Abstract:
An aquarium including a tank; a stirrer having one end extending upwardly from within the tan and an opposite end rotatably mounted in a bearing at a bottom of the tank; a substrate in the tank; and a sediment drain hole formed in a sidewall or a bottom of the tank.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application is based on and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/222,343 entitled “SPINNER BETA TANK 12,” filed Jul. 1, 2009, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to aquariums and, more particularly, to an aquarium having a new and improved cleaning system. 
         [0003]    An important step in maintenance of aquariums is regular vacuuming of the gravel or substrate  16  using water siphon. This removes debris and droppings from the substrate  16  without disturbing the aquarium&#39;s water conditions. 
         [0004]    When using current siphons many things can go wrong. The user must be very careful when performing the operation and it is typically a very messy process. The amount of water removed needs to be monitored, the hose can come out of the bucket, the bucket can overflow, you must constantly hold the hose inside the aquarium so it doesn&#39;t fall out of the aquarium while supporting the hose so it doesn&#39;t kink. The hose drips as it moves in and out of the aquarium and interruptions during the process cause stopping and restarting of the entire process 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    It is a general object of the present invention to provide an aquarium with a new and improved cleaning system and, more particularly, to provide an aquarium with a cleaning system that greatly minimizes or in many cases avoids the need for cleaning using a siphon. 
         [0006]    These and other objects of the invention are achieved by a aquarium comprising: a tank and a stirrer having one end extending upwardly from within the tan and an opposite end rotatably mounted in a bearing at a bottom of the tank. 
         [0007]    Other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is an elevational view of an aquarium illustrating certain principles of the present invention. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an elevational view of an aquarium with the substrate  16  thereof removed for the sake of clarity. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    Referring now to the drawings and, in particular, referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an embodiment of an aquarium  10  illustrating certain features of the present invention. The aquarium includes a tank  12 , a stirrer  14  and a substrate  16 . 
         [0011]    The stirrer  14  extends upwardly through a hole  24  in the top of the tank  12  and downwardly to the bottom of the tank  12  where it is coupled to a two part magnetic bearing  18  comprising a first magnet  20  located within the tank  12  and connected to the stirrer  14  at its lower end and a second magnet  22  located outside of the tank  12  and coupled magnetically to the first magnet. A sediment removal system (SRS) drain hole  24  may be formed either in the bottom or side of the tank  12 . In the embodiment illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , it is formed in the side. A plug (not shown) is used to close the drain hole  24  during normal use of the aquarium. The stirrer  14  includes a spinner in the form of horizontally extending blade(s) to aid in stirring the substrate  16 , as described below. 
         [0012]    The substrate  16  may be any type material, such as sand, pebbles, crushed coral, dolomite, or crushed glass. Advantageously, the material selected for the substrate  16  should have a density slightly greater than that of water so that the substrate  16  particles are easily moved by the water. As a result the substrate  16  essentially has neutral buoyancy. Similarly, the particles should have a size and shape that promote easy movement. This, combined with the neutral buoyancy, causes the substrate  16  to function as a fluidized-bed in which the up flow of water causes the substrate  16  media to act as a fluid. 
         [0013]    The substrate  16  hereinafter referred to as “the neutral buoyancy substrate  16 ” or the“NBS” also eliminates another problem, it will not have algae grow on it due to the fact that it is in motion. Since the substrate  16  remains in motion, algae cannot take hold. What is on top of the pile today is covered tomorrow and never forms algae. 
         [0014]    The neutral buoyancy substrate  16  can be made to look exactly like the painted gravel widely used today. It may also look like natural pebbles, crushed coral or just about any other substrate  16 . In fact it not only can duplicate the look of natural substrate  16   s  but it can also be translucent in any color or it can be made in a marbleized natural polished pebble. Experiments with neutral buoyancy substrate  16  with slight variations in density led to the neutral buoyancy substrate  16  arranging itself within the currents of the tank  12 . When the lighter density version had a unique color to the higher density they arranged themselves with the lighter color in the lowest current regions and the denser collecting in the areas with higher currents. 
         [0015]    The SRS (Sediment Removal System) drain hole  24  can be anywhere at the base of the tank  12 , on the bottom or at the base of any side. The NBS (Neutral Buoyancy Substrate  16 ) collects all the waste. As the tank  12  produces waste it settles to the bottom of the tank  12 . The NBS&#39;s property of maximum space between particles allows the waste to settle to the bottom. The space between the particles also allows water to flow through it. The rate of flow is slowest as you go deeper into it. As the flow rate slows, the dirt settles out of the water and becomes trapped on the bottom. 
         [0016]    The system not only collects solid waste but also dissolved proteins and ammonia and other liquid waste as they are denser than water. Now the waste can be removed in many ways through the SRS drain. For this application, the stirrer  14  rod is used to gently agitate the NBS and lift the waste off the bottom and it gets caught in the flow of water out of the SRS drain. The properties of the NBS allows this using the space between its particles and the neutral buoyancy of it. By gently moving the substrate  16  with the stirrer  14 , it lifts the dirt very gently and as it is denser than the water, the gentle agitation causes it to rise up just slightly and it gets caught in the flow out the base of the tank  12 . If the motion caused a lot of agitation, some would go out and some would get pushed up back into the tank  12  so the gentle agitation is very efficient in this tiny application. 
         [0017]    The Neutral Buoyancy Substrate  16  is a natural sediment collection system and the hole  24  and the agitation completes the system to remove it. Any tank  12  with the NBS collects all the waste in certain pockets where the currents are lowest. If you view the tank  12  from the bottom these areas show up as dark spots that contain this dirt. There are many ways, depending on the particular application then to remove. In the tank  12  we could also slope the bottom and have the center for example as the lowest point and put the drain there. 
         [0018]    The concepts of SRS and NBS (Neutral buoyancy substrate) are further described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,249,571 and 7,430,989, and US Patent Applications 20050076851, 20070295654 and 20080217225, each of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. 
         [0019]    The term “aquarium” as used herein means any tank, bowl, or other water-filled enclosure in which aquatic animals and/or plants are kept. 
         [0020]    Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims. 
         [0021]    The sediment removal system  268  collects and eliminates waste matter from aquariums or other filtered systems. Sediment such as uneaten foods, waste matter of fish, turtles etc. or any other solid waste are continuously collected and then eliminated from the system. Ammonia and other pollutants and even dissolved proteins are also caught up as they are also denser and are collected, contained and eliminated along with solid sediments and waste. Only a tiny amount of water is needed to carry out all of the collected waste products. This system is continuously operating and enables the support of much greater bio-loads in a vastly more pristine and stabile environment while greatly simplifying maintenance.