Basically with concrete base and cinder block walls you are talking about a raceway design. I have seen several to numerous fish holding tanks made this way (Bob Lusk has some holding tanks built this way). Insides are usually coated with water proofing paint/epoxy. The main structural problem that I envision with this is cracking of the side walls due to ground shift or freeze/thaw cycles. Ground shift and cracking can be reduced with proper reinforcing rods in the concrete base, and a properly built footer. Concrete blocks should be somehow tied to the concrete base to eliminate breaking away of the blocks from the base. Possibly pouring the top layer of concrete so it surrounds an inch or two of the bottom layer of concrete blocks, thus locking or sealing the blocks to the base. Additional reinforcing of blocks could be done by pouring concrete into the cavities of the blocks. I'm not sure how the ground embeded "raceway" will perform structually duing annual freezing and thawing cycles. Cement mason should be able to provide advice with this. I'd get 2-3 opinions about this.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 03/02/08 07:42 PM.
