The new TMC Solid State AquaRay Lighting are no longer a Pre-order as we now have them in stock.

Due to the constant requests for information and the long awaited arrival of these great lighting systems, we are expecting a big rush on these and subsequently I believe they could go out of stock for a while as everyone waits for replenishment stock and a lot of stores offering them do not actually have any in the first instance.

With a retail price from only £109.99 and duo's from £179.99 along with combinations from £179.99, they are a great alternative to high running cost lighting units we are all familiar with.

Yes it's a little bit of an expense at first but with over 50,000 hours lamp life, Low Voltage & Cool Running along with the lowest carbon footprint of any other lighting system available, can you really compare your current outlay and running costs against only £7.00 per year to run these fantastic bits of kit!

They are IP67 rated so they are completely splash proof so you can place them as near to the water as you like but, the further you have them from the surface water the better the spread and coverage of light.

I'm still getting my head around them to be honest but I'm getting their.

All of a sudden an aquatic retailer has to become an electrical engineer with par this, lux that lumen this, I hope its all worth it in the end.

Anyway some info I have drawn from TMC.

 

Each led strip has a par of 45 so it's my thinking (bad idea that statement) that 3 strips will them emit the same par as a 150w halide being 150 par

Also, each strip of 5 is measured at 7000 lux. and a 150w halide is measured at 14000 lux, so again with multiples you can achieve the same ratings.

So, I believe (I hear a song coming) that a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft aquarium would need a minimum of 4 strips which would emit a par reading of 180 and a lux reading of 2800 and anything over that simply benefits the set-up.

Personally looking long term with that scenario, I would go for 4 strips of white end to end running tandem central and 1 strip of blue at each end front to back domino (double) style making 6 strips in total.

Yes it's an expense but the long term gains are such that I think it's worth it if all my talks with TMC are correct and the massive savings are factual with no loss of lighting for my tanks. That scenario then pays for itself within 18 months and after that its pure savings.

I will be trying these tomorrow (Friday 9th May) on my own individual display tanks in-store and placing a couple also in my stock display towers in-store so the proof will be on show and anything that will reduce my HUGE leccy bill will be gladly taken on board.

Hope some of that helps but, I think until we get them in and start using them, it will be a debate that will keep rolling.