Commonly used abbreviations in the aquarium hobby.

Greetings r/aquarium....people,

So I was thinking, we toss around a lot abbreviations in here. For folks new to the hobby, it can be very confusing to read "I bought a RTC at my LFS, now the water is murky, should I replace my GAC or just up my W/Cs?" Yeah, bad example, I know.

Help me make a list of commonly used (or maybe not so commonly used) abbreviations that I can post a link to in the sidebar as a quick reference guide. Let's leave livestock off this list, please.

Here we go, add anything you can think of, I will [probably] add them to the list. Thanks gang.

• AC - Activated carbon chemical (often GAC, granular activated carbon)

• Alk - Alkalinity

• ATO - Automatic top off

• ATS - Algae turf scrubber

• BPS - bubbles per second

• Ca - Calcium

• CA or C.A. - Central American (occasionally California) - Generally reserved for describing Cichlids' region of origin.

• CaCl2 - Calcium chloride

• CaCO3 - Calcium carbonate

• Ca(OH)2 - Calcium hydroxide

• Cl - Chlorine

• CO2 - Carbon dioxide

• CO3 - Carbonate

• Cu - Copper

• CuC/CUC - Clean up crew

• Cyano - Cyanobacteria

• DI - Deionisation, deionizer

• DIY - Do it yourself

• dKH Degrees of carbonate hardness, a measure of alkalinity

• DO - Dissolve oxygen

• DOC - Dissolved organic carbon

• DSB - deep sand bed

• DS9 - Deep Space 9

• DW - Driftwood

• EI - Estimative index (FW fert dosing)

• F/O - Fish only

• FOWLR - Fish only with live rock

• FTS - full tank shot (photo)

• FW - Freshwater

• GAC - granular activated carbon

• GFO - Granular Ferric Oxide

• GH - General hardness

• GPH - Gallons per hour

• HOB - Hang on Back

• HCO3 - Hydrogen carbonate

• HO - High output fluorescent light

• IR - Infrared

• Kalk - Kalkwasser, aka calcium hydroxide solution aka limewater

• KH - Carbonate hardness (alkalinity)

• KI - Potassium iodide

• LED - Light emitting diode

• LFS - Local fish store

• LHS - Local hardware store

• LPS - Large polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral

• LR - Live rock

• Mg - Magnesium

• MH - Metal halide light

• Na - Sodium

• NaCO3 - Sodium carbonate

• NaOH - Sodium hydroxide

• NTS - New tank syndrome

• NH3 - Ammonia

• NH4 - Ammonium

• NO2 - Nitrite

• NO3 - Nitrate

• O2 - oxygen

• PAR - Photosynthetically active radiation

• PC - Power compact fluorescent light

• pH - A measure of the acidity of a solution

• PO4 - Phosphate

• PPM - Parts per million, equivalent to mg/l (milligrams per litre)

• PD - Prime Directive

• PUR - Photosynthetically usable radiation

• PVC - Poly vinyl chloride, common pipe type for plumbing

• QT - Quarantine

• RO or R/O - Reverse osmosis, type of water purification

• RO/DI - Reverse osmosis, deionisation/deionizer

• SA or S.A. - South American. -Generally reserved for describing Cichlids' region of origin.

• SG - Specific gravity

• Si - Silicon

• SiO2 - Silicon dioxide

• SPS - Small polyped Scleractinian (stoney) coral

• Sr - Strontium

• SW - Saltwater

• TDS - Total dissolved solids

• UGF - Undergravel filter

• UV - Ultra violet light

• VHO - Very high output fluorescent light

• Wal - Walstad planted aquarium

• W/C - Water change

• W/G or WPG - watts per gallon

• WIP - Work in progress

• WTF - What the fuck