Backyard Aquaponics
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Does anyone know any details about burying an IBC? I am wanting to bury a pile of them under my green house but i dont want to squish them! So how do i reinforce them to withstand being under there.

According to the information i've found on them you can stack them 3 high. Which means if a 250gal IBC is full of liquid it will weigh just over 950lb. Making the bottom IBC holding 1,900LB.

So how do i reinforce them, or design this for a minimum amount of reinforcement needed?



I was thinking just leaving out the middle IBC & packing it with dirt to take the bulk of the load?

Your over thinking it a bit there enuro. All you need to do is put some tin sheeting or something like that to stop the dirt or sand falling in behind the IBC bars and possibly split the plastic as the wieght gains on the sides.

The best way to go about it is get all your IBC's in place, fill them with water and then just work on one side at a time. Get someone to hold a sheet of tin or timber against the bars then push the dirt up against it then move onto the next one.

They are fairly strong, a friend of mine has had his buried for years without any issues and he hasn't used anything around the sides.

Perfect! Thanks for the answer. Thats exactly what i was thinking. However i've had enough folks say to be careful that i didn't want to become a statistic.

maybe just make a cellar... put a cement pad down, build up block walls... make a heavy duty floor and the put your IBC's in the basement, no worries about them crushing or popping out when empty

jT

I do like that idea, however the cost of cement and blocks would blow my budget. Especially after i waterproof it. I live at the bottom of the 'hill' here. After a light rain the entire city drains to my place.

This topic comes at just the right time... I'm in the process of setting up my system and plan to bury the FT (no sump). I like the idea of filling the FT with water before back filling, and had planned to do just that. Also like the idea of working on one side at a time whilst back filling and using tin/ply to retain the soil...

But with the fluctuating water levels, during the F/D cycles, is there not a risk of the sides caving in under the pressure of the soil?? I had planned to stand a few sheets of ply around the tank prior to back fill, to reinforce and prevent any caving.

Thoughts?

PS, when I open the top of the FT IBC, I won't be cutting the top clean off, rather using the technique of cutting a section out of the flat area, retaining the corners for rigidity. Not sure if that will be enough added strength to do away with the reinforcing sheets...?

I have a friend his above ground pool exploded and he offered the whole thing to me if I tear it down. Planning in using the metal sides to support the dirt and a few other things around my greenhouse.

People are giving away above ground pools or real cheap on craigslist all the time. Just a thought.


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As you have indicated you may get water draining in , this is the main problem with buried IBCs if you have the wrong soil type and get a mini flood from a rain event or a failed AP connection you can find yourself having to dig out a collapsed muddy mess like my mate Johnsey , take the time to provide good braceing .

The potential of problems would be dependent on your soil type and surrounding conditions. I'd be nervous digging a 1m deep hole and expecting the vertical walls to not collapse over time.

I learned my lesson. Ive been working on setting my system for 6 Months ( spare time of course). 30X30 Greenhouse build and currently 3 - IBC fish tanks and 8 IBC grow beds. Its been one problem after another. The things that I thought were going to be the most complicated turned out to be the easiest and vice versa. I setup a IBC sump tank with no support at all. It over flowed and caved in the sides. I'm in the process of setting up a new IBC sump tank, pending more funds. Believe me, it will be supported. Its been a fun , expensive endeavor , I will not fail though.

Jhooker

This worked for me.


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It mite work at the moment but wate till it rains

I didn't have time to read everyone's feed back. Sorry if it was said already. As f'n'f said, watch out for rain. If the buried IBC tank's water level is below ground level, and it rains hard enough, the tank will float. This can be a really pain I that arse.

I've been stung by this twice while in the middle of building systems. You put some barrels in ground, attach pipe work, don't have time to fill them with water, pores rain over night, come out in the morning to see tanks floating and pipework f@$ked up.

Why are we posting to such an old thread?

I didn't drop my FTs until after the roof was on my greenhouse. I filled them and have had zero problems. My greenhouse is on a 2' deep footer all the way around and it's been raining like no other this year and I've yet to have any water inside my structure. I dipstick down along the outside of my FTs pretty regularly to see if I have water between my tanks and the sealed cage. As things are going I guess I've been lucky.


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