Suggestions for mounting driftwood

[KMO]

I have several pieces of bogwood/driftwood that I recently removed from my barebottom tank. The driftwood, lying along the bottom and leaning against the back, just traps too much food and wastes. I do 50% water change daily and it's a bit disturbing to my Discus as I bonk around the tank moving and rearranging the driftwood.



I want to cut off one end of some pieces and mount them on on a piece of slate. I'm planning on cutting off the end with a power miter saw, so I'll have about a 2 inch diameter flat surface at the end of the wood.

What do you suggest as a glue or cement to mount the wood to the slate?

Kevin

[ChloroPhil]

I would get a masonry drill bit and use stainless steel screws to attach the wood to the slate. With plants in there the little bits of rust that get into the water will quickly be used up. I've never seen problems come from using a stainless steel screw to mount wood.

Best,
Phil

[YellowClaw]

Also, if you have a thick slab to drill through, keep a bottle of water or garden hose close by. The drill bit will get hot and will start to wear down or twist out of shape. Keeping the drill bit cool with the water will help tremendously.

[YellowClaw]

Remember, if your piece of driftwoods are small, remember to pre-drill holes into the driftwood beforehand to prevent the wood from splitting.

[ReMY]

Have a look at this French link : http://www.hmprod.net/aquariums/pages/racines01.htm

Yeah I know it's French, but the pictures are good... and if you have time have a look at the other articles, the guy has done some real ingeneous stuff...

[Cosmo]

Hey ReMy,

Interesting pic's, but, umm... could you translate for us???

Jim

[ReMY]

Hi Cosmo

Sorry for the late reply. I've done my best to quickly translate the first four paragraphs of that page. Hope this helps.

"I am often asked how to make driftwood stand vertically. Once again, the solution is simple when you know it. What are the issues? Nice driftwood has very strange shapes. We usually try our best to find those with the oddest shapes. This makes it usually very difficult to have it stand safely in our tanks. I recommend to have them positioned vertically to emphasis the 3 D effect in the tank. A stable stand, odd shapes, vertical positioning, here are quite a few things that we have to address. The main idea is to create a stable stand. It will have to be big enough to ensure the perfect stability of the driftwood. Make sure you size the stand according to the size of your driftwood.

Let’s put together all required items. The driftwood will be attached to a flat stone, preferably a slate. They are neutral in water , very easy to work and thin enough to be easily hidden by the sand or the gravel. Simply drill a hole in the slate and either use a big nail or a screw to tie the driftwood to it. Easy, isnt’t? Ok I know some will say that the nail or the screw will rust in the water but there’s also a solution to that. Use silicone glue (the one you use to build tanks) and cover the screw with it so that the water is no longer in contact with it.

Ok, the hole is drilled now. Add some silicone glue in the hole to optimize the isolation. If necessary, add some glue between the slate and the driftwood (this can be necessary of the driftwood has real odd shapes).

Add some more glue to the nail/screw and that’s it, you’re done. Make sure you wait long enough for the glue to dry up and dip your “creation”. The slate bit can be hidden but you may just as well want to show it. Some of the fish we keep will be happy to keep their eggs there.
This method allows to position driftwood in tanks in any possible way. Please don’t tell me that creating a 3D effect is difficult in a tank! No more excuse to create flat setups now :)"

Voila!