A few more interesting pieces of info to point out about Mr.Goh advise.
There are some key things that I believe can be taken from his experience with grooming GH Xbacks.
Even though he uses the term "tanning", I think that grooming would be more accurate as he specifically states that he only uses "just normal white light ", and also states "white tank is a must", "Must be white tank, you can transfer to black tank after it reaches mid size" and last but not least "all this are high quality, it's the gene that is important and with skill you fully develop it's potential".
I think that this confirms that the environment that a high quality GH is kept in (especially when at a juvenile stage) is key to its proper development. Perhaps most importantly HO lighting is not used to achieve the high shine, or the development of gold in a GH xback. As previously stated IMO the term "groom" the fish would have been a more accurate description of what he actually does. Tanning implies darkening of pigment, such as what's done when one "tans" a red aro. A normal white shop light isn't going to "tan" anything. Perhaps this is where some people in the Western world came up with using some kind of intense lighting to "tan" their GH aros? This seems to be a case of ..... being lost in translation.
At one point in this discussion one of the members asks Mr. Goh:
"Hi mr richard just to check if we put back say a mid size 60% GHXB (around 15inch)
to WTT again will it help to improve the goldhead percentage and crossing? or it
will not help already since its already 1 yr plus old liao"
Mr. Goh's response ........ of cos it will
I personally think that the expectations of some aro keepers is simply unrealistic, and this is a general comment about the hobby as a whole. If a fish isn't stunning by the time it reaches 12-15" many people sell them and look for a better one. Long gone it seems are the days when one patiently waited 3-4 years, or more, for their aro to show its full potential, which for many fish is what it takes. Lots of time, TLC via good water quality, premium food, and an overall low stress ideal environment is what it takes to groom out a premium aro to its best.