Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Its perfect! I might be using ferrocrete anyway for the roof of the earthbag house I will be building, so it might work out nicely

I gotta admit, once I looked earth-bag construction up and saw pictures, I can see why it might look simple and cool. Having done stone, adobe and rammed earth construction, I like building with stone (masonry) best. That's just my preference, because I feel like I'm good at rock-work and for me it's fun. Most of the descriptions I just read say "shale filled bags," are best. I'd suggest you try filling a few eight to ten foot long bags with shale before you pull the trigger on this technique.

Shale filled bags would be ridiculous (IMO) they lack all the Benefits of proper earthbags filled with clay and dirt, (mainly a high thermal R-value) I assume that the shale bags that you saw were maybe used for drainage in the foundation, I have volunteered here in Israel a bit with earth building and it seems like the perfect building method for me personally (I am currently studying civil engineering) I'd be happy to share some resources with you if you are interested

Hello Everyone!

This is my first post. I've been lurking for awhile and playing around with some barrelponics in the hopes I can get a feel for AP so that I can get a larger system going.

I have built a few small domes(dog houses) and raised garden beds with earth bags. I love your idea of using earth bags Shuie and it is one that I hope to pursue eventually.

Aside from using dirt in my bags, crushed limestone has been a good substrate for me. If you are using a liner then I guess it doesn't matter what substrate you use. I would think that shale or any kind of gravel would have more of a tendency to shift or roll outward due to the pressure of the water.

All of my thoughts on building a permanent system have been round. Do you plan on buttressing or having any additional internal bracing the long sides? Also, feel like round gives a better overall flow to a system.

Hi odd code! For small planters and domes it doesn't matter what you put in the bags, but in larger structures, rocks will cut the bags and may cause total collapse (you can double bag to counter this) but for large load bearing walls a good mix of sand and clay gives stability and essentially the building becomes one solid monolithic structure, using barbedwire gives tensile strength, but for my aquaponics structure I think that I will hammer rebar in every few bags to sort of "sew" the layers together and help with the pressure of the water (though due to the weight of solid bags they might be fine on their own) you are correct about The roundness helping with flow, and now that Colum has helped me.decide to use ferrocrete for my build (lining the earthbags) I can easily round the internal corners of the grow bed, and am actually already designing a totally round version of my original design (though I may stick to my original rectangular one do to greenhouse space considerations and the fact that I want the fish pond for aesthetic purposes too)

Forgot to.mention that my hope is that earthbags will help keep my fishtank water temperature constant year round with no need for additional heating

I like your thinking but, its the surface water that will cause fluctuations.
On another track, I hate you , we have been planning a strawbale house and seeing this type of building has thrown everything up in the air.... thanks mate more sleepless nights of dreaming start again.

I could be wrong, but I don't believe dirt has much of an R value. A quick search of the web backs me up on this. http://inspectapedia.com/insulation/R-Value_of_Soil.php A short answer to the R-Value of Dirt - about R 0.125 to R 0.25 per inch. So 14" of dirt has an R Value of 1.75. Most of the houses built here in northern New Mexico in the last century are adobe (dirt) and while it is true many are cool inside in the Summer, and warm in the Winter. I don't believe it is the dirt's R value at work. Dirt in large quantity is a great thermal mass. A thermal mass absorbs heat during the day and releases it at night. Most adobe houses here have 14 inch (35.5 centimeter) thick walls, very small windows, low doors to help reduce heat loss. Now, if you excavate the pond area, you'll gain thermal stabilization of the earth. Just sain' there are a slew of modern building styles that out-perform earthen structures. That being said, I built my aquaponics system in an earth-sheltered greenhouse; meaning the pond, and more than half the greenhouse are underground. It is also insulated with spray foam in places where I don't want thermal transfer

Thanks boss, and tonzz, I think that a 6x4mm raised tank and crowned should have plenty of thermal mass, mainly for keeping the fish warm during winter nights in the greenhouse, I don't expect miracles but I'm hoping for temps of above 60f at night even during with winter and I'll probably connect the whole aquaponics mass to the earth houses water heating pipes,

As to.tonzz.. The good old straw bale vs earthbags conundrum.. I am leaning 80% towards earthbags, but the straw bale definitely has its benefits ! No matter what you choose it'll be great!

(and boss, you are completely correct about the r-value, I meant thermal mass)