Common Abbreviations

Just thought that this might be handy for any noobyish types, so you can memorise them - you will be tested on them later :lol:


LFS - Local Fish Shop

Amm or NH3 - Ammonia

NO2 - Nitrite

NO3 - Nitrate

CO2 - Carbon Dioxide

pH - Potential of Hydrogen, a scale to measure the acidity/alkalinity of water.Potential of hydrogen.

GH - General Hardness, the concentration of dissolved magnesium and calcium in water.

KH - Carbonate Hardness, the buffering capacity of water, ie the stability of pH.

SG - Specific Gravity, the salinity of water. Applicable for marine and brackish water set-ups.

RO - Reverse Osmosis.

MTS - Malaysian Trumpet Snail.

NTD - Neon Tetra Disease.

UGF - Undergravel Filter.

Please feel free to add any more that you may think of.

You werent thinking of me when you did this were you Diana

I have always wondered what people were going on about when they wrote about KH and GH and so on. I still dont understand why its needed but at least I know what the letters stand for now

It's to do with the chemical composition of your water, charley and is basically a measurement of the levels of dissolved ions - magnesium and calcium I think. Oh yes, just checked above and that's what it is. This determines whether your water is soft or hard which is important to know when choosing fish.

Sometimes if fish die for no apparent reason, it can be because they're being kept in the wrong water conditions. Certain fish require a specific GH/KH in order to survive longterm e.g. Rams do best in soft, slightly acidic water whereas Malawi Cichlids require hard water.

MTS - Malaysian Trumpet Snail

MTS - Multi tank syndrome

I could say I have MTS but don't have any snails, or ModTheSims...MTS forum I go on. Nothing to do with tanks or snails :lol:

BTS - Bigger Tank Syndrome

Now that I've recovered from MTS by acquiring six tanks (and a seventh still in its box), I am succumbing to the effects of BTS by craving a four foot tank.

SAE - Siamese Algae Eater. A lovely little fish that's an efficient algae eater and very peaceful. This is my SAE Mongkut (named after the King of Siam, geddit?). :lol:



CAE - Chinese Algae Eater. Not such a good algae eater and can turn aggressive as it ages. I bought one accidentally a few months back but hightailed it back to the LFS when I realized my mistake.