Azira's Semi-Presentable IBC System™

Azira

Or ASPIC for short...lol, ok perhaps not.

A new thread for a new system I've slowly started the ball rolling on. After pondering a different idea, I decided to just go for two simple standalone IBC systems, assembled as per the IBCofAquaponics manual.

I have decided that I will bury the FT's partially for a couple of reasons, firstly so my girls can take part easily in the planting, harvesting and fish related activities (they can't wait to go fishing, lol). The other main reason is because if they are above ground they are at a completely non-functional height for me. The top of the IBC's come up to my armpits as it is, with timber GB support I'd not be able to reach anything, and knowing my luck I'd fall off a stool/step.

I am going to build a shadehouse over the setup, probably looking at 30-50% white shadecloth. It should help the plants from getting fried in the heat, and should stop them getting covered in leaves from the trees on the neighbouring property. The system will be on the South side of my block, facing mostly North. It'll get dappled shade in the morning which I think will help, there really isn't any other spot on the block that isn't too exposed.

Anyway, a couple of pics. I did a very quick mockup in SketchUp, it's been a good while since I used it and I don't think I ever had to do curves, so it's half-done and rough, but you get the idea, lol.

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I will be cladding the above-ground parts in timber so it looks more like a typical raised garden bed, I've only got a couple of really quick scribbles I did when I was mucking about with ideas.

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Azira

This one isn't very helpful now I look at it again, but it shows how I'm thinking of cladding them together as a single unit.

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Azira

Here's what the spot where I'm putting them looked like yesterday:

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And part of the seemingly endless mound of dirt I had to move. This pile has been relocated around my block so many times, it was once good soil but now it's full of weeds and completely hydrophobic, lol. It was good for one thing though, our dog loves rolling in it, lol. I dumped it in one of the garden beds and I'll cover it with horse poop and try to resurrect it at some point.

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Anyway, this is where I'm at now. I need to get my post-hole digger from my friends house so I can loosen up the dirt I need to dig out. Need to scootch the barrel somewhere out of the way too.

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Lol, I just noticed my camera lens needs a clean, the photos are all foggy.

blind freddie

Hey Azira that's not fog on your lenses , that's good old fashioned sweat. great clean up job buddy, look forward to seeing your progress.

Just wondering how many hours of full sun you get with that shady tree.

TSalt

Ah the ASPIC! Well done. Respectfully named

Commiserations on the upcoming digging pains. :geek:

Azira

blind freddie wrote:

Hey Azira that's not fog on your lenses , that's good old fashioned sweat. great clean up job buddy, look forward to seeing your progress.

Just wondering how many hours of full sun you get with that shady tree.

Lol, yeah it might have been.

At the moment the spot is getting full sun from lunchtime-ish onwards and stays in full sun til evening. Can't remember exactly what it does in winter but I think it still gets a decent amount of sunlight over the course of the day.

It's this big ol' lady that's shading it in the mornings. I found out the other day that a core sample was done years ago and it's about 1600 years old. From a different angle you can see how thick the trunk actually is.

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TSalt wrote:

Ah the ASPIC! Well done. Respectfully named

Commiserations on the upcoming digging pains. :geek:

Lol, I'm more worried about the heat than the digging (even though it's cooler this week than it has been), I need the exercise so the digging should be good for me, lol. Or at least that's what I'll have to keep telling myself to make myself keep going.

MartinC

Nice work Azira, I look forward to seeing your system take form. Good luck.

Regards, Martin.

CJ-California

Yeah, get ready for that dig :blackeye:

. You might want use the post hole digger for that first corner nearest to the tree and look for large tree roots... it might change the entire location.

I only put 1 IBC in the ground and it took me the better part of 3 hours. You might want to call in a favor from your friends. I use beer to lure my helpers :shifty:

.

Ronmaggi

It took me longer than 3 hours... I recommend going at it from a zen mindset. Find grace in the movement. Don't think of it as a chore, but as an exercise. Also, make sure you have a place for all the dirt. There will be a lot of it.

rsevs3

I thought you said you were a lazy individual....

It might be easier to make a step around the bulkies

There will be some massive roots in there!

CJ-California

rsevs3 wrote:

It might be easier to make a step around the bulkies

There will be some massive roots in there!

$10 in CMU blocks are calling your name!

Azira

Lol, yeah I might be setting myself up for failure trying to bury them but I'll take it as it comes, if it's infested with roots then I'll change plans. I'm just hoping the soil isn't as compacted as it was where I built the carport, it was that solid the 300mm auger just polished the clay instead of digging into it. :lol:

It shouldn't be as bad (I hope!), lol.

Ronmaggi wrote:

It took me longer than 3 hours... I recommend going at it from a zen mindset. Find grace in the movement. Don't think of it as a chore, but as an exercise. Also, make sure you have a place for all the dirt. There will be a lot of it.

I was planning on singing this as I dug: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EmVG2-c4f4 :wink:

Thanks for the replies folks, I really appreciate it.

rsevs3

Just so you know, if you put the jumble of letters after the v= in the youtube url into the [ youtube] tags, it will put the video in your post.

Ronmaggi

I just sang "A Pirates Life For Me"

Azira

rsevs3 wrote:

Just so you know, if you put the jumble of letters after the v= in the youtube url into the [ youtube] tags, it will put the video in your post.

Oh, cool, thanks. I didn't notice that, even though it's directly above where I'm typing, lol.

Ronmaggi wrote:

I just sang "A Pirates Life For Me"

More than likely the main thing I'll be 'singing' are swear words, lol.

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