have it in a bucket, I'd just pile some heavier rocks on top of it to weight it down until it absorbs enough water to stays down on its own.
_________________
Best,

Jake

Raggamuffin · Members Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia

ripper. thanks benedictj. very much appeciated.