# Different _Chondrus crispus_ Aquaculture Methods and Carrageenanan Extraction
## 3 Results
### C. crispus Cultivation SGR  
When interpreting Table 2, the most consistent weekly Specific Growth Rate (SGR) is Nursery 0, this being the one that would be expected to have the best overall SGR. However, there are several negative points throughout the study, which mean that there has been a decrease in biomass. It is also true that for the same methodologies, there are statistically significant differences in some weekly transitions, such as Week 1 to 2 in Nursery 3 in Tordos, and Weeks 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 in the outliers of Nursery 3. These differences within the same growth method were caused by negative values in weekly SGR. This can be explained by the death of parts of the algae or, in the case of tank methods (Nursery 3 in Tordos, Final Fixed Lines, Cages), consumption by fish present in the tanks. When comparing the SGR values for week 1, only one outcome was statistically significantly different from the rest: Nursery 3 in Tordos. This difference was expectable due to the low value of its SGR for the first week of the trial. This low value can be explained by the transition of already weakened algae (which came from a laboratory tank) to an outdoor tank, while the rest of the methods were conducted with freshly collected biomass. By studying the maximum value of SGR for each method (Table 1) it was possible to reaffirm that Nursery 0 was the most effective in terms of growth rate. This method was the only one to show statistically significant differences to the five worst maximum values of SGR (Nursery 2, Nursery 3 Inliers, Nursery 3 in Tordos, Final Fixed Lines, and Cages). According to the results presented of optimal SGR (the best SGR possible to calculate with a minimum of 3 weeks between initial weight and final weight) (Figure 8), the most effective growth method is nursery 0 to 24 days with an SGR of 2.08 \(\pm\) 0.47%/day. Nursery 1 with adult individuals (replicates D, E, and F) also showed an interesting result with an SGR of 1.94 \(\pm\) 0.26%/day. These results indicate that the best growth methods are Free Floating, where the algae are agitated through the air pump system. However, these methods were only tested on a smaller scale, and there would be a need for a scale up in the methodology to prove its efficiency. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c} \hline
**Cultivation Type** & **Week 1** & **Week 2** & **Week 3** & **Week 4** \\ \hline Nursery 0 & 2.036 \(\pm\) 0.692 \({}^{\rm\,a\,b}\) & 1.511 \(\pm\) 1.025 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 4.520 \(\pm\) 3.426 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 0.287 \(\pm\) 1.664 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Nursery 1.1 & 2.266 \(\pm\) 0.852 \({}^{\rm\,a\,b}\) & 0.593 \(\pm\) 0.253 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 1.653 \(\pm\) 0.621 \({}^{\rm\,ab}\) & \(-\)0.624 \(\pm\) 0.711 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Nursery 1.2 & 3.290 \(\pm\) 0.586 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 0.984 \(\pm\) 0.334 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 1.569 \(\pm\) 1.107 \({}^{\rm\,ab}\) & \(-\)0.728 \(\pm\) 0.516 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Nursery 3.1 & 1.595 \(\pm\) 0.424 \({}^{\rm\,a\,b}\) & 1.094 \(\pm\) 0.084 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & \(-\)0.256 \(\pm\) 0.167 \({}^{\rm\,ab}\) & 0.583 \(\pm\) 0.677 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Nursery 3.2 & 2.470 \(\pm\) 0.922 \({}^{\rm\,a\,b}\) & 1.677 \(\pm\) 0.966 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & \(-\)0.801 \(\pm\) 1.951 \({}^{\rm\,b}\) & 1.609 \(\pm\) 1.030 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Nursery 3 in & 0.323 \(\pm\) 1.013 \({}^{\rm\,b}\) & \(-\)1.132 \(\pm\) 3.912 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 1.498 \(\pm\) 2.618 \({}^{\rm\,ab}\) & 1.487 \(\pm\) 2.529 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Cages & 1.011 \(\pm\) 0.210 \({}^{\rm\,a\,b}\) & 0.395 \(\pm\) 0.438 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 1.512 \(\pm\) 0.962 \({}^{\rm\,ab}\) & \(-\)1.772 \(\pm\) 0.846 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ Final Fixed Line & 2.586 \(\pm\) 1.868 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 0.872 \(\pm\) 1.025 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) & 0.070 \(\pm\) 1.355 \({}^{\rm\,ab}\) & \(-\)0.288 \(\pm\) 1.104 \({}^{\rm\,a}\) \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: _C. crispus_ cultivation SGR in percentage of weight increase per day per week for each method (Mean \(\pm\) Standard Deviation).