Will My Wood Sink

The thicker the piece of wood, the longer it takes to sink. Short fat wood of the same weight as a long thin piece takes longer. I once had a chunk of wood take 3 weeks to sink. Give it a bit longer.

Or attach a chunk of rock to it. Some people use a screw to attach it permanently.

Two weeks and still floating.  It’s an obscure shape and screwing in slate or a stone probably won’t secure properly.

I have all my plants delivered from Tropica but worried now I can’t plant them until wood sinks.

How long will plants last, do I need to submerge them at all? It’s going to be really difficult to add plants before wood.

Yeah I can set up a small bucket and light. I’m guessing tap water and any temp is ok for plants?

I'm not sure what you mean by sealed plants? I've not bought anything from Tropica so I've no experience with the way they pack them, I'm afraid.

If you mean the Tropica 1-2-grow in the little tubs, check on the tropica site to see if they give any advice on how long they can stay in the tubs. I've occasionally taken them out of the pots and put them in a different container (sandwhich box, tupperware, etc.) and they've been fine.

I have a large piece of wood in the tiger barb tank that I've had in water for months, and it still doesn't sink. I carried on with the tank anyway, and use strategically placed large stones to weight the wood down. Hopefully, one day I'll be able to remove the stones.

Tropica 1 2 grow and the plants sealed in blister packs will all be fine for a couple of weeks. Don't let them get too hot. If you have any that arnt sealed in containers you should add them to a bucket of water and a bit of light will help though not essential for a few days. They won't be happy like this for long.  As you're effectively asking them to go from an emersed growth form to submerged growth form in imperfect conditions. Maybe you could put them in the tank (with heater on, lights on for 6 hours a day) in their pots, they should be fine like that for quite a while.

Personally I don’t understand people who need wood to sink. While it’s floating it’s a bonus, imo. Fish that won’t be interested in it when it’s on the bottom are interested while it’s floating. And most pieces look better when they’re not just lying on the bottom. (I tend to use twigs and branches, rather than ‘lumps’).

Find a huge pot and boil the wood in water if possible for me that wasn’t possible so I bought a bucket from Halfords for a pound threw my spider wood in there and every 2 hours during the day if I could I bould run the bath get it piping hot drain the old water and fill it up with hot water this will also burn off any unwanted bacteria on the wood but even doing it the way I did it still took my 1week you only want a cheap bucket because you don’t want to cross Contaminate the wood and the wood let’s off a dye colour so you get brownish waster every 2 hours but now I just that same bucket to water change hope this helps