Fish in a barrel ?

way i had it thought out was pour a 6 inch slab then build the walls ot of cinder block. that I could handle myself at a good clip. I wouldnt no how to go about pouring it. I mean I understand the concept but Im afraid I screw it
up. I know a couple concrete guys maybe I could talk nice to them and get a little help. found something to raise with the talipia I think it would be synergetic too

http://www.grailquestfarms.com/crawfish.html

I am going to build my tanks from wood and fiberglass. 6w X 12L X 4d Much cheaper than concrete and capable of being moved. Also will not leach out and play havoc with the PH level of the water.

well I thought about going that way too, I think the concrete would be better in the long
run. It would add a heat mass also (take up heat during the day and release at night)
with water your dealing with some pressure so my thinking is the bottom of the tank
would take the pressure better. I considered the leaching/ph problem either a nuetral
coating/sealer but think a heavy mil poly film or such would be the ticket. Im going to
start out pretty tiny at first. think just get the green house built and use one of them
cheap above ground kids pools(see them all the time for 250 bucks or cheaper new) get it down before I make any major commitments.

Kinda like this?

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategor...-Ground-Pools#

I got 3 8'X3' pools last year at Dollar General for less than $10 each

ya like that cliff thats an outrageous price though.
Ive been kicking options around all day the least expensive the better...
called a concrete company today $92 dollars a yard and $10 dollar fuel charge. looked at rubber(pond grade) and potable vinyl tank liners. I could just dig a hole and lay a liner it would be 500 bucks either way on them. the
rubber is 45 mil. and wont degrade in sunlight 20 year warrenty edpm rubber by firestone. thing with that is im thinking to get a nice fit you want to seam the pieces together (rectangle is what i want) thats what really jcks up the price. the vinly is 25 mil. and cant take direct light and no implied warrenty but you can get it already seamed together in a rectangle. I'll toss in the links in just in case anyone interested. outlay would be about $1000 for concrete and liner for a 10x6x6. actually i figured some rubber in for some
hydrotable liner so rubber would be a little cheaper.

http://www.azponds.com/pond_liner.ht...FSHyDAodtR0zdA

http://www.websweeper.com/php/pool_liners/ig-039.php

oh almost forgot this one for a cheap geenhouse (till I can do something mor permanete)

http://www.overthegardengate.net/Use...ytunnel&Page=1

Thats why im going with wood and epoxy. A 3/4 inch piece of plywood is about $25 with tax. It will take 7 sheets to make a 4X4X16 tank. 1 gallon of epoxy will cover about 400sqft. and costs about $70. 2 gal will be need for each tank. (inside and out) Lumber for corner, bottom, side and top supports. Add some screws and im done. I will dig 2ft holes to put them in. The dirt from the hole will be put on the side to retain thermal mass.
It seems anyway ya wanna go here in the US yer gonna pay!
Another option I had thought about was precast concrete culvert sections. If you have a precast concrete company nearby you may be able get some 6 or 8 foot in diameter sections that are seconds or damaged. These would make nice tanks if turned up on edge and concrete poured for a bottom.
Just more ideas from a frustated mind

ya I use to work for "ask how ask now" as a product specialist well they
had stuff for water tanks(potable) they had nothing that they would recommend for this kind of application. I'm leary of fiberglass and resins
not only sytem faliure ( possiably due to applicator error unless its specified marine ,possiable faliure due to product) but toxic leaching also.
I'm not knocking your plan wishing you luck with it. For the price difference
though and the life expectency (thinking the temites,fungus, and wet would rot the plywood pretty quick) plus I want a bigger tank (hydrostatics) also going to try and segregate it into 4 divisions (hence the bigger tank)and have the fish two months apart so im harvesting a quarter tank at a time and the fish are eight months at havest. that way I limit the work on myself and I can use one pump for the whole sit up. like I said still working it out. I found a guy for the tilapia too 200 fry for 100 bucks plus shiping just got a phone call back from him have some details to iron out yet. thier a hybred but true breeding produceing both male and female and sold in the talapia market for food so worth a shot aye. pm me if your interested in the source and as soon as I get mine and everything goes smooth I'll let you know how that goes and how to get ahold of him.

thanks for the link phrogpharmer its a excellent source of info. although I didnt find the tilapia for sale there took some digging and a few phone calls and a bit of begging lol! thanks to everybody else also!!!

There was an article in "Organic Gardening" magazine written in the 70's or thereabout ay a guy who raised catfish in old steel 55 gal barrels in his back yard. He also raised earthworms, and that was the primary fish food. Used an areator to get sufficient O2 to the fishies. OG might have it in their archives.

thanks ma ya assimilated that long ago but for those who hadnt here it is but i was also inspired by mother earth magazine too way back when.
heres the original http://www.kurtsaxon.com/foods007.htm

heard prawns were easier to care for requiring less maintanance