Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I was hoping for a 22 -26 ft dome. I would love the 30+ , but my husband is worried it would ruin the victorian "feel" of our restored 1870's farmstead. He thinks he can hide the dome on the south side of our grove.

Edited by CL

The fine details are the killer..even when you plan everything to the last detail you will always miss something

I think the panels will be more this shape

Thanks Hex

How about some pictures of your geo dome project?

On condition you come help me mix this 3/4 ton of conny by hand

When the Pond freezes over I'll skate over Or better...will rig a sail on my recumbent and ice blades

There is a place not to far from here that makes concrete dome structures or industry and homes. They blow up a large air form to make the dome then spray foam and concrete inside it to make the structure. I have often though it would be neat if I could cut and glue pieces of clear plastic sheeting together to make the dome form the way they do. Then I could just add an air lock and blow up a green house with a fan. If I could make it double walled and inflate the middle then it would be somewhat insulated too.. However, I have never figured how how to cut the plastic so that it makes a half sphere when glued together.

Here is the house I would love from that company you mentioned. Ok, I have no reason to build a house, but if I could I would put the aquaponics set up right in the middle.

Look at a spider's web if you want a shape and the most efficient way of making a dome. I've watched one today and found it amazing, the speed and perfection of it is such a brilliant way to make things, even nets and stuff.
What would be the sides to insulate for winter period? North bottom sides i suppose...

I went to one of the workshops at the Monolithic Dome Institute (the company mentioned here.) The Torus floor plan you show has never actually been built. Problem with those completely enclosed courtyards like that is that they are not quite as pleasant in reality as they look on paper.

The Geodesic shapes are probably more appropriate for greenhouses/screen structures but for all other purposes, I definitely like the airformed, insulated, thinshell concrete structures.
If one wants to go with an ap greenhouse and a dome home, I would not combine the two as keeping the home/furnishings nice while attached to a wet greenhouse space would be very costly on the HVAC and dehumidification equipment/energy use.

One could do a thinshell structure with a big cut out accross the best sun exposure and project out with some greenhouse structure. Then keep the fish tanks back under the main part of the dome. Actually it could be a great idea to put your kitchen and bathrooms in the AP done separated from the main house with separate ventalation and that way the biggest air quality problems would be in the wet dome and the main house HVAC system could be pretty small.

By the way, my house design I hope to build in the next couple years is a thinshell concrete structure designed by Cloudhidden Designs LLC. More info on my web pages

Edited by CL

I had bought one of the 40' dome air forms and later sold it as circumstances changed. I think its amazing technology. The have a 3500 sqft dome that is cooled with a single 1 ton RV air conditioner. If you know Texas weather you know that amazing to cool that much with so little. As to the garden in the center I think the best way to make that work would be glass windows at the top than can open and a large air duct to bring air up from under the slab; a cool tube. That would remove humidity and keep the temp very nice. However I think you would need to build the inner walls more like the outer walls; insulated.