Annoying terms

[mort]

Anyone else frustrated by the lack of explanation of commonly used terms in the hobby? I've always been annoyed when people tell me it needs low/moderate/high light/flow as they mean different things to everyone. I could put a coral in what I think is a high light area and it browns out whilst someone else would bleach it.
I know there are scientific definitions of flow but not seen any fot light and the average hobbyist doesn't know what they are.

 

[Oscar47f]

There are some definitions of low medium and high light. PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation ) is used to help define what low medium and high light are. I don't know the exacts but maybe looking it up with par ranges can help.

 

[buckroe07]

High light means where there is high PAR (defined above), which is usually up high in the tank closest to the light. Low light would be on the sand bed, and medium is in between. It may not have turned brown from just the amount of light is it exposed to alone. It could be water chemistry also.

 

[Tahoe61]

"Clowns hosting"... just can not let it go.

 

[AcroNem]

Honestly, as someone who actively studies coral taxonomy, morphology, ecology as well as others, the terms SPS and LPS mean nothing to me. The clades Robust and complex better describe them. Also when someone says "clowns hosting__" drives me nuts too. Or when someone says "QT tank". Which is "Quarantine tank tank".

 

[mort]

High light means where there is high PAR (defined above), which is usually up high in the tank closest to the light. Low light would be on the sand bed, and medium is in between. It may not have turned brown from just the amount of light is it exposed to alone. It could be water chemistry also.

There are some definitions of low medium and high light. PAR (Photosynthetically active radiation ) is used to help define what low medium and high light are. I don't know the exacts but maybe looking it up with par ranges can help.

PAR may be useful but what I am talking about is the way people and shops just reel off imprecise descriptions of conditions. For instance if you have a couple of T5 lights, your brightest spot at the top may be far less PAR than someone with MH gets on the bottom. So how can you tell where a particular coral should go. It's all well and good saying it needs to be under this or that PAR but try finding that info on pretty much any sellers site (have seen it once I believe but they were very broad bands). So I would say that the terms are undefined for most reefers. The same applies to flow, yes scientifically they might measure it in cm/s but that is easier in the ocean, try doing it in turbid tank conditions without laminar flow. Again using a tank example if I put a frag in full flow of my 900l/hr powerhead it might be high flow for my tank but someone might have 10,000l/hr powerheads, so its very low flow for them.

 

[ebushrow]

Honestly, as someone who actively studies coral taxonomy, morphology, ecology as well as others, the terms SPS and LPS mean nothing to me. The clades Robust and complex better describe them. Also when someone says "clowns hosting__" drives me nuts too. Or when someone says "QT tank". Which is "Quarantine tank tank".

I always assumed that qt was short for quarantine....then tank is tank....I've always used qt for quarantine at work as well....maybe wrong though...

 

[mort]

Honestly, as someone who actively studies coral taxonomy, morphology, ecology as well as others, the terms SPS and LPS mean nothing to me.

I thought these were aquarist definitions only and scientists used hermatypic or non hermatypic.

 

[mort]

Or when someone says "QT tank". Which is "Quarantine tank tank".

Not the salty world but Koi carp annoys me, as does when people say PIN number

 

[DanConnor]

Yeah, but my ATM gets all ticked when I type 3.1415926535

 

[DanConnor]

* British for drunk

 

[DanConnor]

I thought these were aquarist definitions only and scientists used hermatypic or non hermatypic.

Well, you could have a reefbuilding LPS coral, so I don't think those terms exactly conform. But SPS and LPS are perfectly useful terms, even if not meaningful to taxonomists, imo.

 

[AcroNem]

They don't. SPS and LPS are used in the hobby only, and aren't very useful elsewhere, we don't even use them much at work. Although they are useful in (sort of) describing one of the groups. As for the two you mentioned, those are used but when describing the clades they've been grouped into the two I said above. They don't matter to many home aquarist I was just adding my side of things. I meant none of what I said as insulting, just adding more facts

 

[Labridaedicted]

Yeah, I find the hobby full of vague terms, but it is because it makes it more accessible to John q. Public. If we only used latin and only told people PAR ratings for coral requirements, it would turn off a lot of would be aquarist.

That being said, I prefer those numbers and Latin, but that's the Biologist in me.

 

[AcroNem]

Yeah, I find the hobby full of vague terms, but it is because it makes it more accessible to John q. Public. If we only used latin and only told people PAR ratings for coral requirements, it would turn off a lot of would be aquarist.

That being said, I prefer those numbers and Latin, but that's the Biologist in me.

That's where I'm coming from too. I understand that people will use terms that are easy to understand and we won't have many people using correct scientific names or terms because anyone can use them, but I always will because it's what I study.

 

[Velcro]

If one more person posts the term "POP" like that in all caps talking about actinic lighting I'm gonna lose it.

 

[O'l Salty]

Acronyms drive me nuts.

 

[Triggreef]

Or when someone says "QT tank". Which is "Quarantine tank tank".

YES! but I probably do that as well because most newer reefers won't understand QT at all. I find myself just spelling out quarantine a lot to avoid that. Lol

 

[AcroNem]

YES! but I probably do that as well because most newer reefers won't understand QT at all. I find myself just spelling out quarantine a lot to avoid that. Lol

Seems like the consensus is we should all just spell things haha.

 

[McMullen]

I've always been annoyed when people tell me it needs low/moderate/high light/flow as they mean different things to everyone.

. Guilty! But yes, these are very relative terms that are tossed around loosely. Is high PAR 400 or 600? How many gallons per hour or liters classifies as low vs high?

Good post!