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contactmypics

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  1. Hi everyone. I've owned my Bullfrog A7L (440 gallons) spa for 2 years and continue to have water balancing issue(s). The tub is equipped with ozone and uses the Frog system (minerals + low chlorine). Recently did a water change and using a Taylor kit had the following readings: TA 120 pH 8.0+ I have so far added about 5 oz of Clorox brand pH Down over the course of one week (adding 1Tbs per day... sometimes 2Tbs if i start early enough in the morning and the reading is still high in the evening). I usually wait 12-24 hours between readings / adding more pH down. My pH is still reading 8.0+ but, as would be expected, my TA has dropped to 60 (which i believe is too low, and even if borderline low it will only get worse if i continue to add pH Down). I have not yet installed the Frog system cartridges, or added the pouch of shock(?) that comes with it, as the instructions indicate to get the water balanced first before adding the cartridges. We are not currently using the tub; we would like to, but trying to first get the water balanced before introducing another variable. In my previous years' experience if the water is not properly balanced the Frog system is ineffective at sanitizing (ie- chlorine levels would be way too low, even for the frog system which is supposed to have low chlorine levels). Thanks for reading and for any advice/suggestions.
  2. Thanks for the reply and help... Sorry i forgot to include this value above, currently PH is at 7.4, which i thought was good... so leave this alone for now? Hmm... first time I have heard to not really worry about alkalnity; is a value of 20 actually OK long term, or is this just not a priority at the moment? Which part of my description makes you think biofilm? Would the presence of biofilm effect pH and/or alkalinity (or is this an unrelated issue?) One thing i didn't mention is that the water is generally crystal clear... it looks great, it's just i'm not able to get TA and pH values to be in the 'acceptable' range at the same time. I'm away for a long weekend so can't test water again until Wed. Thank you for the help so far!
  3. Thanks in advance for the help from this forum. Brief Background: One year owner of a Bullfrog A7 (550 gallons) with Ozone and an inline Frog System (uses combination of Minerals and Chlorine Cartridges). First year experience has been frustrating trying to balance the water, mostly due to low alkalinity/high PH (fix one and the other goes out of wack... and vice versa) Tired of trips to test the water at the pool store which felt like a game of roulette with me having no idea what the results would be. I finally broke down and spent the money on a Taylor 2006 test kit and these are the results of my first test: Total Alkalinity: 20 (yeah, i know, very low) Calcium Hardness: 200 Free Chlorine: 1.5 (this may seem low but is correct according to the Frog System (King Technology) which indicates FC should be between .5-2.0 and all is OK as long as Total Chlorine is higher than Free Chlorine). Total Chlorine: not tested i dumped the sample before realizing i was supposed to continue to use the same sample i used above for Free Chlorine. I know there is enough TC left in the cartridge as the cartridge is only 2-3 days old (also replaced mineral cartridge at that time as well) What should be my first course of action? I'm assuming priority is to increase Alkalinity... and then adjust PH? However, this is the see-saw act i have been going through for the first year. I currently have the following products on hand: Alkalinity Up (100% Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate) pH Down (93.2% Sodium Bisulfate) Chlorine-Free Oxidizing Shock (38% Potassium Peroxymonosulfate) Enhanced Shock (w/ Chlorine: 58.2% Sodium Dichloro-s Triazinetrione) In addition to getting my water balanced correctly i'm hoping to solve two (i'm assuming) related issues: 1) when taking cover off hot tub the water has a smell too it. I can't place the smell, but i'd say it's pungent and most similar to rotten eggs, although not as strong. This dissipates a minute or two after the cover is off 2) when the hot tub is on there always seems to be a lot of foam on the top. It's not 'mountains' of foam here and there, but a fairly level layer of foam, i'm guessing .5"-1" above the water surface. (when this dries on the hot tub shell it leaves a greenish/brown (scum??) mark) Sorry for the long post, but i tried to be thorough and include as much information as possible. Although i've been a hot tub owner for a year, most of that time i have been lost, so i'm open to any and all suggestions. I'm hoping with the help of this forum, and my new Taylor kit, i'll start to enjoy spa ownership instead of worrying about it. Thanks!
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