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It's Mind Blowing

Reproduced with the kind permission of Marine World Magazine

Question.

What…

• is set in 14 acres of land?

• has its own bore hole?

• is within easy access of the M25?

• is close to Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton International airports?

• is Europe’s largest ornamental marine livestock wholesaler and hatchery?

• the UKs leading manufacturer and distributor of innovative commercial filtration equiment and quality branded aquatic products?

Answer.

Whether it’s good, bad or indifferent, “TMC” are the letters most frequently mentioned in marine fish circles. During the setting-up stages of Marine World we soon realised that we had to arrange a visit to see what all the fuss was about. A number of retailers had already told us we would be impressed but that was an understatement to say the least!

It was a nice sunny day in August when we visited TMC in Chorleywood, Hertfordshire. We were met by Jayne Robb, Marketing Manager and Mark Flynn-Ryan, Sales Manager. I was just about to ask Mark the first question when he suddenly launched into the whats, whys and wherefores of TMC. His passion and dedication to the whole operation was unbelievable and both he and Jayne are certainly extremely committed to the company.

Water Quality

The key to their superb water quality starts with two enormous protein skimmers – 5 metres high and 2 metres in diameter. From here the water passes through sand towers and trickle tanks to put back much needed oxygen into the water. New water is added to the system as and when required and salt can be added either automatically or manually. It’s hard to show, in words, the scale of this but it can be said that the above is only for the fish system and it is duplicated, albeit on a smaller scale, for the invert tanks.

The skimmer is cleaned periodically with someone actually going inside through the inspection hatch shown in the photograph. Great emphasis is put on the water continuously returning back to the main reservoir – the size of a small swimming pool – where we saw fish quite happily swimming around.

One thing was evident, throughout our tour – the continuous monitoring of water quality, water flow and water levels.

Plant Room

The plant room made TMC look as though they’d got shares in ITT Marlow pumps! The whole place was spotlessly clean and every socket, pump, UV etc. was number-co-ordinated so that if a problem arose on a particular piece of equipment, it could be traced back to source. In addition to the pumps, the plant room houses cartridge filters, UVs, heat reclamation unit,invert system  ozoniser, fish system ozoniser and heat exchanger. Everything is environmentally monitored – anything slightly out of line and it triggers an alarm. TMC have their own team of technicians who maintain and monitor the equipment – this is absolutely essential to ensure immediate attention should any problems arise.

Acclimation

When each shipment arrives the fish are unpacked under red light conditions. They are then put into separate small tanks with their own water and the system water slowly added – the overflow water being discharged to waste. When all the transportation water is changed the fish are allowed into TMC’s water system. They are then placed into individual aquariums before being transferred to the main fish house.

Fish House

Once again, everywhere was spotless. There was even a lady with a full set of cleaning tools whose permanent job was to ensure that all the tanks were clean. Each tank has its own feed and drain system – including the single tanks.There is an ongoing feeding regime with the fish being fed up to 6 times a day.When being sent out to customers all fish are double or triple bagged. The bags are food grade and are of a virgin material. Mark stated that there is no one single aspect which contributes to TMC’s success – it’s the complete operation as a whole.There are approximately 15 imports a week with up to 400/450 boxes and over 1200 species – now that’s some going!

Hatchery

The hatchery has a superb reputation for the breeding of Clownfish, under the watchful eye of Mark Wilson. We were privileged to see fry at all stages of growth. Specialising in Clownfish every aspect is closely monitored. Since 1994, 40 species of marine fish and invertebrates have been successfully bred and reared in TMC’s hatchery. The Company has also had a number of ‘World Firsts’ with Fire shrimps, Pipefishes and Cleaner Shrimps.

Dry Goods

The dry goods warehouse was like walking into a B&Q Superstore Warehouse – it was huge, with boxes piled high from floor to ceiling ranging from pipe connectors through to complete filter systems.

What the Managing Director had to say

Earlier this year, TMC opened a branch in Manchester. They opted for Manchester because of its large International airport and he fact that the hobby of marine fishkeeping is stronger in the North than the South. Most of the fish for Manchester now go directly to Manchester Airport.

There is no doubt that the Manchester branch has created a great deal of excitement throughout TMC and is proving, already, to be extremely successful. Paul admits that TMC prices are higher than consolidated shipments but strongly believes that the conditions the fish are kept in are far superior and, of course, the investment TMC have made is colossal. He feels that, in the long run, retailers will save money as their mortality rates will be far less than with consolidated shipments. Paul did express concern about the number of illegal corals coming into the country and would encourage all hobbyists to enquire where their specimens are coming from when they are thinking of purchasing. However, he is confident that, in the near future, this will be overcome by everything becoming “Marine Aquarium Council approved”.

We asked if there was any likelihood of the hatchery expanding into breeding other species of marine fish. “It wouldn’t make economic sense”, said Paul, “the Ocellaris Clownfish is the only one which really has the demand and warrants the expense of breeding”. He said that their own Clownfish are hardier but the youngsters are paler in colour. As a result, customers expect them to be cheaper and are not prepared to pay the same price, or even more, than imported ones.

Commercial Systems

For the last couple of years TMC has been manufacturing a range of complete filtration systems for use by retailers, aquaculture departments, research institutes and public aquariums and this is now a significant part of the business. Paul was particularly enthusiastic about the System 5000 which gives retailers the opportunity to run their systems on the same line as TMC but on a smaller scale. 10 of these systems have even gone to a public aquarium in New Zealand.

Verdict

The attention to detail at TMC is second-to-none and what particularly hit home was that neither Mark or Jayne, nor the MD, criticised any other importer, retailer, manufacturer – in fact, no-one at all came under the hammer. After all, they’ve no need to – they are justifiably proud of their achievements and can sell their fish and products on their own merit.

So, when you next visit your local retailer and they say their fish come from TMC you can be assured that they have been kept in the best possible conditions. For the hobbyist the downside is that you can’t just walk into TMC – it’s trade only – although they have had Open Days in the past. However, of paramount importance, is the knowledge that all livestock at TMC have been cared for to the nth degree which has got to be of major benefit to the hobbyist.