CA2OR Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 So we have found ourselves a bit of a roadblock here. The GOC's have from the beginning been designed to provide an educational experience through a competition. We intended on using more than zoanthids for our actual competition pieces so we could get better ideas of how to grow all different types of corals. With the end of the current competition approaching we have to figure out what we are going to use for the next one. I figured since we couldn't figure this out....maybe it was time to get some input from everyone else who is involved as your voices are really the ones to be heard. So here is where we are at.....What other corals could we use? I mean we have considered things such as Birdsnest, Acro's, Monti's, Chalices, War Corals, Duncan's, acan's, ricordia....well you get the idea....but at the same time we don't want to use things like xenia or kenya tree's and put a bunch of unwanted (censored) it your systems. In addition to this we have people who don't play because of what we are using so we want this to be something everyone can enjoy and learn from. Anyway we always get stuck on the subject of how to determine growth or a winner. How do we say that the guy who grows one 3 inch stalk should win over the guy who grew 3 one inch stalks....or vise versa? This is why we have always stuck with zoa's so far and even here we have some problems....what if we are trying to determine a winner and one guy has 10 polyps with 5 babies that aren't open but someone else has 11 polpys total.....I mean it was agreed that unopened polyps aren't counted....but that doesn't seem right. Another problem we encounter is things like Monti's....what are we supposed to do say whoever has the biggest piece at the end of "x" amount of time wins? What if one guy has 3 inch in diameter plate and someone else has a 4 inch long but only half inch wide strip....who wins? Do we have a drag race to a determined amount. Lastly, and I am sure there will be more in the posts to come, corals like Ricordia, although they grow heads like zoa's which make the counting or winner determination easier there is another problem at hand here....what the GOC is not is a fraging competition. Ricordia's and mushrooms can be cut to force splitting allowing for a larger polyp count. Not everyone does this so unless we specify this or have a seperate competition for making the most frags in a determined amount of time (this was one of my idea's for another game) (whistle)....then we can't use corals like this. After all of the thought I have given this I still pretty much stand by zoanthids or paly's or whatever. It is the easiest to judge. Well now you know where we have been stuck So what do you guys think? What should the next grow out competition piece be? I will start a poll after I get some feedback from you guys so we can make a decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Does anyone have any input? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downhill_biker Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I say we do an SPS of some sort. It would be fun. I think that some kind of milli would be good. I think that the winner should be determined by polyp count, just like the current competition. Good luck counting all the polyps on a milli, lol. Honestly though, we should just use a similar method to how they score antlers on an elk or deer. Total inches. That means the person that has 3 branches at 1" each has the same score as the person that has a single 3" branch. For this to work we need to make sure each person has a single brach, with no forks in it, otherwise they would have an advantage, and trust me, one split is a huge advantage. Oh, BTW, Im back. But my GOC piece isnt doing so hot. It was upside down in one of my acans, who knows for how long. The person watching my tank didn't notice it. No big deal. I have 5-ish heads (all babies and buds are gone) and we will see if they pull through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I would like to see an sps growout. To me that is a learning experience that most people dont do well at so maybe it will help some people out there.. Anyone can keep zoas alive and make them grow to some extent. But sps would be alot harder for some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Measure mass before and after. The person with the largest increase in mass is the winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wegotjs Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Measuring mass by weight . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishmanmike01 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Measure mass before and after. The person with the largest increase in mass is the winner. This is a great way of doing it but .............Im shure not everyone has a scale that will measure down to tenths of a gram. Well I suppose we could just use really big frags(naughty)(whistle) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 That's a good point, the scale I use just measures down to 1 gram and that's probably not precise enough. EDIT: I just checked gramscales.com, there are lots of choices for digital scales that measure to .1g for around $20. Might be able to do a group buy for even less... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Beginning the GOC with zoas was a very good idea Eric. It should be expanded to not only sps, but also lps. There is probably nothing wrong with having an occasional GOC of soft corals. Eventually, propagation and having GOC of other inverts and fish could be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Here's a scale that measures 1/100th of a gram. http://www.gramscales.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=566 It has a 10 year warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Whoa, that's *completely* a drug-dealer's scale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 we could use encrusting sps and measure by total square inches, although that might mean using some math that I personally haven't used since high school...for that matter we could measure any sps growth by square inches. If you take the diameter of the branch and multiply by the length you would get the total area of the coral right? LPS could be done by polyp count, just like zoos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Whoa' date=' that's *completely* a drug-dealer's scale.[/quote'] ...and you're saying this group isn't completely strung out on frags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Hmmm, the first one *is* often free. I think you're on to something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Sure. Frags are completely harmless and besides, everyone is fragging these days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 hey now, theres nothing wrong with keeping a scale around your house that can do that lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 hey Andy.. what's with that avatar?? No plastic bags over your kid's head? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 hey Andy.. what's with that avatar?? No plastic bags over your kid's head? since its black and not red, does that mean its ok to put plastic bags over kids heads? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Yeah, that's a scan of the warning sign on the plastic bag from a new printer. I thought it was pretty funny, so.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 lol... don't try this at home kids. We are trained professionals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef165 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Let's just call it a gentleman's bet and not judge who wins, let it be as you said an educational thing where those who haven't tried SPS can. Don't weigh anything, have a vote at the end for all contestants for the winner then all other prizes are out of a hat drawing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Let's just call it a gentleman's bet and not judge who wins' date=' let it be as you said an educational thing where those who haven't tried SPS can. Don't weigh anything, have a vote at the end for all contestants for the winner then all other prizes are out of a hat drawing.[/quote'] Reef, I think you are on to something here. Perhaps we could change the winners status (ie: shark, whale) to something that denotes he won the competition - this would act as 'bragging rights'. At the end of the next competition he would lose his title (unless he/she won again). thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy-S Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 or you could just post pics of all the entries at the end and let everyone in the group vote on who wins like we do for the photo of the month Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 voting would your I think. If it were a branching acro like a stag then it would be easy to see new branches and growth. each could do a before and after pic maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 The only thing about having people vote for a picture is that many times results tend not to be totally objective, as in real judging for actual growth. Would people tend to vote for a picture of a relatively plain $25 zoa colony with more growth, over a spectacularly colored $150 colony with less growth? Be honest now. Sorry, if I am not totally familiar with the judging standards of the GOC. Are all in competition fragged from the same original colony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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