GB2445720A

GB2445720A - Aquarium netting ring

Info

Publication number: GB2445720A
Application number: GB0700293A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Carl Attenborough
Original assignee: INTERPOND FISH Ltd
Current assignee: INTERPOND FISH Ltd
Priority date: 2007-01-09
Filing date: 2007-01-09
Publication date: 2008-07-23
Also published as: GB0700293D0

Abstract

A device for creating a partitioned isolation area for fish in a water-filled aquarium or tank comprises a cup 9 having apertured side and/or bottom walls, or a bag 4 which may be water-permeable or water-impermeable, depending on the particular application of the device. If a cup 9 is used, then it is supported by the spreader frame 1 by the clamping frame 2 within the spreader frame 1. If a bag 4 is used, then it has its mouth held open by a spreader frame 1 and is releasably secured to that spreader frame by a clamping frame 2. Support means 3 are provided for supporting the spreader frame 1 in cantilever in a generally horizontal orientation over the surface of the water in the aquarium or tank, with the cup 9 or bag 4 dipping beneath the surface of the water, or outwardly in cantilever from the aquarium or tank to support a bag 4 alongside the aquarium or tank.

Description

TITLE

Aquarium Netting Ring

DESCRIPTION

Field of the Invention

The invention relates to the keeping and handling of aquarium fish or pond fish, and provides a device for creating a partitioned isolation area in an aquarium or pond. Such an isolation area can be useful either for the permanent or semi-permanent isolation of different fish in the aquarium or pond, or as a temporary "keep" area which is useful when netting fish for removal from the aquarium or pond, for example for sale of the fish.

Background Art

There are two problems which are very typically encountered in any business dealing with the storage and handling of large numbers of ornamental aquarium fish or pond fish. One such problem is associated with the netting of selected fish and the transfer of those netted specimens to a customer's pond or aquarium. The other is associated with the occasional need to isolate fish which are known to have, or which begin to show, a propensity to fight and to damage one another. Traditionally the removal of specimen fish from an aquarium or tank is achieved by holding a polythene bag in the water with one hand, while netting the selected fish using the other hand. The netted fish is then transferred from the net to the polythene bag, which is then lifted out of the aquarium or tank to sell the fish or to transfer it to a new home. It can be very difficult indeed to concentrate on netting the selected fish using the catching net carried in one hand, while the other hand holds the polythene bag steady and partially immersed in the water of the aquarium or tank. The invention provides a simple "hands-free" solution to the problem of holding the polythene bag steadily with an open neck, while at the same time trying to net the targeted fish. Furthermore the invention provides the user with the option of holding the polythene bag partially immersed in the water of the aquarium or tank or holding the polythene bag containing some water suspended on the outside of the aquarium or tank. The latter option may make it easier to net a targeted fish because it leaves the interior of the aquarium or tank more open and less cluttered with potential refuges for the targeted fish to use to avoid capture.

The normal method of separating fish with a tendency to fight is simply to put them in separate tanks or aquaria. This can be very expensive in capital equipment, as each aquarium or tank must have its own filtered water supply and circulation system, and any commercial concern handling large numbers of fish can potentially create a demand for tens or hundreds of separate isolation tanks whenever dealing with species which have a significant tendency to fight and to damage one another.

The present invention provides a satisfactory solution to both of the above problems.

The Invention The invention provides a device for creating a partitioned isolation area for fish in a water-filled aquarium or tank, having the features set out in claim I herein. The bag may be a water-impermeable bag such as a polythene bag, which is used when the invention is used to assist in the netting and removal of selected specimen fish from a holding aquarium or tank. It may alternatively be made of water-permeable material, such as netting, when the invention is used to create a permanent or semi-permanent fish isolation area within an existing pond or aquarium. If the bag is made of netting, and dips down into the water of the aquarium or pond, then the circulating material will pass through the holes of the mesh, which should be of a size sufficiently small to prevent the passage of fish through individual openings in the mesh but sufficiently large to permit the free circulation of water in the aquarium or pond. A single aquarium or pond may be subdivided using the device of the invention, into a number of mutually separate isolation areas through all of which water can freely circulate. The upper limit of the potential number of isolation areas in any given aquarium or pond depends on the surface area of the aquarium or pond and on the size and shape of the spreader frame of the device of the invention.

Drawings Figure 1 is an exploded perspective of the elements of a device according to the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view from above a clamping frame of the device of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a plan view from above of a spreader frame of the device of Figure 1; Figure 4a is a section taken along the line A-A of Figure 3; Figure 4b is a section taken along the line 8-B of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a perspective view from the underside of the clamping frame of Figure 2; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a cup for use in place of the bag of Figure 1, the cup being supported in the spreader frame of Figure 3; Figure 7 is a photograph of a polythene bag containing water and a fish.

supported alongside an aquarium; and Figure 8 is a photographic enlarged detail of the clamping of the bag between the spreader frame and the clamping frame of Figure 7.

The device of Figure 1 comprises a spreader frame 1, a clamping frame 2, two support members 3 and a bag 4. The spreader frame 1 comprises a generally rectangular frame with rounded corners. Other shapes would be possible, although preferably one edge of the frame, which in use is intended to sit close against a wall of the aquarium or tank, will be flat. The frame I has an open centre, and in use the bag 4 hangs down through that open centre with the top edge of the mouth of the bag 4 wrapped over the top edge of the spreader frame 1 and down over the outer periphery, which as shown in Figure 4b is shaped to taper outwardly in the downward direction. The spreader frame I thus holds open the neck of the bag 4. The clamping frame 2 is designed to fit closely around the outer periphery of the spreader frame I

U

and as shown in Figure 4b has an internal tapered surface that is complementary to the taper of the outer surface of the spreader frame 1, so that the material of the open neck of the bag I is effectively clamped and held securely by the interaction of the cooperating tapers, as illustrated in Figure 8.

Two support members 3 are provided, to support the spreader frame i in a generally horizontal orientation by an upright side wall of the aquarium or tank. The support members 3 may support the spreader frame I in cantilever so as to overlie the water inside the aquarium or tank, or may extend outwardly of the aquarium or tank to support the spreader frame in cantilever on the outside of the aquarium or tank. In the former position the bag 4 dips into the water of the aquarium or tank, and in the latter position the bag 4 hangs outside the aquarium or tank as shown in Figure 7. This choice of alternative dispositions is important, as will be explained later.

Each support member 3 comprises a saddle member 6 shaped to straddle a top edge of a generally vertical wall of the aquarium or tank and to take support from that top edge. Each support member 3 further comprises a depending stem 7 which takes support from the face of the generally vertical internal wall of the aquarium or tank. Other shapes for the support members could be devised, dependent on the shape and thickness of the wall of the aquarium or tank from which the device is to be suspended. For example, the saddle members 6 could be made telescopic in construction, so that they could be extended to match the wall thickness of an aquarium or tank, or the support members 3 could be adapted to be secured permanently to the wall of the aquarium or tank (one pair facing inwards and one pair facing outwards) so that they become a permanent feature and the spreader frame I is simply clipped to or unclipped from those support members whenever it is desired to install the device in or remove it from the aquarium or tank.

The support members 3 further comprise upstanding members 5 which engage in housings 8 moulded in an outer wall of the spreader frame 1 as shown in Figure 3. The upstanding members 5 are preferably a tight fit in the housings 8, optionally made more so by having the upstanding members bow outwardly in the upward direction, so that once fitted onto the spreader frame I they remain a permanent fixture. The assembly of spreader frame I and support members 3 can therefore be lifted on and off the wall of the aquarium or tank, and turned around at will to extend inwardly or outwardly of the aquarium or tank.

The bag 4 may be water-impermeable, such as a polythene bag shown in Figures 7 and 8 of the kind that is commonly used to transport small specimen fish after sale. In those circumstance some water would be scooped into the bottom of the bag, the bag lowered down through the central opening in the spreader frame 1, and the edge of the bag neck then held, opened out to the size and shape of the spreader frame 1, and then clamped to the spreader frame I by placing the clamping frame 2 over the spreader frame I so as to trap the turned-over neck portion of the bag between the spreader frame I and the clamping frame 2. In that position the bag is firmly and securely held, and the spreader frame I can be supported on the side wall of the reservoir or tank either on the outside of the reservoir or tank as shown in Figures 7 and 8 or on the inside. Generally for netting fish for sale or for removal to another reservoir or tank, it will be preferable to suspend the bag 4 outwardly of the reservoir or tank as shown in Figures 7 and 8. That leaves the user with both hands free for netting the fish, and leaves a maximum uninterrupted space inside the aquarium or tank for netting the fish. In some situations, however, it may be desired to suspend the bag 4 on the inside of the aquarium or tank.

That may be the case, for example, when it was not intended to remove the captured fish immediately, in which case it would be preferred to keep it at a constant temperature surrounded by the water in the tank and the user can concentrate on the netting of a desired specimen, fish, prior to tipping the netted fish through the open centre of the spreader and clamping frames and into the bag. Removal of the bag 4 and fish from the spreader frame 1 is then very easy. The clamping frame 2 is first removed and the bag 4 is lowered through the centre of the spreader frame 1. The device has thus made it much easier to catch a specimen fish because it has removed from the user the need to manoeuvre the bag in one hand and the fish net in the other.

If the bag 4 is water-permeable, such as a bag made from an open net material, then the bag can create a permanent or semi-permanent isolation area within the aquarium or tank for one or more selected fish. The fish cannot swim beyond that isolation area, but they have the advantage of the larger volume of water in the complete tank and filtration system, because that water can circulate freely through the pores or voids of the netting. In this way, a single aquarium or tank can be used to house a number of fish that would otherwise show a great potential to fight and damage one another, simply by putting individual fish or compatible groups of fish into different isolation areas (created by devices according to the invention) in different parts of the aquarium or tank.

Instead of suspending a water permeable bag 4 from the spreader frame 1 so as to dip beneath the surface of the water, a permanent or semi-permanent isolation area can be created within the aquarium or tank by means of a cup 9 such as that shown in Figure 6. The cup 9 has an apertured base.

Alternatively or additionally it could have apertured sides, the apertures creating a route for water to circulate through the cup 9 when it is immersed in the reservoir or tank. The cup 9 is formed to fit the spreader frame I either with or without the clamping frame 2 in place, and in use is suspended so that when the spreader frame I is supported by the support means 3 in its generally horizontal orientation over the surface of the water in the aquarium or tank, the cup 9 is held beneath the surface of the water. It will thus be appreciated that a single aquarium or tank can be sub-divided, using a number of devices according to the invention, into a potentially large number of separate isolation areas, with free flow of recirculating water through the entire reservoir or tank.

It will be seen from Figures 2, 5 and 8 that two outer corners of the clamping frame 2 are cut away. Those corners are indicated as 10 in Figure 2. That enables the clamping frame 2, when not in use, to be suspended over the top edge of one glass wall of a reservoir while the bag 4 is being placed in and around the spreader frame 1. The clamping frame 2 is therefore always immediately available to hand when it is needed to clamp in place the turned-over neck of the bag 4.

Claims

Claims: 1. A device for creating a partitioned isolation area for fish

held in a water-filled aquarium or tank, comprising: a spreader frame for holding open a neck of a bag; support means for supporting the spreader frame in a generally horizontal orientation in cantilever from a wall of the aquarium or tank extending either over the surface of the water in the aquarium or tank, or outwardly away from the aquarium or tank; and a bag with a neck adapted to be held by the spreader frame, together with clamping means for releasably securing the neck of the bag to the spreader frame, so that when the spreader frame is supported by the support means in its generally horizontal orientation over the surface of the water in the aquarium or tank, the bag dips beneath the surface of the water or a cup having an apertured base or sides, the cup having an outer nm shaped to fit inside the spreader frame and to be supported thereby in place of the bag, so that when the spreader frame is supported by the support means in its generally horizontal orientation over the surface of the water in the aquarium or tank, the cup is held beneath the surface of the water.
2. A device according to claim 1, wherein: the neck of the bag has generally the same peripheral size as that of the spreader frame; the bag is held open by the spreader frame by having the bag neck extend upwardly through a central aperture in the spreader frame and then downwardly around an outside periphery of the spreader frame; and the bag is releasably securable to the spreader frame by the clamping means.
3. A device according to claim I or claim 2, wherein the bag is water-impermeable.
4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the bag is made of polythene.
5. A device according to claim I or claim 2, wherein the bag is made of a water-permeable material
6. A device according to claim 5, wherein the bag is made of netting with a mesh size sufficiently small to prevent the passage of fish through individual openings in the mesh, but sufficiently large to permit the free circulation of water in the aquarium or tank when the spreader frame is held over the surface of the water with the bag dipping beneath the surface.
7. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the spreader frame has an outer peripheral wall that tapers outwardly in the downward direction.
8. A device according to claim 7, wherein the clamping means comprises an outer frame sized and shaped to fit closely around the outer peripheral wall of the spreader frame, the outer frame having an internal taper which is complementary to the taper of the outer peripheral wall of the spreader frame.
9. A device according to any preceding claim, wherein the support means comprises a pair of saddle members shaped to straddle a top edge of a generally vertical wall of the aquarium or tank, and to take support from that top edge and from an inner face of that generally vertical wall, for supporting the spreader frame in cantilever in its generally horizontal orientation.
10. A device according to claim 9, wherein each of the saddle members comprises a plug-in portion adapted to be received in a slot in the spreader frame, to create a secure connection between the saddle members and the spreader frame.
11. A device according to claim 9, wherein the clamping means further comprises slots therein sized to receive a top edge portion of a wall of the aquarium or tank for supporting the clamping means, when not in use, in cantilever from the said wait of the aquarium or tank alongside the support means.