An Internet Guide to Reefkeeping Abbreviations, Terminology and Shorthand. |
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| I'm sure you've seen them, and perhaps they have left you puzzled. Don't worry, its not our own secret language. Well, then again maybe it is. As with any hobby on the internet, you're bound to run into shorthand, terms, and abbreviations that leave you at sea. I won't be covering the standard chit-chat stuff like LOL, BRB, HaX0r, or any extremely deep abbreviations like , CaCl2 (Calcium Chloride). I'll just be dealing with Internet Reef-Speak. I hope the table below helps you a bit. | ||
Term |
Definition |
|
| ABS | Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, a plastic used in the housing for lights | |
| AC | Activated Carbon | |
| Acro | Acropora - A popular type of stony coral | |
| AFM | Aquarium Fish Monthly, a magazine | |
| Alk | Alkalinity | |
| B-Ionic | The brand name for a line of aquarium supplements from ESV corporation | |
| Bleach(ed) | When a coral turns white due to its loss of Zooxanthellae. Typically fatal especially in stony corals | |
| Blue Legs | A type of small hermit crab | |
| Buffer | Chemical typically used to help in controlling Alkalinity balance | |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| CBS | Coral Banded Shrimp | |
| Cl | Chlorine | |
| CO2 | Carbon Dioxide | |
| CPVC | Chlorinated PolyVinylChloride - plumbing pipes typically used in households and for plumbing reef tanks | |
| Cu | Copper | |
| DD skimmer | Down Draft skimmer | |
| DI | DeIonized - a type of tap water purification | |
| DIY | Do It Yourself | |
| dKH | Alkalinity | |
| Dosing | Adding chemicals of any nature to a reef tank (ie. Dosing Calcium and Alkalinity supplements) | |
| DLSB | Deep Live Sand Bed | |
| DSB | Deep Sand Bed | |
| E. Quad | Entacmaea quadricolor, bubble tipped anemone | |
| FO | Fish Only - A tank with just fish, no corals or live rock | |
| FOWLR | Fish Only With Live Rock - A tank with fish and live rock. No corals | |
| Frag | A cutting of a coral that has or is being propagated | |
| FW | Fresh Water | |
| GAC | Granular Activated Carbon - used in mechanical filtration | |
| GPH | Gallons Per Hour - typically dealing with pumps or overflows | |
| GPM | Gallons Per Minute - typically dealing with pumps or overflows | |
| GSP | Green Star Polyps | |
| HD | Home Depot (A U.S. major hardware store) | |
| Kalk | Kalkwasser - Lime Water - Used for calcium/alkalinity supplementation and balance | |
| KH | Alkalinity Level | |
| LFS | Local Fish Store | |
| LPS | Large Polyp Stony coral or, Local Pet Store | |
| LR | Live Rock | |
| MH | Metal Halide lighting | |
| MO | Mail Order | |
| Nano Reef | A very small reef tank. Many times they can be less than 15 gallons | |
| NH3 | Ammonia | |
| NO | Normal Output fluorescent lights | |
| NO2 | Nitrite | |
| NO3 | Nitrate | |
| NSW | Natural Salt Water | |
| ORP | Oxygen Reduction Potential | |
| Overflow | A device that takes water from the tank and sends it to the sump | |
| PC | Power Compact lights | |
| pH | The Base/Acid reading for a fish tank. 7.0 is neutral, above 7.0 is basic (alkaline), below 7.0 is acidic. | |
| pods | Amphipods, copepods, etc. - small crustaceans crucial to keeping a reef tank. Typically hitchhikers on live rock. | |
| PVC | PolyVinylChloride - plumbing pipes typically used in households and for plumbing reef tanks | |
| RO | Reverse Osmosis - a type of tap water purification | |
| RO/DI | Reverse Osmosis/DeIonize - a type of tap water purification | |
| SD | SouthDown Tropical Playsand | |
| SG | Specific Gravity - Basically, the amount of salts dissolved in the water. | |
| Shroom | Mushroom Anemone | |
| SPS | Small Polyp Stony coral (such as Acropora) | |
| Sump | A secondary tank, usually underneath the display tank for keeping filtration and heating gear. | |
| SW | Salt Water | |
| T5 | T5 Florescent Lighting | |
| T5HO | High Output T5 Florescent Lighting | |
| Turbos | Turbo Snails - A large algae eating snail | |
| TWP | Tap Water Purifier | |
| VHO | Very High Output fluorescent lights | |
| Zoo/Zoe | Zooxanthellae - a photosynthetic film covering many corals. Provides food and color typically. | |
