Safe drift wood anchor?

[rednekbish]

Greetings all,

Hope everyone's fish heaven is fairing well, I have a large piece of drift wood that was used in my 200 Gallon tank (before I owned it). However it was screwed to a piece of slate with two sheet metal screws. The screws that were in it are rusted.

I have since removed the drift wood from the slate and have been soaking it in water about a week and a half maybe two weeks and it is still very buoyant.

It would be a center piece in my 55 gallon and I would like for it to lie down on its side in the center of the tank. It was originally standing straight up on the slate.

Is there an easy and fish safe way to keep it anchored without screwing it onto the slate?

As always all help is appreciated!

 

[bayoupr]

Get some screws made of 316SS and you shouldn't have a problem of rusting on that type.

 

[Fishsmurf]

Another way is to use clear aquarium selant to attached it to a piece of clear perspecs (sp?). You use substrate to hide the perspecs and the weght of the substrate should keep it all rooted to the bottom....

 

[NatakuTseng]

That or you could try using the silicone to attache the piece of slate to the driftwood.

 

[daveedka]

The ultimate driftwood anchor IMHO:

Egg crate (slate will work, but it's harder to work with) Attach the drftwood with nylon cable ties. the egg crate section needs to be fairly large, and it's best if it extends under some of your other rocks or decor, but it will hold the driftwood down very well once it is covered with substrate. you can either drill samll holes in the wood to run the tie through, or screw them on with small stainless screws. a lot of driftwood will have knobs or protrusions at the base that you can strap the ties around and still hide them with substrate or rocks.

 

[rednekbish]

Awesome suggestions!

I love the egg crate idea it sounds like the most viable solution, I've been collections river stones to place in the tank this would give me the nudge to do so.

Thank you everyone for the advice!

 

[daveedka]

I use the egg crate across the whole tank (OERFUG set up) and basically, I just attached everything decor wise I wanted and then added substrate around it. One word of caution, if you attach the wood to a full tank peice of egg crate. you cannot remove the wood easily for any type of cleaning or rearranging. It can be removed, and reinstalled. but it is a sort of tricky operation. Just thought I'd mention that so you don't hate me later. if you want some tips on that operation feel free to ask.
Dave

 

[Cat]

I used lead fishing weights to hold down my lava rock. I picked them up from a fishing show as lead is okay in tanks as its often used to hold down plants. whien you wrap lead wire around them.
I just put clear thread round various parts of the rock and tied it though the eye holes at the top of the pieces of lead, which I then buried in the gravel. Its quite handy as you can easily remove or move the driftwood around should you wish to.