Aquariums

Claim 2

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium each being a small container made at least partly of transparent material and being closed at least except at its top, (b) said aquarium having bottom water outlet means through which water may be discharged and an on-off manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling periodic manually operated discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed above said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is periodically opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, and (d) said aquarium and said terrarium each being generally bulbous shaped, said aquarium being superposed to said terrarium and having a bottom sloping to said water outlet means, said terrarium having an upper end with an opan mouth and the lower end of said aquarium including said outlet means extending into and nesting within said mouth of said terrarium below the plane of the top of said terrarium.

Claim 3

The subject matter of claim 1 in which the lower end of said aquarium is generally conical and funneling to said outlet means at the lowermost point in said aquarium whereby food and fish waste will tend to settle around said water outlet means to be discharged into said terrarium upon opening of said closure.

Claim 4

The subject matter of claim 1 in which there is an enclosure above said aquarium and attached thereto, said enclosure having an electric light therein whereby a lamp effect is provided, said electric light illuminating said aquarium, said enclosure, aquarium and terrarium having similar shapes and being in superposed series.

Claim 5

The subject matter of claim 1 in which said aquarium is annular in horizontal cross-section and in which said aquarium has therein extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between said inner container and the walls of said aquarium, said container being annular in horizontal cross-section and being spaced from said walls of said aquarium so that said space is annular in horizontal cross-section.

Claim 6

The subject matter of claim 4 in which said aquarium is transparent and said inner container is translucent and an electric light within said inner container whereby a lamp effect is provided.

Claim 7

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means; (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, and (d) means attached to said aquarium operative to connect a superposed tension member to support said aquarium in a suspended manner and said terrarium being attached to said aquarium so it can be suspended from said aquarium.

Claim 8

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means; (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, and (d) means attached to said aquarium operative to connect a superposed tension member to support said aquarium in a suspended manner and said terrarium being attached to said aquarium so it can be suspended from said aquarium.

Claim 9

The subject matter of claim 6 in which said aquarium and terrarium are each generally bulbous shaped and said terrarium having its upper end formed as an open mouth, said water outlet means being at the bottom of said aquarium to discharge into said open mouth of said terrarium and there being an opaque collar abutted to both said aquarium and said terrarium and extending around said mouth of said terrarium and substantially concealing from side view said water outlet means, said collar having means operative to removably latch said terrarium to said collar.

Claim 10

The subject matter of claim 7 in which said collar is bonded to said aquarium and said collar and terrarium having matching fill holes, said means to latch said terrarium to said collar including a plurality of lugs extending inwardly from the inner surface of said collar and said terrarium having an out-turned lip with a plurality of notches mating with said lugs, whereby latching and unlatching of said terrarium to said collar is accomplished by rotary adjustment of said terrarium relative to said collar, the fill hole in said collar also providing access from the side to said manually operable closure.

Claim 11

The subject matter of claim 6 in which said aquarium and said terrarium are each generally bulbous shaped, said aquarium having therein extending down from its upper portion an inner central container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between inner central container and the walls of said aquarium, said outlet means being at the bottom of said aquarium and said bottom of said central container being spaced above said outlet means.

Claim 12

The subject matter of claim 9 in which said aquarium is transparent and said inner container is translucent and an electric light within said inner container whereby a lamp effect is provided.

Claim 13

The subject matter of claim 9 in which there is an enclosure superposed to said aquarium and attached thereto and said means attached to said aquarium includes said enclosure and attachment means at the top of said enclosure, said enclosure having an electric light therein whereby a lamp effect is provided, said enclosure being bulbous shaped and said enclosure, aquarium and terrarium having the appearance of serial continuity, said enclosure being translucent and said aquarium and at least the upper portion of said terrarium being transparent and an opaque collar between said enclosure and said aquarium and an opaque collar between said aquarium and said terrarium concealing from the side their areas of joinder.

Claim 14

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, (d) said aquarium having therein extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between said inner container and the walls of said aquarium, (e) an enclosure superposed to said aquarium and attached thereto, said enclosure having an electric light therein whereby a lamp effect is provided, and (f) said enclosure, said aquarium and said terrarium being each bulbous shaped and having the appearance of serial continuity, said enclosure being translucent and said aquarium and at least the upper portion of said terrarium being transparent and an opaque collar between said enclosure and said aquarium and an opaque collar between said aquarium and said terrarium concealing from the side their proximate areas.

Claim 15

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, (d) said aquarium having therein extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between said inner container and the walls of said aquarium, (e) an enclosure superposed to said aquarium and attached thereto, said enclosure having an electric light therein whereby a lamp effect is provided, and (f) said enclosure, said aquarium and said terrarium being each bulbous shaped and having the appearance of serial continuity, said enclosure being translucent and said aquarium and at least the upper portion of said terrarium being transparent and an opaque collar between said enclosure and said aquarium and an opaque collar between said aquarium and said terrarium concealing from the side their proximate areas.

Claim 16

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, (d) said aquarium having extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between and inner container and the walls of said aquarium, and (e) an air pump disposed in the upper portion of said container and an electrical connection to said pump from above, said pump being located above the common level of water in said aquarium and said container should said container leak, in order to prevent the possibility of electrical short of said pump due to water contact, and a hose connected to said pump and having a discharge ring disposed under said container so that air will rise about said container.

Claim 17

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, (d) said aquarium having extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between and inner container and the walls of said aquarium, and (e) an air pump disposed in the upper portion of said container and an electrical connection to said pump from above, said pump being located above the common level of water in said aquarium and said container should said container leak, in order to prevent the possibility of electrical short of said pump due to water contact, and a hose connected to said pump and having a discharge ring disposed under said container so that air will rise about said container.

Claim 18

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, (d) said aquarium having therein extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between said inner container and the walls of said aquarium, and (e) said container having a side compartment extending from near its top to near its bottom and partitioned from the remainder of said container, said compartment having at least a lower and an upper opening to the water space in said aquarium whereby water may circulate through said compartment, and a water heater and an electrical connection to said heater from above, said heater being disposed in said compartment with its electrical connection above the top of said container whereby said container would flood before water could rise to the level of said electrical connection in order to prevent the possibility of electrical short due to water contact.

Claim 19

A combined aquarium-terrarium, comprising: (a) a terrarium and an aquarium, (b) said aquarium having water outlet means through which water may be discharged and a manually operable closure for said outlet means controlling discharge through said outlet means, (c) said aquarium being disposed higher than said terrarium and said outlet means being operable to discharge by force of gravity into said terrarium when said closure is opened, whereby said terrarium will receive water and food and fish waste from said aquarium as a source of moisture and nourishment, (d) said aquarium having therein extending down from its upper portion an inner container closed at its bottom whereby the water capacity of said aquarium is the space between said inner container and the walls of said aquarium, and (e) said container having a side compartment extending from near its top to near its bottom and partitioned from the remainder of said container, said compartment having at least a lower and an upper opening to the water space in said aquarium whereby water may circulate through said compartment, and a water heater and an electrical connection to said heater from above, said heater being disposed in said compartment with its electrical connection above the top of said container whereby said container would flood before water could rise to the level of said electrical connection in order to prevent the possibility of electrical short due to water contact.

Claim 20

A unit in an aquarium filled with water, comprising: (a) watertight side and bottom walls defining a compartment and said compartment being at least partly submerged in said water and floating therein by water displacement, said compartment having weight distribution such as to stably float without upsetting, (b) an electric light positioned in said compartment and an electrical connection to said light from above, and (c) said walls being at least partly non-opaque so that said aquarium is directly lighted by said light, and (d) outside walls spaced from said watertight walls therearound and forming a shell and providing a space annular in horizontal cross-section between said outside walls and said watertight walls, and said outside walls having at least one lower water ingress opening and having at least one upper water egress opening so that aquarium water can circulate through said annular space, said outside walls being at least partly non-opaque for aquarium lighting by said light, a pump in said compartment and an airline connected to said pump and exhausting near the bottom of said shell with part of said air passing outside said shell and part passing inside said shell thereby providing bubble lighting effects due to bubbles rising inside and outside of said shell and illuminated by said light, and said bubbles passing inside said shell inducing circulation of water out of said egress opening.

Claim 21

A unit in an aquarium filled with water, comprising: (a) watertight side and bottom walls defining a compartment and said compartment being at least partly submerged in said water and floating therein by water displacement, said compartment having weight distribution such as to stably float without upsetting, (b) an electric light positioned in said compartment and an electrical connection to said light from above, and (c) said walls being at least partly non-opaque so that said aquarium is directly lighted by said light, and (d) outside walls spaced from said watertight walls therearound and forming a shell and providing a space annular in horizontal cross-section between said outside walls and said watertight walls, and said outside walls having at least one lower water ingress opening and having at least one upper water egress opening so that aquarium water can circulate through said annular space, said outside walls being at least partly non-opaque for aquarium lighting by said light, a pump in said compartment and an airline connected to said pump and exhausting near the bottom of said shell with part of said air passing outside said shell and part passing inside said shell thereby providing bubble lighting effects due to bubbles rising inside and outside of said shell and illuminated by said light, and said bubbles passing inside said shell inducing circulation of water out of said egress opening.

Claim 22

The subject matter of claim 15 in which there is a filter in said annular space to filter water passing through said annular space.

Claim 23

The subject matter of claim 15 in which there is a heater disposed in said annular space with its upper end above the water level in said space and an electrical connection to said upper end of said heater from above, and said shell being non-transparent to obscure viewing of said heater.

Claim 24

A unit in an aquarium filled with water, comprising: (a) watertight side and bottom walls defining a compartment and said compartment being at least partly submerged in said water, (b) an electrical light positioned in said compartment and an electrical connection to said light from above, (c) outside walls at least partly spaced from said watertight walls thereby providing a space between said outside walls and said watertight walls, (d) said outside walls having at least one lower water ingress opening and having at least one upper egress opening so that aquarium water can circulate through said space, said walls being at least partly non-opaque for aquarium lighting by said light, and (e) a pump and an airline connected to said pump and exhausting near to said water ingress opening with at least part of said air passing inside said space thereby providing bubble lighting effects due to bubbles rising inside said space and illuminated by said light, and said bubbles passing inside said space inducing circulation of water out of said egress opening.

Claim 25

A unit in an aquarium filled with water, comprising: (a) watertight side and bottom walls defining a compartment and said compartment being at least partly submerged in said water, (b) an electrical light positioned in said compartment and an electrical connection to said light from above, (c) outside walls at least partly spaced from said watertight walls thereby providing a space between said outside walls and said watertight walls, (d) said outside walls having at least one lower water ingress opening and having at least one upper egress opening so that aquarium water can circulate through said space, said walls being at least partly non-opaque for aquarium lighting by said light, and (e) a pump and an airline connected to said pump and exhausting near to said water ingress opening with at least part of said air passing inside said space thereby providing bubble lighting effects due to bubbles rising inside said space and illuminated by said light, and said bubbles passing inside said space inducing circulation of water out of said egress opening.

Claim 26

The subject matter of claim 18 in which said outside walls are spaced from said watertight walls therearound and said space in horizontal cross-section is annular, said airline also exhausting at a location causing air bubbles to rise outside said outside walls to be illuminated by said light, said outside walls tapering as they pass downwardly so that last-mentioned bubbles will wipe along said outside walls.

Claim 27

The subject matter of claim 18 in which there is a filter in said space whereby water passing therethrough will be filtered.

Claim 28

The improvement in an aquarium, comprising: (a) an aquarium having outside walls and bottom walls and having inside walls generally evenly spaced on all sides from said outside walls and forming therebetween on all sides of said inside walls a water-containing space for fish, (b) said inside walls segregating the space therebetween from said water-containing space providing an air-occupied chamber, and an electric light positioned in said chamber and illuminating said water-containing space through said inside walls which are at least partly non-opaque, said outside walls being at least partly translucent and an electrical connection through said chamber to said light, (c) means forming a water-containing compartment at least partly segregated from said water-containing space and communicating therewith to receive water from said space and to return water to said space and an electric water heater positioned in said compartment to heat water passing therethrough, and (d) electrically-powered pump means acting to urge water through said compartment.

Claim 29

The improvement in an aquarium, comprising: (a) an aquarium having outside walls and bottom walls and having inside walls generally evenly spaced on all sides from said outside walls and forming therebetween on all sides of said inside walls a water-containing space for fish, (b) said inside walls segregating the space therebetween from said water-containing space providing an air-occupied chamber, and an electric light positioned in said chamber and illuminating said water-containing space through said inside walls which are at least partly non-opaque, said outside walls being at least partly translucent and an electrical connection through said chamber to said light, (c) means forming a water-containing compartment at least partly segregated from said water-containing space and communicating therewith to receive water from said space and to return water to said space and an electric water heater positioned in said compartment to heat water passing therethrough, and (d) electrically-powered pump means acting to urge water through said compartment.

Claim 30

The subject matter of claim 21 in which said outside walls and said inside walls in horizontal cross-section have the form of concentric circles, and a filter and said pump means acting to urge water past said filter.

Claim 31

The improvement in an aquarium, comprising: (a) an aquarium having outside walls and bottom walls and having inside walls generally evenly spaced on all sides from said outside walls and forming therebetween on all sides of said inside walls a water-containing space for fish, (b) said inside walls segregating the space therebetween from said water-containing space providing an air-occupied chamber, and an electric light positioned in said chamber and illuminating said water-containing space through said inside walls which are at least partly non-opaque, said outside walls being at least partly translucent, and an electrical connection through said chamber to said light, and (c) an air pump and an outlet air line from said pump discharging air bubbles in the lower portion of said water-containing space to bubble up through said space and part the light rays from said light producing optical effects.

Claim 32

The improvement in an aquarium, comprising: (a) an aquarium having outside walls and bottom walls and having inside walls generally evenly spaced on all sides from said outside walls and forming therebetween on all sides of said inside walls a water-containing space for fish, (b) said inside walls segregating the space therebetween from said water-containing space providing an air-occupied chamber, and an electric light positioned in said chamber and illuminating said water-containing space through said inside walls which are at least partly non-opaque, said outside walls being at least partly translucent, and an electrical connection through said chamber to said light, and (c) an air pump and an outlet air line from said pump discharging air bubbles in the lower portion of said water-containing space to bubble up through said space and part the light rays from said light producing optical effects.