# Killies Import > Planted Tanks >  tembusu (Fagraea fragrans) - will it sink?

## joteo

I had the opportunity of traveling through Port Dickson a couple of days back.

I went into a nursery and got a nice root system - dried up. The guy told me that it was a hard wood from the Tembusu tree.

Having no idea what it is, I bought it hoping to rescape my tank into this dramatic thing with plants all growing out of the tank.

Unfortunately it won't sink.

Two days of soaking hasn't helped. It hasn't even gone down a bit.

I did a search and this is the tree:
http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plan..._fragrans.html
http://www.sbg.org.sg/att_tc_tembusutree.asp

It's a hard wood tree. And it's a land tree. (not growing near water bodies) Do you think it'll never absorb enough water to sink?

I'm not able to boil it as the thing is bigger than any pot I've got.

I was thinking of adding some fishing weights to the roots, hiding them. I understand they're made of lead. Is it safe to leave them soaking in tanks for so long? Will it kill the fish?

Right now, I've put a rock on top to soak as much as the water in the tank. But this has to be a temporary solution only.

Any ideas as to what else I can do?

Thanks
joanne

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## zmzfam

One way is to silicone the wood onto a piece of slate and hide the slate by covering up with gravel. Make sure the silicone is fully cured before putting it in the aquarium.

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## timebomb

2 days is too short a time to tell, Joanne. I have driftwoods in my tanks that were so bouyant it took something like a month of soaking before they stay down. Using a rock to weigh the driftwood down may seem like a temporary solution but sometimes, it's the best one.

Anyway, driftwoods that won't sink isn't such a big problem. I have one now that stains the water brown despite having been soaked under water for more than 4 months. The stain is so serious even the gravel turns a darker colour. I would have given up on the driftwood if it weren't so beautiful. Show you a picture later  :Smile: 

Loh K L

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## joteo

Unfortunately, only one of the roots will reach the gravel when fully immersed and so siliconing the wood with a piece of rock may cause an imbalance.

A whole month for the wood to sink!

Guess that piece of rock will have to stay on top for now. 

My worry is if it will NEVER sink...

Thanks
joanne

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## hwchoy

tembusu trees are everywhere in Singapore. they produce small cream coloured flowers which turn into red berries. one of the heritage trees in SBG (on your $5 notes I think) is a tembusu.

check whether the resin or sap from it might be poisonous to fishes. If I recall correctly it has white sap if you break the leaf stalk.

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## timebomb

> My worry is if it will NEVER sink...


If the tembusu is as hard as they claimed it to be, it should sink, Joanne.

Hey, here are some pictures of my piece of driftwood which I bought from Malaysia in January this year. 







It still stains the tank and I have to change water every few days or it will be all brown.

Loh K L

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## Green Baron

Kwek leong,
You moss tank is looking fantastic, especially the Taiwan Moss wall !

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## timebomb

The tank only looks good in pictures, Gan. Up close, you will see there are all sorts of algae growing in the tank  :Crying:  

Loh K L

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## Green Baron

> The tank only looks good in pictures, Gan. Up close, you will see there are all sorts of algae growing in the tank  
> 
> Loh K L


At least it looks good in photo  :Very Happy:  Now you just need to get rid of the algae  :Smile:

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## strung_0ut

Mr. Loh,

That driftwood looks very nice and a very nice scape as well. Good skills.

Cheers,
Dennis

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## joteo

> tembusu trees are everywhere in Singapore. they produce small cream coloured flowers which turn into red berries. one of the heritage trees in SBG (on your $5 notes I think) is a tembusu.
> 
> check whether the resin or sap from it might be poisonous to fishes. If I recall correctly it has white sap if you break the leaf stalk.


You are right on that.

Well, I dumped it in my tank because I don't have a pail big enough to soak it in.

The fish are all alive. The shrimp. after 4 days, took a hit.

I will monitor it.

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## joteo

> Originally Posted by joteo
> 
> My worry is if it will NEVER sink...
> 
> 
> If the tembusu is as hard as they claimed it to be, it should sink, Joanne.
> 
> Hey, here are some pictures of my piece of driftwood which I bought from Malaysia in January this year. 
> 
> ...


It's a nice piece of wood. Do you know what type of tree it comes from?

My piece is too big for a 2 ft tank. I'm sure I'm breaking all the rules of good aquascaping. Hahah.

According to this website:
http://www.e-wood.com/ref/malaysian.asp (The information below is cut and paste from the website)

MALAYAN HARDWOODS

Heavy Hardwoods (10 types)

1. BALAU (Shorea spp.)
2. BITIS (Madhuca utilis)
3. CHENGAL (Balanocarpus heimii)
4. GIAM (Hopea spp.)
5. KEKATONG (Cynometra spp.)
6. KERANJI (Dialium spp.)
7. MERBAU (Intsia (Afzelia) palembanica)
8. RED BALAU (Shorea spp.)
9. RESAK (Vatica spp., Cotylelobium spp.)
10. TEMBUSU (Fagraea spp.)


10. TEMBUSU (Fagraea spp.)

* Weight: 801 kgs. per cu. metre
* Strength Group: B
* General Description: Sapwood is not well defined and often difficult to differentiate from heartwood. Wood is light yellow-brown in colour when fresh, weathering to a golden-brown or orange-brown. Surface is glossy: grain is slightly interlocked and the texture is moderately coarse or moderately fine and even.
* Principal Uses: Heavy construction, bridges, wharves, piling, boat framing, heavy-duty flooring, parquet flooring, cutting blocks (famous for butchers' blocks), printing dies, T-squares, straight edges, set squares, rulers, bowls, tubs, casks, butter churns, etc., and a good carving timber.
* Veneering: F. fragrans is not easily amenable to cold peeling, but the quality of the veneer is reasonably good. This species is at present considered not suitable for plywood manufacture.
* Other Equivalents: Burma (Ananma), Sri Lanka (Tembusu), India (Anan), Indochina (Trai), Philippines (Urung), Sabah (Tamasu), Sarawak (Tembusu), Thailand (Kan krao) 

In short, I guess it will eventually sink. My wooden chopping board never floated.  :Wink: 

joanne

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