JimBeaux

I got my wife a portable spa (Spa-n-a-Box) for Christmas, and have been trying to learn to balance the chemicals since then. on 1/5 I took a water sample to my local spa store. They ran it through their computer and told me exactly what I needed to do. I did just what they said - added shock, added more bromine tabs to the floater, got some clarifier and something to raise the hardness a bit. A few days later I took another sample in - now everything was too high, including the bromine and the pH. I left the cover off, ran the spa and took the floater out, and within a day the bromine level was practically nil again. So I've been trying to balance the bromine, while still using the spa. On Sunday my son had a few spots on him, as did I. I suspect they're from hot-tub folliculitus. No big deal - goes away by itself, no harm, no foul, right? But my wife is uncertain about using the spa now. I don't want to have to take a water sample to the store every day or so. I'm not sure how to proceed from here. The floater I got is a cheap floater from Home Depot - should I get a different type? Seems that when it's in the water, it releases too much and the bromine level spikes - which also raises the pH level, right? I'm using a combination of test strips and one of the chemical test kits. Am I just in the beginning of a learning curve, or am I doing something dreadfully wrong? BTW, the spa is a 250 gallon unit. The floater is a mini-floater. The spa is in our weatherized back porch so it doesn't get any sunlight. Thoughts?