Decorative aquatic animal replica device

A replica of a fish or other aquatic animal, capable of placement into indoor and outdoor fish ponds, with or without fountain current flow, with no overhanging or suspension member provided. An aquatic or marine animal replica, and preferably a Koi fish, is supported on an adjustable rod which supportedly communicates with a stand member having a reservoir therein to accept a clear ballasting liquid. The support shaft is telescopically adjustable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to aquatic and marine replication display devices 
and more specifically to artificial devices that simulate aquatic animals 
for use in indoor and outdoor decorative ponds, fountains and the like. 
2. Related Art 
Fishes and aquatic life, especially tropical aquatic life have long been 
cultivated by man in aquariums. These aquariums can be from the size 
slightly bigger than a fish bowl to large, million gallon habitations 
occupying many square feet and even whole rooms. It has long been 
recognized that an aquarium can not only be decorative but relaxing, 
giving the viewer a sense of peacefulness and tranquility. 
One type of aquarium is a "fish pond". It has long been accepted that it is 
a possession of beauty and even prestige to have indoor or outdoor fish 
ponds. The ancients in fact bred a specific breed of fish called a Koi, 
which resembles a large goldfish, to populate these ponds. These fish 
ponds can contain fountains or the like and be architecturally placed into 
the structure of, for example, a building or a home. One popular placement 
is in commercial atriums or domestic outdoor fountains. Although the 
aquatic life that populate these ponds are beautiful, they are difficult 
to maintain. As live animals, their environment must be regulated 
constantly to provide life supporting surroundings. These fish, and 
especially Koi fish, are extremely expensive with those of a size about 
that of a large trout running over $3,000. In colder climes where 
temperatures dip even in the warmer months, it is very difficult to 
maintain temperatures in these ponds to allow these aquatic life to 
survive. These fish, of course, have to be maintained and fed on a regular 
basis adding to the expense. These ponds tend to have other problems 
relating to fungi, bacteria, algae and the like which make maintaining the 
ponds with the live animals, and especially Koi, particularly difficult. 
This is especially true with fountains and other water pumping devices 
which are particularly sensitive to algae and other bacterial buildup. For 
example, one treatment for algae or bacterial buildup is to pour household 
bleach or chlorine into the water to kill the algae. This of course will 
also kill fish, if they are present. 
There has been much attempted in the prior art to obtain the aesthetic 
aspects of having these beautiful aquatic animals present, yet not having 
the live animals. Various strings and ropes and other kinds of devices 
have been devised to mask the fact that the animals are, in fact, 
artificial. The problem with using strings or other kind of suspension 
devices in outdoor and indoor ponds, is that there is no wall to support 
the suspension devices. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,618, D-294,129 
and D-287,110 teach artificial fish suspended to make it look like fish 
are in the water. U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,518 and 3,186,120 teach fish decoys 
that give the illusion that fish are in the water. U.S. Pat. No. 
3,975,845; D-327 142; D-289 023; and, D-289 022 disclose artificial fish. 
Many of the prior art devices employ suspension media that are visible or 
do not allow the adjustment of the device in the aquarium or pond. Thus, 
it would be advantageous to have an aquatic animal which was able to be 
placed in substantially any pond irrespective of the water flow and 
currents yet appear to be lifelike without the appearance of the stand or 
other supporting member to the naked eye, but without the requirement for 
suspension of the aquatic animal on overhanging members walls or the like. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is now been discovered that an artificial replica of a fish or other 
aquatic animal is capable of placement into indoor and outdoor fish ponds, 
with or without fountain current flow, with no overhanging or suspension 
member. In accordance with the invention, an aquatic or marine animal 
replica, and preferably a Koi fish, is supported on an adjustable rod 
which supportedly communicates with a stand member having a reservoir 
therein to accept a clear ballasting liquid. 
In one embodiment the support shaft is telescopically adjustable. In 
another embodiment, is capable of being configured to the desired height. 
In accordance with the preferred embodiment, the stand is substantially 
rectangular and underlies substantially the entire area of the aquatic 
animal being supported.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
FIG. 1 shows the decorative aquatic animal replica device for placing in a 
fish pond or the like in accordance with the instant invention. An aquatic 
replica device 10 has an aquatic animal replica 12 removably supported on 
an upstanding adjustable shaft 14 which is in turn supported on a stand 
16. Preferably the material of the upstanding adjustable shaft 14 and the 
stand 16 is clear, to avoid detection when the aquatic replica device 10 
is placed into a pond, fountain or the like. 
Upstanding adjustable shaft 14 has a housing portion 18 and a telescoping 
portion 20. As better seen in FIG. 3, the housing portion 18 has a 
diameter slightly larger than telescoping portion 20 so that telescoping 
portion 20 slidably fits within housing portion 18. A beveled friction nut 
22 has a female threaded portion 28 which engages a male threaded portion 
30 on housing 18 as better seen in FIG. 4. 
Stand 16 contains a capped, fill spout 24 through which cavity 32 is filled 
with a ballasting fluid 34. As better shown in FIG. 3, the cavity 32 is 
preferably substantially the total volume of stand 16. The aquatic animal 
replica 12 has an orifice 26 in the body thereof adapted to frictionally 
accept telescoping portion 20. Thus, the device can be disassembled for 
shipping or a longer (shorter) telescoping portion 20 can be used. 
As better shown in FIG. 2, the aquatic animal replica 12 is substantially 
placed in the center of the stand 16 and stand 16 is preferably 
rectangular to support both the width and the length of the aquatic animal 
replica 12. It will be realized that the exact shape of the stand is not 
important to the invention and that it will be evident to those of 
ordinary skill in the art, that the surface area of the bottom of the 
stand must be sufficient to support the aquatic animal replica 12. 
In operation, telescoping portion 20 is inserted into orifice 26 in the 
body of aquatic replica animal 12. The beveled friction nut 22 is loosened 
and telescoping portion 20 is slidably moved within housing 18 to the 
desired height. Beveled friction nut 22 is then hand tightened to secure 
telescoping portion 20 in position with respect to housing 18. Filler cap 
24 is removed and a ballasting liquid 34 poured into the cavity 32 within 
stand 16. The filler cap 24 is then replaced. The liquid, which is 
preferably clear or light blue or of a color that is the same as the 
bottom of the pond, has a specific gravity that is greater than water i.e. 
greater than 1, to act as a ballast to hold the aquatic replica device 10 
on the bottom of the pond. 
In accordance with the invention the replica can be formed of an 
appropriate material to present an esthetically pleasing figure. 
Preferably, the replica is solid (as shown in FIG. 3) to minimize 
buoyancy. In another embodiment the stand can be solid depending upon the 
buoyancy of the device 10. The support rods and stand are preferably of a 
clear material or of a color that masks their existence when viewed 
through water. In accordance with another embodiment, the stand can 
contain a friction orifice to accept the end of telescoping portion 20 in 
a manner similar to the configuration using orifice 26. In this embodiment 
the length of the shaft is adjusted by cutting telescoping portion 20 to 
the desired length prior to insertion into the replica and the stand.