Saltwater Lingo

[Lmcg8020]

Pretty new. Can anyone send me links to the proper “lingo” for the measurements of all that needs tested in the tank. Ex: ppm? Also the lighting settings PAR? Idk what it all means and would like any Info going forward. I’ve been studying but I don’t know what to look up exactly.

 

[Jekyl]

Ppm is part per million. Different tests measure using different levels. Once you start doing testing of your own, you'll completely understand. Par is photosynthetic active radiation. It's a measurement used with lighting to see how powerful they are to judge on if they are strong enough for different corals.

 

[Lmcg8020]

Ppm is part per million. Different tests measure using different levels. Once you start doing testing of your own, you'll completely understand. Par is photosynthetic active radiation. It's a measurement used with lighting to see how powerful they are to judge on if they are strong enough for different corals.

Thank you!

 

[attiland]

Pretty new. Can anyone send me links to the proper “lingo” for the measurements of all that needs tested in the tank. Ex: ppm? Also the lighting settings PAR? Idk what it all means and would like any Info going forward. I’ve been studying but I don’t know what to look up exactly.

One of the most important thing to remember if someone is only speaking “lingo” probably don’t have experience themselves. There are some you can’t avoid like PPM or PAR as there are measurement units just like miles or inches (already explained by others) and doesn’t class as lingo but you will come across a lot on this site.
if someone talks in lingo and you are not sure what they are talking about the only thing makes you look bad if you don’t ask.

 

[Lmcg8020]

One of the most important thing to remember if someone is only speaking “lingo” probably don’t have experience themselves. There are some you can’t avoid like PPM or PAR as there are measurement units just like miles or inches (already explained by others) and doesn’t class as lingo but you will come across a lot on this site.
if someone talks in lingo and you are not sure what they are talking about the only thing makes you look bad if you don’t ask.

Thanks

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Deciphering Hobby Talk: Acronyms and Commonly Used Terms

We've all been there - the daunting reply to a thread in which every other word is an acronym or a term that everyone else but you seems to understand. Here is an attempt to clear up and define some more of the commonly used terms in the hobby...

www.reef2reef.com

Just keep this bookmarked for quick reference later. You can catch on pretty fast.

 

[Rmckoy]

I have similar issues with my wife .
we will go into a lfs ( local fish store ) and I’ll talk to them about everything from exporting nutrients , lighting , dosing , alk , cal consumption etc .
she gets frustrated but doesn’t ask questions .
She’s relatively new to the hobby .
she loves the tank when it’s clean and running nice .
she loves picking corals , fish , but the “work” part she doesn’t really understand , which will take time .
She always asked why we can’t “make it sparkle clean “ as some bad advice she got from a lfs

she was going to take all the rocks , sand , corals out and scrub everything while I was at work . Lol

 

[attiland]

Deciphering Hobby Talk: Acronyms and Commonly Used Terms

We've all been there - the daunting reply to a thread in which every other word is an acronym or a term that everyone else but you seems to understand. Here is an attempt to clear up and define some more of the commonly used terms in the hobby...

www.reef2reef.com

Just keep this bookmarked for quick reference later. You can catch on pretty fast.

This is a good one for translation of text speech on some of the posts. Hope you will never speak like this.

 

[Lmcg8020]

I have similar issues with my wife .
we will go into a lfs ( local fish store ) and I’ll talk to them about everything from exporting nutrients , lighting , dosing , alk , cal consumption etc .
she gets frustrated but doesn’t ask questions .
She’s relatively new to the hobby .
she loves the tank when it’s clean and running nice .
she loves picking corals , fish , but the “work” part she doesn’t really understand , which will take time .
She always asked why we can’t “make it sparkle clean “ as some bad advice she got from a lfs

she was going to take all the rocks , sand , corals out and scrub everything while I was at work . Lol

Thanks for the info and yes I will not be relying on lfs I am doing a ton of research! Learning a lot and this forum has been extremely helpful!!

 

[ZoWhat]

Ex: ppm?

Here's a pretty cool visual on parts-per-million

Imagine a standard size mayonnaise jar.

Fill it with crystalline sugar

Now imagine one tiny grain of sugar is red in color and every other grain is white

That single grain of red sugar represents 1ppm as compared to the rest of the jar

I saw this example at a booth at a festival where our local Water Company had several jars of sugar and encouraged ppl to roll the jar around to spot the single 1ppm red sugar grain. It took a good 5-10mins of rolling the sugar around to find that tiny red sugar grain.

They were promoting that their water had 75% less ppm inorganics compared to other Water Companies

So..... if you test calcium and its 420ppm, then that mayonnaise jar example would represent 420 grains of red sugar in the jar

 

[Gtinnel]

Deciphering Hobby Talk: Acronyms and Commonly Used Terms

We've all been there - the daunting reply to a thread in which every other word is an acronym or a term that everyone else but you seems to understand. Here is an attempt to clear up and define some more of the commonly used terms in the hobby...

www.reef2reef.com

Just keep this bookmarked for quick reference later. You can catch on pretty fast.

I dont know why I look at these anytime someone shares them but for some reason I do. Are the descriptions for Durso and Herbie reversed, or have I been wrong on which one is which for a few years?

 

[Lmcg8020]

Deciphering Hobby Talk: Acronyms and Commonly Used Terms

We've all been there - the daunting reply to a thread in which every other word is an acronym or a term that everyone else but you seems to understand. Here is an attempt to clear up and define some more of the commonly used terms in the hobby...

www.reef2reef.com

Just keep this bookmarked for quick reference later. You can catch on pretty fast.

Thank you

 

[Lmcg8020]

Here's a pretty cool visual on parts-per-million

Imagine a standard size mayonnaise jar.

Fill it with crystalline sugar

Now imagine one tiny grain of sugar is red in color and every other grain is white

That single grain of red sugar represents 1ppm as compared to the rest of the jar

I saw this example at a booth at a festival where our local Water Company had several jars of sugar and encouraged ppl to roll the jar around to spot the single 1ppm red sugar grain. It took a good 5-10mins of rolling the sugar around to find that tiny red sugar grain.

They were promoting that their water had 75% less ppm inorganics compared to other Water Companies

So..... if you test calcium and its 420ppm, then that mayonnaise jar example would represent 420 grains of red sugar in the jar

Thank you

 

[Rmckoy]

I wasn’t relying on a lfs for info .
more conversing on any particular topic . Or topics .
there are a lot of very knowledgable and helpful people on here to help .
we were all new once upon a time .
some of us including myself have forget how long ago it was .

don’t hesitate to ask any question

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've summarized explanations of all of the units of measure typically used by reefkeepers here:

The Units of Measure of Reefkeeping by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com