If I want to set up a big aquaponics system I need some big water tanks and grow beds. Looking at various suitable tanks, they all had one thing in common: a very high price tag! Living self-sufficient means doing a lot of DIY, so I went on searching for a low cost alternative to use as tanks. I quickly stumbled upon ferro cement, which is basically a 3:1 sand and cement mixture with chicken wire used as rebar.
The strength of the chicken wire concrete is amazing and the uses are endless! Entire houses are being build with ferro cement and due to how these structures are build, you can go nuts and make your house a piece of art. Once finished, your structure will be truly low maintenance and it can withstand earthquakes and hurricanes.
I’m not building a house but fish tanks and grow beds both need to be sufficiently strong to be able to hold their contents and be water tight. The ferro cement is water tight and is used to build water containers around the globe. Because of its low cost it is used a lot in developing countries. The biggest saving comes from the incredible strength of the material, with the need of much thinner walls, compared to rebar concrete, you will only have a fraction of the material costs.
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