Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm looking for a very sustainable material to make a waterproof fish tank. The structural part could be made of wood. But how to waterproof it? I don't like plastics because all the chemicals involved in the production of it and the possibility of leaking those into the fish tank. There are a few which I can think of, but they all have major disadvantages:
- Glass, breakable, costs a lot of energy to produce
- Lining with clay, probably not 100% waterproof, deteriorates the wood.
- Painting with linseed oil, what does the oil do to the fish? Does the wood deteriorate?

I am capable of doing a LCA (Life Cycle Analysis) in the end. But first I need some great ideas. Please help me in my search and I'll be happy to share my results with you!

Regards,

Arnold Boer
http://www.arhen.com

I would suggest EPDM pond liner as it has low production costs and is inert so it's environmentally friendly and very durable. I doubt it's sustainable but I think it's a better option than the other choices.

http://www.naturalenviro.com/sections.php?section=pondliner

There are probably better places to get this. I mainly posted the site to give you the idea.

For a wood framed/structure a Pond Liner is much better than any other media you can think of..

You have to make sure that the tank structure is well constructed as water is a powerful force that want to get it own way..
I've seen what water can do, to a poorly constructed container..

Juergen

Fiberglass, best stuff out there

What kind of resin should I use? It's the resin that makes it waterproof and that also the 'chemical' part of fiberglass. Do you use a natural resin?

You might want to look at hemp based "GRP" Google it and you will find lots of hits. It's being used for Lotus cars in the UK for body panels (there's a farmer who grows 350 acres in Norfolk). It's green, it's new, it's sustainable, it's waterprrof . . and I can't think of any more "it's", or should that be hits!

How would clay/bricks/cob etc actually preform as for the fish tank? Would these leak or absorb a lot of water?

I could see a cistern shaped FT built from clay/bricks/cob as a good way of storing thermal mass and stabilizing the water temp. but how would it actually hold the water by itself?

I once suggested rammed earth and someone suggested water proofing it with lime like the ancient aqueducts. But I'm not sure if the lime would affect the fish and plants.

Or if you use the correct acoustic frequency you could levitate a sphere of water with no need for a container:

Wah! I´ll go for that machine any day, do you think i could fit a guppy and inside a big drop and a small plant on its surface? Would be the coolest AP ever!

On Lin seed oil. General rule, Oils=bad for fish respiratory, avoid in AP

Yes Album Cover AP, YACAP ?