# Sticky  Common Abbreviations used on APC



## gnatster

This list was created by a member that asked to remain anonymous. It is grouped in a manner that made sense to that person. Thanks to you know who you are for compiling this list for all to use.

Please PM me with any abbreviations you find that you would like to see added.

Some commonly encountered symbols, acronyms, and abbreviations in the hobby. The electronic charges of some species have been omitted.

AB - AquaBotanic
ADA - Aqua Design Amano
ADG - Aquarium Design Group
AGA - Aquatic Gardeners Association
AGA - All Glass Aquarium 
APD - Aquatic Plant Digest 
PT - Planted Tank
TAG - The Aquatic Gardener - Publication of the Aquatic Gardeners Assoc. (AGA)

---

HC - Hemianthus callitrichoides

---

B - Boron
H3BO3 - Boric acid

C - Carbon
CO2 - Carbon Dioxide
CO3- - Carbonate ion
HCO3- - Bicarbonate ion

Ca - Calcium
Ca2+ - Calcium ion
CaCl2 - Calcium chloride
CaCO3 - Calcium Carbonate
CaMg(CO3)2 - Calcium Magnesium Carbonate (Dolomite)

Cl - Chlorine
Cl2 - Chlorine gas
Cl- - Chloride ion

Cu - Copper

Fe - Iron
Fe2+ - Ferric iron
Fe3+ - Ferrous iron
FeEDTA, FeEDDHA, FeDPTA - Chelated iron

H - Hydrogen
H+ - Hydrogen ion
H3O+ - Hydronium ion
H2O - Dihygrogen Monoxide (Water)
H2O2 - Hydrogen Peroxide
HCl - Hydrochloric Acid (Muriatic Acid)

K - Potassium
K+ - Potassium ion
K2SO4 - Potassium Sulfate
KCl - Potassium Chloride (Muriate of Potash)

Mg - Magnesium
Mg2+ - Magnesium ion
MgSO4 - Magnesium Sulfate
MgSO4.7H2O - Magnesium Sulfate Heptahydrate (Epsom Salt)

Mn - Manganese

Na - Sodium
NaCl - Sodium Chloride
NaHCO3 - Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking Soda)

N - Nitrogen
KNO3 - Potassium Nitrate
NH3 - Ammonia
NH4 - Ammonium
NO2 - Nitrite
NO3 - Nitrate

O - Oxygen
O2 - Oxygen gas
O3 - Ozone

P - Phosphorus
PO4 - Phosphate
KHPO4 - Potassium Dibasic Phosphate
KH2PO4 - Potassium Monobasic Phosphate

S - Sulfur

Zn - Zinc

---

NPK - Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium

KH - Carbonate Hardness (the measure of the concentrations of CO3- and HCO3-)
GH - General Hardness or Total Hardness (the measure of the concentrations of primarily Ca2+ and Mg2+)

[x] - Concentration of x, where x can be anything
mg/l - milligram per liter (same as ppm)
ppm - part per million (same as mg/l)
ppb - part per billion
WPG - Watt Per Gallon
ml - milliliter
tbs - tablespoon
tsp - teaspoon
bpm - bubble per minute
pH - the negative log of [H+] (measure of acidity/alkalinity)

---

BBA - Black Brush Algae
BGA - Blue Green Algae

---

MTS - Malaysian Trumpet Snail
SAE - Siamese Algae Eater

---
RO - Reverse Osmosis
DI - Deionized, ion exchanger unit
CF - Compact Fluorescent
LED - Light Emitting Diode
MTBF - Mean Time Before Failure or the avg of how long the bulb lasts till it blows
MH - Metal Halide

PMDD - Poor Man Dupla Drops
PPS - Perpetual Preservation System
SS - Standard Solution PPS 
PF - PO4-free Solution PPS
NF - NO3-free Solution PPS
TDS - Total Dissolved Solids meased in ppm, also known as uS
TMG - Tropica Master Grow
uS - Mirco Seimens another way to measure TDS

AFAIK - As Far As I Know
AKA - Also Known As
APD - Aquatic Plant Digest
BTW - By The Way
DIY - Do It Yourself
FYI - For Your Information
IME - In My Experience
IMO - In My Opinion
IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
IMVHO - In My Very Humble Opinion
LFS - Local Fish Store
OTOH - On The Other Hand
WTB - Want To Buy
WTS - Want To Sell
WTT - Want To Trade
YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary


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## JanS

Great list! Thank you so much!


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## ShaneSmith

Nice work there.


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## fishfry

very comprehensive!! great job

I found a typo...DIY


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## gnatster

> I found a typo...DIY


Fixed

Please send me any others you see that you think should be added.


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## tanVincent

YFPP - Your Friendly Plant Pimp 

Cheers
Vincent


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## pardalisjk

I see '&amp' used in a few posts. What's that?


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## turbomkt

pardalisjk said:


> I see '&amp' used in a few posts. What's that?


 That's a problem with the web site showing you the 'and' sign. Because it is used in coding it has to have some extra stuff & it doesn't always come through clean.


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## wicked_good_guppies

You might want to add the AGA.


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## gnatster

wicked_good_guppies said:


> You might want to add the AGA.


Thanks, added.

Please feel free to inform me of others as you see fit, either in this thread or via PM


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## bopper20

the list frightens and confuses me.


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## betta almighty

definately useful. Thanks so much.


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## Aussie_star

HTH - hope that helps


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## magnolia95

I think the list is great, especially all the chemical names.

Anyway I thought total dissoved solids was TDS? or maybe it is also known as TDS.

The list has it as:

_TSC - Total Dissolved Solids meased in ppm, also know as uS_


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## gnatster

Twas a typo, thanks for the heads up. Fixed now


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## snowball2020

a quick question. 
a saw a lot of "ADA" what's that??


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## dennis

Aqua Designs Amano- the aquarium supply company started by Takishi Amano. ADA products are very high end and focus on th eplanted aspect of the hobby. In the US, ADA products can be found through www.aquariumdesigngoup.com AGD is a sponsor of our site and a very talented pair of brothers with extreme aquascaping prowess.

Do a search here or on Google for Takishi Amano. There is enoug hmaterial out threre about him to keep you busy for a while

welcome to APC!


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## oztankgirl

Wow, that's a very good list, very useful for a newbie like mwa!

Kerry


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## theteh

*What is HC?*

What does HC mean? Have seem it several times but couldn't quite work out what it is.


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## cS

HC is _Hemianthus callitrichoides_.

I wish this bad habit of extreme shorthanding of plant names would stop. It's fine to use HC if the poster first writes the full name of the plant somewhere in his/her post. Otherwise, it's just poor etiquette IMO. :ranger:


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## Jane in Upton

Great List!

I did notice that you suggested folks could contact you "via PM". I recall a time when I didn't know what a PM was, so perhaps include it with the "IMO, WTB, OTOH" and such?

Thanks!
-Jane


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## Jane in Upton

Oh, other suggestions: 

VERY Basic (maybe TOO Basic?)

FW = Freshwater
SW = Saltwater

and for the FW shrimp crowd:

RCS = Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocardinia denticulata sinensis var 'Red' )
CRS = Crystal Red Shrimp
BB = Bumble Bee Shrimp

(sorry, don't know the scientific names of the others w/o looking it up)

Thanks!


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## Jimbo205

*Common Abbreviations used on APC*

I could not find EI.

Jimbo205


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## Dewmazz

EI = Estimative Index


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## fredyk

pardon my simple request, but what does ROAK mean?

Mark


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## brad

I thaught it was RAOK. Random Act Of Kindness.

MTS could also mean Multiple Tank Syndrome. A few of us suffer from the contagious disorder.


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## yildirim

This is absolutely helpful. I saw 'lol' here and there. I would like to know what does it mean.


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## Deni

LOL means "Laughing Out Loud"


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## Jimbo205

What is CEC?


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## Faruk Gençöz

​

*Cation* (NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+, etc...) *Exchange Capacity* (CEC) is defined as the degree to which a soil can adsorb and exchange cations. ​


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## Jimbo205

*Cec*

Cation (NH4+, K+, Ca2+, Fe2+, etc...) Exchange Capacity (CEC) is defined as the degree to which a soil can adsorb and exchange cations.

Okay, the 2 year College degree brain muscle is being stretched. Nothing from the Barron's Aquarium plant book.....

Think, think, think...... Come on Pooh Bear! Think, think, think....

Organic Gardening for Dummies? No. 
Square Foot Gardening? No.
Seachem Product literature. No.
Seachem H2Grow freshwater planted brochure. No.

Think, think, think....... College and High School Chemistry? 
Think, think..... GETTING CLOSER..... think, think, think......
K+ (Potassium maybe??) Ca2+ (Calcium something..) Fe2+ (Good Iron, not the Bad iron Fe3+) 
N (Nitrogen) (1) H (4 hydrogen atoms) with a + ion....

Think, think, think..... Cation = Ions???? POSITIVE IONS!! 
Think.. Exchange = giving and taking things
Think.. Capacity = How much that can be held by something -

Like how much Grape Juice can be in the Juice Pitcher while the 5 year old carries it across the room without spilling it...... (stains carpets terrible you know..)

Think, think.

Soil = good stuff, natural, source of bio-available carbon and nutrients with good bacteria that helps nuture roots and root hairs to absorb good organic gardening compost soil to grow more good stuff.....

Not Miracle Grow (Bad Stuff) which can burn root hairs and kill off GOOD Bacteria which we want to keep the plants healthy and not waiting for its next fix of (MIRACLE GROW)

So CEC is good organic gardening stuff - 
good substrate that you get from Natural Stuff, 
that feeds and nutures the plants in our aquariums to make them glow healthy green, red colors right??

Okay, I don't really know what you are talking about - but I am trying like all heck!

Any truckers here?

 
 
:brick: 
8-[ 
:boom: 
:fish2: 
:bathbaby: 
rayer: 
:smash: 
[smilie=i: 
:hug: 
O 
[smilie=u:
](*,) 
:kiss: 
:decision: 
opcorn: 
:rofl: 
:help: 
:tea:


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## Faruk Gençöz

OK, these things sometimes happen. Forget CEC.


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## turbomkt

You can read plenty on CEC here.


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## Jimbo205

*Cec*

You are both awesome!

I am serious. Every day I learn something new on this website.

Maybe someday I'll become a biologist or a chemist....

No. Maybe not.

But I appreciate your patience with my sense of humor! (smile)


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## Jimbo205

*Common Abbreviations on APC*

I very much liked the post by cS.

I had to copy the list and paste it into Word before all of it would appear on my printout. I hope that was specific to the work computer I am on and not something else.

This list will be crucial in helping me get to the next level in this hobby.

Does APC itself sell a book with a collection of acquired Aquarium experience and knowledge. I am sure just the photo section alone would be worth the price of a book.

For the Anonymous person that created this list. Thank you.


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## Faruk Gençöz

Jimbo205 said:


> For the Anonymous person that created this list. Thank you.


Gnatser is a mysterious person. :spy:

On the other hand as far as I can follow, there were pictures of him with Takashi Amano in AGA convention, and of his car under heavy snow. You can also read about his medical operation and 12-year-old-stories in the forum. Moreover, there are people here call him "Great G". These are quite a lot of clues to unmask him.


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## John N.

I dislike abbreviations and use them very infrequently because they are like a foreign language to me and maybe others. Good thing there's a thread like this one to help people.... Anyways, 

What does IIRC mean?

-John N.


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## jeff63851

I always have trouble with BBA and BGA. Before I saw this thread, I thought that BBA meant Big Bad Algae. Thanks for creating the list!


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## turbomkt

IIRC = If I Remember Correctly


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## John N.

Interesting. Thanks Mike, now my abbreviation dictionary is complete. That is, until the next unknown series of letters pops up and bugs me.

-John N.


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## turbomkt

No acronym list will ever be complete. A good start is here.


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## Neptun

I miss "BP" in the list... and I don't know what it means


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## turbomkt

BP probably refers to Blood Parrots. It's a kind of cross breed fish.


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## slickwillislim

If you mean the BP reference in the aquascaping forum. Its explained as short for planted tanks in French. I thought Blood parrots too.


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## Jimbo205

> Its explained as short for planted tanks in French.


So how do you say planted tanks in french? (The words, not the abbreviation.)


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## slickwillislim

Kookaburra said:

"It's just a French "private Joke" ... "BP" is the abreviation of "Bacs Plantés" (in english, we said "Planted Tanks" I think ?)."

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/33195-my-bp-tank.html

Look at post #5.


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## turbomkt

Learn something new every day!


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## litesky

brad said:


> I thaught it was RAOK. Random Act Of Kindness.
> 
> MTS could also mean Multiple Tank Syndrome. A few of us suffer from the contagious disorder.


Came back for a month now and was trying to figure out for the longest time what RAOK meant. Isn't labeling RAOK a bit.....not so random? I dunno just me.. I feel if people know that you are being kind about it they would know. There's no need for "labeling". In any case. Off topic, but this thread was helpful. THANKS OP!


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## cs_gardener

How about NPT = natural planted tank from the El Natural forum


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## hedson_25

then what is rykr?


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## blacksmith37

Wait, wait! I know "BP" , its British Petroleum. They have the pukey green and yellow signs so no one will mistake them for the American ( red, white, and blue signage ) companies they bought; Amoco, Arco, amd Sohio.


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## xfile80303

Okay, I've a new one for you all: LMK

Context was a response to a "wanted" posting:

"If you're still looking I have a culture going and it would be $8 shipped.
LMK if that works for you."

I had to use the acronym finder tool mentioned earlier http://www.acronymfinder.com/

LMK = Let Me Know

Is it just me or once you find out what an acronym means you feel like an idiot for not getting it sooner? :doh:

Levi


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## dawntwister

turbomkt said:


> BP probably refers to Blood Parrots. It's a kind of cross breed fish.


that is funny. ha! ha!


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## druda

You might want to add CEC.


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## Chuppy

cec?


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## Diana K

CEC... Cationic Exchange Capacity. 
Ornamental Horticulture 101, followed by Soils (yes, a whole semester devoted to dirt. No, not _that_ kind, the stuff in the garden.)

Very important idea for planted tanks; explains why sand and gravel is not so good.

MTS also stands for Mega Tank Syndrome, a subdivision of Multiple Tank Syndrome, the main symptom is getting larger and larger tanks.


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## William Beebe

What do the abbreviations GSA and PGA mean?

Thanks


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## Bert H

William Beebe said:


> What do the abbreviations GSA and PGA mean?
> 
> Thanks


GSA = green spot algae

PGA = ?? Professional golfers association?


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## wiste

PGA = Poly-L-glutamic acid


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## Tentacles

I think you need a whole section on lighting abbreviations and a few scientific explanations to help me personally understand the more complicated threads - I'm a very simple person.

CF = Compact fluorescents
PC = Power compacts
(are these the same?)

HO = High output

But when everyone talks about the wattage on a high output do they mean the power put in or its equivalent in incandescents (ie. if a 23W high output is equivalent to 125W of incandescent lighting)? Because it does seem really bizarre to base WpG on the power consumption of a high output light.

What does T5 and T8 mean? 
(I've been thinking the T stands for something synonymous with "next gen")

K = Kelvins
nm = nanometers
lux = lumens per square metre (this isn't technically an abbrev. is it?)
CRI = colour rendering index
PAR = Photosynthetic Active Radiation/Photosynthetic Available Radiation


Also live food seems absent:
BBS = baby brine shrimp
BS = brine shrimp (or the other common usage)
mw = microworms
bw = blackworms
ve = vinegar eels


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## benigne 76

What is a HOB filter ? :sorry:

It seems so obvious to you that I can't find it anywhere (I'm not a native speaker).


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## Jeff.:P:.

HOB - Hang on Back Filter


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## benigne 76

Ok, thank you very much ! They're not very common here, and we call them gutter filters.


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## Tentacles

Yeah, we just call them Hang On filters, because, of course, you can hang them on the side as well. When I first heard the term HOB I thought it was like the hob you mount a stovetop or a bath on and it was some kind of swish built-in thing... I was a bit disappointed to find out it was a hang on.


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## skipm

Tentacles said:


> I think you need a whole section on lighting abbreviations and a few scientific explanations to help me personally understand the more complicated threads - I'm a very simple person.
> 
> CF = Compact fluorescents
> PC = Power compacts
> (are these the same?)
> 
> HO = High output
> 
> But when everyone talks about the wattage on a high output do they mean the power put in or its equivalent in incandescents (ie. if a 23W high output is equivalent to 125W of incandescent lighting)? Because it does seem really bizarre to base WpG on the power consumption of a high output light.
> 
> What does T5 and T8 mean?
> (I've been thinking the T stands for something synonymous with "next gen")
> 
> K = Kelvins
> nm = nanometers
> lux = lumens per square metre (this isn't technically an abbrev. is it?)
> CRI = colour rendering index
> PAR = Photosynthetic Active Radiation/Photosynthetic Available Radiation
> 
> Also live food seems absent:
> BBS = baby brine shrimp
> BS = brine shrimp (or the other common usage)
> mw = microworms
> bw = blackworms
> ve = vinegar eels


The terms high output (H/O), normal output (N/0), and very high output (VHO) are not referring to the wattage of the bulbs but to the frequency of the ballast that drives the bulbs.

On the "T" thing as you describe it the T is representative of the diameter of the bulb in eighths on an inch, for example a T-5 is 5/8" in diameter and a T-12 is 1 1/2".


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## jmontee

What is BUMP? I see it in threads that noone has answered. Just curious.


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## Bert H

When noone has replied to a thread for a while it falls on the list of that particular forum. Bump merely is a way for someone to bump up the thread to the top of the list of threads in that forum hoping it will get more attention from folks looking at it. It's just a meaningless post for the thread to rise back to the top.


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## jmontee

Thanks Bert


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## wantabe23

I honestly, for the most part don't like a lot of these "short cut" words. I don't feel like I should print out a list so that I can refer back to it to understand some subject matter. But then when I don't print one and I am gone from the forum for a while I come back and have a hard time, then I find my self back at this list, and that is quite annoying. 

To have refer to a reference because people don't want to actual type a word out, what the heck. I thought typing was a faster form of writing already. What a side track!

I am sorry I just have a problem when I am engulfed into a story or leaning and then these capital letters come up that are not explained in parentheses, it's like being out of the loop so to speak, and/or not in the "click". 

Just my to sense. (Thank you for the list though)

It would be thoughtful if people more often would use parentheses to label this kind of thing in the first place


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## Dr.Ponce

EI
Estimative Index?


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## xavierj123

Thanks Gnatster but I don't mind if you use my name. I need to print this out and tape it next to my computer here. Thanks again.


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## J-lud

What's EI used in reference to fertilizer regimine?


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## J-lud

Nevermind... just notice there was more than one page to the posting and read through and found EI...:roll:


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## gasteriaphile

Dewmazz said:


> EI = Estimative Index


Ok, pardon if I didn't read all 8 pages! but what does "estimative index" mean?
I saw it in relation to a hi-tech tank like Amano's.


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## BryceM

See the fertilizing section for full details. There is a sticky that describes it well.

I actually don't think the name is a very good one. It really doesn't describe the method and it's a bit confusing.

A name like "resettable overdosing" would be more descriptive. The idea is basically to dose everything in super-abundance while performing large weekly water changes to even it all out.


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## doubleott05

i see people using AH supply or AHS i think its a store but what does it stand for?

Thanks
Elliot


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## bigstick120

http://ahsupply.com/index.html

Aquarium Hobbyist Supply


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## Tex Gal

GDA -green dust algae
BGA - blue green algae (cyanobacteria)
BBA - black beard algae or black brush algae


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## chesspupil

FW - Fresh Water, SW, Salt water?


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