# Acronyms & Abbreviations



## poptot (Dec 24, 2008)

Hello All,

Trying to learn as much as I can here on the forum, however, I keep getting stuck on some of the Acronyms & Abbreviations people are using. Can anyone put together a list that would help us new folks? 

I just came accross this one in the Freshwater forum, Maybe we can build on it.

Thanks!!!

AC - Activated carbon
ALK - Alkalinity, buffering capacity of water
Amm - Ammonia
BBS - Baby Brine Shrimp
BW - Brackish Water
Ca - Calcium
Cl - Chlorine
CO2 - Carbon dioxide
DI - Deionizer, used to purify water before filling an aquarium, typically part of an RO system.
frag(s) - Broken or cut pieces of coral that grows
FW - freshwater
Gal or G - Gallon
GAC - Granular activated carbon
GH – General hardness
GPH - Gallons per hour
Gravid - Egg-laden
HD - High Density
HO - High output fluorescent light
HOB - Hang On Back or 
HOT- Hang On Tank
Ich - parasite
L - Liter
LHS - Local hardware store
LFS - Local Fish Store
LPS - Local Pet Store
LR - Live rock
LS - Live sand
N2 - Nitrogen
Na - Sodium
NH3 - Ammonia
NH4 - Ammonium ion
NO - Normal output fluorescent light
NO2 - Nitrite
NO3 - Nitrate
O2 - Oxygen
O3 - Ozone
PC - Power compact fluorescent light
pH - Measure of the concentration of hydrogen. Used to measure acidity/alkalinity of H2O
PH - Powerhead, water pump
RO - Reverse osmosis, (type of H2O purification)
RO/DI - Reverse osmosis and deionizer combination unit (type of water purification)
RUGF - Reverse flow undergravel filter
SAL - Salinity
SG - Specific gravity
SHO - Super high output fluorescent light
Substrate – sand, gravel, crushed coral, etc in bottom of tank
SW - saltwater
T5 - Type of fluorescent light bulb. New in aquarium hobby, high lumen output, energy efficient. 
UGF - Undergravel filter
UV - Ultra violet, type of light 
VHO - Very high output fluorescent light
W – Watts
WC - Water Change
W/D - Wet/dry, form of aquarium filtration
WPG - Watts per gallon


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## GetITCdot (Aug 4, 2009)

*Re: Acronyms & Abbreviations - HELP!!!*

Very good idea, Stickied!

Also just off the top of my head.

MH - Metal Halide Lights
SPS - Small Polyped Stony
LPS - Large Polyp Stony
CGC - Captive Grown Corals


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