Which material (metal) to use for fixing wood?

[Sanniejop]

Hello,
I am playing around with some hardscape i bought for my new planned 450L tank. I bought two big pieces of driftwood and i found an arrangement how i want to place them in the tank. But one of them can not hold itself in position, it falls over. Now i have a little rope to keep it in position but i dont want to use this solution in the tank.
I was thinking to drill some holes somewhere in the bottom of the wood to stick in some bendable rods so it gives the wood sort of legs to keep it balanced. But i was wondering which material is most suitable for this? Simply iron or does it need to be stainless steel?
Any tips are welcome,
Thanks

 

[Sanniejop]

And an other question. Is it wise to place stones underneath the wood pieces o r should i leave this open for shadow loving plants?

 

[tam]

A piece of slate and a stainless steel screw is the old school method. The slate is heavy (wood tends to float if not presoaked) and with the substrate on top too it gives it a firm base. I've also done egg crate and plastic cable ties (you need a hole that goes all the way through to make a loop for that). Egg crate has no weight so you need enough substrate/rocks on top to balance/weighed down.

 

[Little]

I think the normal approach is a heavy stone behind or under it and glue the wood to the stone (with the tissue paper and cyanoacrylate glue method).

 

[Sanniejop]

Hi @tam and @Little ,
Thanks for the tips. I expext the wood to be sinking. I tested it with the other piece and that was sinking immediately. Under water the force to keep it upright is much lower i noticed. The tip with the egg crate is a good one. Did not thought about that. But maybe I first try it with a stainless steel screw. If i can find a long enough one.
I forgot to mention that it will be a room divider type of setup. So i want it to look nice from both sides. I like the idea of a hovering piece of wood without a stone underneath for keeping it up.

 

[Aqua sobriquet]

A piece of slate and a stainless steel screw is the old school method. The slate is heavy (wood tends to float if not presoaked) and with the substrate on top too it gives it a firm base. I've also done egg crate and plastic cable ties (you need a hole that goes all the way through to make a loop for that). Egg crate has no weight so you need enough substrate/rocks on top to balance/weighed down.

I’ve also used a piece of heavy ceramic tile drilled and cut to size with stainless screws.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I was thinking to drill some holes somewhere in the bottom of the wood to stick in some bendable rods

<"Wooden dowels"> work really well for locking bits of wood together.

cheers Darrel

 

[Sanniejop]

<"Wooden dowels"> work really well for locking bits of wood together.

Hi Darrel, I dont need to connect the pieces together. Just want to prevent then from falling over.

 

[hamfist]

Stainless steel screws have always worked well, and safely for me. They are a million times easier to use than wooden dowels too. You won't even need to drill, just use a power driver to whack them straight in.