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  1. [Edit: My wife told me her Dr. said she had a skin ‘sensitivity’ to Bromine, not an ‘allergic reaction’. I have changed my references to ‘allergy/allergic’ to ‘skin sensitivity’. The link says that ‘skin sensitivity’ (irritant contact dermatitis) shows a reaction, rash, in 1–2 hours (which she had), whereas ‘allergic contact dermatitis’ is an immune system reaction that takes from 24 to 48 hours to show symptoms. The ‘skin sensitivity reaction’ was quite severe for her, so it is still a significant issue. This article talks about testing patches of skin on your arm, like a dermatologist would do. I’ll have her ask her Dr. if he/she can recommend a chlorine % solution to apply to her arm as a chlorine sensitivity test, rather than dunking her whole body in a bathtub of chlorinated water!] Before we go through the hassle of draining the tub and restarting with Chlorine as the sanitizer instead of Bromine, to see if Chlorine causes my wife no skin rashes, we want to fill the bathtub with hot water and simulate the chlorine water conditions that would be the same as if we convert the hot tub to chlorine. So here are our questions: 1) Is it common for some people to have a skin sensitivity reaction to Bromine, but NOT to Chlorine? What are the odds of this? (I’ll have her ask her Dr. about this too.) 2)How do I create a bathtub chlorine environment to match a hot tub's? [We may hold off for a possible arm skin patch test for chlorine if that is an option.] a) Would I need to reduce our tap water's 370 ppm TA (Total Alkalinity) down below 70 ppm (our hot tub's current TA is 40 ppm), then get the PH adjusted between 7.4- 7.7 before adding Chlorine to make the test valid as close as possible to apples to apples to the actual hot tub? b) How much of 7.5% chlorine to initially add to say ≈ 30 gallons of bath water to get an in-range chlorine level? c) I only have a Taylor K-2106 'Bromine' test kit. Is there a workaround test that will tell me the effective Chlorine level I need to measure? If I can't do that with my K-2106 kit/reagents, what reagents would I need to buy to perform a proper Chlorine level test for our experimental bathtub test? 3) Are people with similar Bromine sensitivity able to completely avoid skin irritant sensitivity reactions of rashes and bumps by simply taking Antihistamines like: 25mg Benadryl or 10mg Cetirizine HCI (Zyrtec or Amazon Generic), 10 mg Loratadine (Claritin or Amazon Generic)? If so, what doses and how long before and after? The Background: We purchased a brand-new Bullfrog A6L (310 gals) Hot tub with the only time it was filled was at OEM water test at the time of manufacture, three months prior. The tub was purged, water balanced, Bromine Reserve added, Chlorine Shock done, PH & Bromine levels have been kept in range. It causes my wife extreme rash and bumps, but I have no skin reactions at all. Our initial soak (103º F, PH 7.6, Ttl. Bromine 6ppm, TA 30 ppm) caused her an extreme skin irritation reaction where she had a rash and bumps on her trunk, arms and legs. I am using a Taylor K-2106 'Complete (FAS-DPD bromine)' test kit. She said the pain and itching for a week was worse than her prior bout of Covid. It kept her awake all night. A week and a half later we let the Total Bromine drop to zero, PH ≈7.6, TA 40ppm. The water temp was only at 93º F. The skin irritation reaction was nowhere near as strong, but she still felt it coming on 1–2 hours after her soak. She took one Zyrtec 10mg Cetirizine HCI Antihistamine at that time and for two days following and the rash dissipated. I have had no skin irritation reactions at all. Installation, thorough Purge and refill process: Three weeks ago, after the brand new hot tub was installed, I filled it (310 gals) and did a purge using AHH!some. Ran jets on high w/ air for 30-minutes, wiped away the green sludge from the shell above the water line and scooped a few small patches from the water. I then removed the four Bullfrog JetPaks and cleaned the green from them that was at the waterline. As an extra precaution, I then ran the jets on high for a second 30-minute period. There was only a small amount of green residue to wipe away this time. I then sprayed ≈ 50 gallons of water into the tub via each jet to rinse any lingering residue of green biofilm and AHH!some purge. I siphoned out then used a shop vac to completely drain the foot well as well as vacuuming each JetPak supply pipe and all the lowest fixed jets. I have rinsed the filter once per week. I am pretty sure we can rule out ‘hot tub folliculitis’. Thank you, Dave
  2. I have earned my hot tub for over a year and I still feel like a newbie to keeping the chemical straight. I use bromine tabs Spa Boss. This hot tub is at my lake house which I visit about once a month. I hired a person to maintain it, but it seems worse than ever. Water is now cloudy with a moldy smell. I found out she was using a fragrance in the water which I did not approve. I think I will drain the water, clean the tub and start fresh. Any suggestions for keeping this hot tub clean? I do not rent my lake house out so it gets minimal use.
  3. Hi All, I'm shopping for sodium bromide and stumbled across "ClearView Yellow Aid" and "SeaKlear Yellow Klear," both of which are for treating yellow/mustard algae, but both of which are 99% sodium bromide. In both cases, you get twice as much (2 lb) for the same price as you do if you purchase "Sodium Bromide," marketed as a spa chemical. Does anyone have any experience with either of these products or something like them? Is there any reason they shouldn't be used to create a bromide bank in my spa? I am tempted to buy it because it's a better deal and it appears that I'm getting the same thing.
  4. I am having an issue and I'm hoping some water chemistry experts can chime in..., that at first I thought might have been white mold (even though it was a new spa), but tested and wasn't... resigned to it being hard water calcium flakes because I have been having white flakes floating all over the water that persists after water changes and a flush. But, after a recent water change I discovered that it isn't hard water, but in fact sealant used around the jets housing, lights, filter compartment, etc. that is crumbling. My spa also trips the breaker daily and i think this sealant, which is all in the plumbing, is causing the trips. I made a video so you can see what I'm talking about... The dealer is claiming chemical abuse of bromine and will not honor the warranty. My water chemistry is well maintained and always within range... my sanitizer is never too high and I've never done a super chlorination, yet they recommend one for this issue. Dealers I have spoken with have never seen the sealant come off like this and completely clog the plumbing as mine has. I'm wondering if someone can tell me if this is possible and how much bromine would really have to be used to cause something like this as they are saying it's a bromine issue. Even after shock, my levels only go up to around 10 at the highest then come back down to 3-4. I don't know what sealant they are using that a sanitizer at that level can destroy. Plus, they are also asking me to have the sealant (they are calling "white powder") tested and give them a chemical analysis of it. Crazy! Here's the video:
  5. (I finally found the post that I made back in 2010 on setting up 3 step bromine for a hot tub so I am reposting it here with a few edits to update the embedded links so they work and improve the clarity of the procedure. Enjoy!) When testing water do NOT use strips, get a good drop based test kit. Your best bet for Bromine if you are in the US or Canada is the Taylor k-2106 and for chlorine the K-2006 (NOT the K-2005). THE TEST KIT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN OWN FOR EASY SPA MAINTENANCE. GET A GOOD ONE! I cannot stress this enough!!!!! If the K-2106 is not readily available in Canada you can use the K-2006 for bromine by testing for Free Chlorine and multiplying the results by 2.25 to get Total Bromine. You do not need to test for combined bromine (combined chlorine test) nor cyanuric acid in a bromine system. On to bromine: 1. fill the spa and balance the water.Do not turn the heat up yet. If you have well water or know your water has metals then add a metal sequestrant at this point. You will need to continue with weekly maintenance doses of the metal sequestrant if your water has metals. A better solution is to fill from a water softener or purchase a "spa stick" filter that attaches to your hose to fill the spa to help remove the metals. A,adjust TA to 50-70 ppm (here is a detailed explanation and howto on lowering TA if it's too high),, raise TA with baking soda if it's too low,, it's the same chemical sold as TA increaser for much less money! B. Once TA is in range then adjust pH to between 7.4 and 7.8 Use dry acid (or muriatic acid) to lower pH if too high (8.0 and above). If the pH is too low (7.2 and below) either aerate the water to outgas CO2 and bring up the pH or use borax from the laundry aisle to raise it..Do NOT use pH up because it will make your TA go too high!!!!!!!! pH up is sodium carbonate, also known as washing soda and raises both pH AND TA! C. IF you calcium hardness is below 130 ppm raise it to 130-150. If it is above 400 then add an anti stain and scale or calcium reducer to the spa weekly. If it is between 130-400 you are fine. 2. If you are not in Canada Add 1/2 oz of sodium bromide per 100 gallons of water to create your bromide reserve in the water. This is the MOST important step with a bromine spa and the one most people ignore. If you omit this step you will not have a bromine spa for several weeks until enough tablets dissolve in the water to create the bromide bank and you will be running chlorine until the bromide bank forms! Sodium Bromide is available in packets and jars from several companies. You will need to re add it on each drain and fill. Make sure that you get sodium bromide in either powder or liquid form that is sold to start the bromide reserve or 'bromide bank' and not a one step bromine product that is a mixture of mostly dichlor and a little blt of sodium bromide. READ THE LABEL! It should only contain sodium bromide (and water if in liquid form). Sodium bromide has been outlawed in Canada except as part of 'one step' bromine sanitizer products that are a mixture of sodium bromide and dichlor. A workaround is to use such a product for the first few weeks to build your bromide bank. The ingredients should be sodium bromide and dichlor (sodium dichloro-s-triazinetrione). EDIT: I HAVE LEARNED THAT PLAIN SODIUM BROMIDE IS AVAILABLE IN CANADA AGAIN BUT IT SEEMS TO BE DIFFICULT TO FIND AND IS EXPENSVE. IF YOU CAN GET IT USE IT. 3. Shock the spa to 'activate' (oxidize) the sodium bromide into hypobromous acid (this is your 'bromine' sanitizer that you test for with your strips or test kit.) You can use MPS to shock but chlorine works just as well if not better and is much less expensive. One of the best sources of chlorine you can use with a bromine spa is sodium hypochlorite and that can also be found in the laundry aisle. It is ordinary liquid chlorine bleach. You want the regular, unscented bleach, not a thickened or scented one. It will come in either 5.25% or 6%. Read the label to see which you have. Use 3 oz (6 tablespoons) of the 5.25% or 2.5 oz (5 tablespoons) of the 6% per 100 gallons of spa water to shock. Your bromine will go very high. Uncover the spa and circulate until the bromine drops below 10 ppm before you use the spa. Now heat the spa up to temperature. If you are in Canada you want to use your one step product to shock to about 15-18 ppm Total Bromine or you can shock with bleach and just let the bromide bank build up in time, 4. Put in the floater with your bromine tabs (which usually contain BOTH bromine and chlorine to activate the bromine, btw) and adjust the floater to maintain your bromine at about 4-6 ppm. this can take a bit of trial and error. Check your pH and bromine before you go in each time and if bromine is low add a few tablespoons of bleach and retest until it is above 4 but below 10 ppm. It really only takes seconds for the chlorine to oxidize your bromide reserve into bromine sanitizer. If pH is not between 7.2 and 8.0 then you should adjust it before entering the spa and wait about 30 minutes then retest it to make sure it is in the proper range. If both are off then adjust pH first then the bromine. YOU CANNOT ADJUST THE Ph WHEN THE SANITIZER LEVELS ARE HIGH BECAUSE OF AN INTERACTION BETWEEN HIGH SANITIZER LEVELS AND THE PHENOL RED INDICATOR USED TO TEST PH! It does not matter if the test is done by liquid reagents or strips. Most test kits and strips will not give accurate pH measurements if the sanitizer is above 3-5 ppm . Taylor kits are good up to 10 ppm. If it's higher than that you need to wait for sanitizer to drop before testing and adjusting pH. The only work around is a properly calibrated pH meter. If your bromine is always low open the floater a bit more. If high then close it down a bit. If it is above 10 then take out the floater and open the spa until the bromine level drops below 10 before entering the water and close the floater down a bit. Once you get the floater adjusted the bromine level will stay pretty constant and it becomes much easier! Remember to keep tablets in the floater at all times! You are done! Weekly test pH, Keep pH between 7.2 -8.0 and then when you have finished adjusting shock the spa with bleach just like when you added the sodium bromide but you do not need more sodium bromide. Add anti scale or calcium reducer if your calcium tested above 400 ppm. Every 2 to 4 weeks check and adjust TA and calcium before you adjust pH and shock. For the first few months do it every two weeks until you learn YOUR tub. If it stays fairly stable then you can drop back the testing to monthly. Every 3-4 months drain, refill, balance the water, add the sodium bromide, shock, and put the bromine tablets back in. Actually pretty easy! If you follow these steps you will not need to waste money on defoamers, clarifier, enzymes, etc.! The ONLY additive you might want to consider is a borate product. Borate has several benefits when added to a 30-50 ppm range. You can add borate with a commercial borate product such as Gentle Spa or Optimizer Plus or by using boric acid or borax. Most of the commercial borate products are a mixture of boric acid and borax to product a pH neutral product and might also contain a scent. Boric acid will slightly lower the pH but since the trend in a spa is a rising pH this should not be a major issue. If the pH is too low then add borax (at twice the dosing rate for pH up/sodium carbonate) to bring your pH into the 7.6 to 7.8 range, which is where your pH will want to 'sit' once the borate is added. Borax (both the decahydrate and pentahydate forms) will raise pH significantly and require the addition of either dry acid or muriatic acid to maintain the pH in the proper range. My recommendation is either boric acid or a commercial pH neutral product, Some commercial products are just the pentahydrate form of borax and will say in the dosing instructions that acid must also be added. . To test borate I highly recommend the LaMotte borate test strips. They are much easier to read than the strips from Taylor, Hach, and AquaCheck. The Lamotte strips have color blocks that go from rose pink to tan while the others have color blocks that are (very close) shades of tan and very difficult to discern between them. Initially adjust borate to 50 ppm and test as often as you test your TA and calcium. If and when it drops to 30 ppm bring it back up to 50 ppm. Hope this helps. Chlorine is a bit cheaper than bromine but it really does require daily attention. Bromine (and what I described above is known as 3 step bromine and is the most forgiving) is not as fussy (acceptable pH range is wider and water balance is easier than chlorine or 2 step bromine) and really only needs attention once or twice a week after you get it set up, besides checking sanitizer level and pH before you enter the spa each time. Happy bromine tubbing!
  6. I recently bought a Marquis Epic tub that came with an inline spafrog system. I am looking to be more environmentally conscious and not throw away the plastic cartridges. I found a relatively easy way to pull the cartridge apart now I need to find a reasonable replica to the larger bromine granules that come in the spa frog canister. Everything I see has the granules an smaller which will diffuse faster, the alternative is to go with 1” tablets but they will disperse at a much slower rate. Anyone already figured this out?
  7. I have been filling my little spa for about 6 years now, using bromine and city water. FOR THE LIFE OF ME, I cannot get the water stabilized (according to Nitro's approach 11/08), EVER. Nitro states that the CH level will be used to determine TA/pH levels, and that the trick is to get the TA high enough not to create an unstable situation, and low enough not to allow pH to rise too much. All that he says makes perfect sense, but it's not my reality! Waterbear, I always use your "Bromine Done Right" on fresh fills. Just filled a few days ago, and as it stands, my readings (with Taylor products) are CH 300, TA 80, Bromine 9 and pH OFF THE CHART! I tested the water before I began: CA 300, TA 90, pH 7.4. Added bromine and shocked. Next day the bromine was 3.5 and pH was off the chart. Had to wait for ProTeam tabs to arrive, so I added 2 to the filter and the next day the sanitizer level was 15 so I aerated to bring it down to 10. With all of this work and no success, I am wondering if my CH is too high in the first place? The only thing I've seen on the forum is to "make a note of it" if it's higher than 150. Sure would appreciate some help. Thanks!
  8. I'm a new hot tub user and for about a week now I've been having an issue of just above 0ppm bromine levels, my pH and TA are completely fine and in the correct range although the bromine is next to nothing, I have a Sundance Optima 880 and I tried using the Brominator and a floating dispenser both together and one at a time and neither has fixed my issue and now just yesterday when the jets are on the hot tub starts to create foam. During the refilling stage I used infused bromine granules as I heard this is something you're supposed to use to boost the bromine upon refill, this worked and I had high bromine levels although they naturally ended up dropping. I've tried, refilling the water, using non-chlorine shock treatment, cleaning the filter with a filter cleaner hose attachment
  9. Turns out I'm allergic to some aspect of my new cedar tub. Since it will take several months, possibly over a year to see an immunologist and determine the exact allergen, (statistically most likely to be bromine from what I have found online) we are changing from bromine to chlorine, (knowing it could eat away at the wood. If it's the correct allergen, can get a liner at that point). What I would like to know is if anyone has any educated suggestions on the best way to extract any bromine that has leached into the wood. As of now, I have drained the tub, spent at least an hour spraying the walls and floor with a hose, and refilled. We will leave it to sit for a few days with no chemicals, though the ionizer is turned on. Then I will do that same again, at least once, maybe more. For some background, while experimenting earlier to try to figure out the source of the allergy, we did empty, refill and use the next day with no chemicals once heated to see if I would react to that and I did. (I get full body rash. No one else who has used the tub has ever gotten a rash other other adverse reaction). Could be an allergy to cedar though, or something else, who knows, but gotta try something cause that thing is awesome!
  10. Hotsprings instructs users to put all chemicals only into the filter compartment. We are using bromine granules, and coincidentally?? the only time my water remained clear is after I put the bromine in the main tub area rather than filer area. Is this a coincidence? Background I have a new hotsprings Pulse spa and the water was cloudy after several days. I discovered the installer put the ozonator check valve in backwards. After many attempts with dealer to fix the chemistry, we finally drained and refilled tub, Then followed all instructions and water became cloudy after a few days, I proceeded to put in bromine 2.5 tablespoons for 380 gal tub. After 16 hours no free bromine detected. Ph 7.2 and alkalinity 122 water still cloudy Next I put in 4 tablespoons (super shock) but this time directly into tub not thru filter area (I also changed filter) Note "older" filter is only 1 month old and has been rinsed every week. Left cover off for 6 hours. Now finally water is clear. What was the problem?? Filter, putting bromine into filter area, check valve? other??
  11. Hi there, I hope that you are all well. Hot tub newbie here! We had our hot tub delivered last week We were given instructions to fill the tub and, once it reached 26 degrees or over, put 4-6 tablespoons of bromine into the water. We were then advised to check the levels using strips and to add a capful of PH reducer or TA enhancer as necessary. The strips seemed far from accurate, but we got to a level where the colours seemed to match. However, after only being in the hot tub twice, we have all come out in a rash. Not to put too fine a point on it, I am covered in spots! We asked our hot tub supplier for help and they said that we were given bad advice on almost all fronts and that we needed only a couple of level teaspoons of bromine. Having had such a bad experience, we are keen to start again and get things completely safe We have replaced the water and are desperately trying to get those strip colours to match. However, the PH always seems too high. Sorry to waffle on... we are just at our wits end! Thank you for your time... I really appreciate your help!
  12. Hi; This is the 3rd season we have had our spa (it came with the house when we moved in) and up until this year I have not had any problems at all. However, over the past month I have developed a really itch allergic reaction to something in the water - mostly on my chest, upper back, torso and a few spots on my legs. My Dr. told me to take a shower after the spa and use plenty of soap but it's not really helping much. We use the spa most days but I'm at the point of wondering if my spa days are over . For sanitation we have a UV unit which we replaced a couple of years ago and we used bromine pucks which are in a floating dispenser in the spa when we are not using it. We check the pH and the bromine level each day and adjust the flow through the bromine dispenser as necessary to keep the bromine level where it should be. Are there alternatives to Bromine that I should consider or could it be something else Any feedback at all would be great. Thanks Paul
  13. The bromine tablets I've loaded into the floating dispenser in my hot tub keep caking up together, forming a solid mass that is very difficult to break up and remove. What's the best way to clean out my floating dispenser and how can I keep this from happening again? Thanks!
  14. Hi all. I just changed the water in my Tropic Seas spa (375 gallon, 6 seater) and when I turn the ozonator on, the water foams up. I am using a Nature2 spa stick and bromine along with Cense. I havent always had this foaming issue. I cleaned the spa after draining it. Filled it as I always have, test strips indicate everything in the recommended ranges. Any idea on this? Would love to be able to use the ozonator without this foam. I know some bubbles are expected because its air blowing through the water, but it foams up. Once the ozonator is off, it does disappear relatively quickly. Any help or thoughts would be helpful. Thanks!
  15. We are new to hot tubbing. We recently switched from a chlorine frog system to a bromine system. I have tested it twice and it is regestering 0 on my test stick. I moved it up to a 6 and it’s still 0. Any advice would be helpful! It’s also full of suds.
  16. First post on this forum, so let me just briefly say that I'm really grateful that this exists. You guys are awesome! It was a real struggle to find reliable information before finding this forum. Now, as I'm starting out, I made a rookie mistake. I currently use bromine in my hot tub, and would like to keep it that way. However, I bought the test kit Taylor k-2006, which is meant for chlorine. My main question: do I really need to buy another test kit for Bromine now? If you can help, I'd like to understand the difference between the FAS-DPD test for chlorine and for bromine. Taylor names the pure FAS-DPD tests K-1515-A,C for chlorine and K-1517-A,C for bromine. Different names; does that mean they are different chemicals? If I use my current chlorine test with the water containing bromine, what is it measuring? Does it really measure only the chlorine (free and combined) in the water? Or does it measure a combination of bromine and chlorine? The readings I get certainly seem high for just purely chlorine. Many thanks!
  17. I have a 6 month old Artesian Nevis spa which appears to have ozone and UV sanitizers installed since the lights for those are illuminated on the panel and there are little bubbles coming out from the footwell like the service tech at the dealer said there would be. I also have a Microsilk system which produces the tiny oxygen bubbles. When I got it, we filled according to instructions using a dichlor system. No issues and kept the chlorine pretty minimal, adding more after each use, since we always showered first and went in au natural. I had to go out of town for 3 months, so turned the heat down to 50 (although ambient temp was high enough to probably keep it at 65 at least) and switched to bromine floater with the nature 2 stick, which seemed to keep things nice the whole time. Drained and cleaned it, soaked the filters (which still looked brand new) in vinegar and water overnight, refilled and decided to try the Spa Frog system. I used the start up packet which came with the spa frog kit (PH and Alk and hardness all good) and dialed the bromine to where it was suggested. The next day, no bromine reading, so I figured I would stick the floater with bromine tabs in the tub to help it out since I had read about others needing to do this. Left it for a couple of hours with the floater open about an inch and took a soak. I don't remember testing the water before I got in, so i'm guessing I didn't! After soaking for 20 minutes (my max time) I did my usual routine of emptying my bladder and showering. Two things happened. My eyes burned like crazy in the shower once water hit them. I thought maybe I had gotten shampoo in them, but this was really painful and took ages to wash out with water and soothing eye drops. A few minutes later, my whole urinary tract was irritated and painful, radiating to my lower back. Saw the doctor since I was worried about a possible UTI, but nope. Just irritation and inflammation. So I am wondering what it is that triggered this. I don't seem to have a bacteria problem since the bromine levels seem to stay up well over two days without the floater in the tub and no use. I had used a bromine floater system in my last hot tub with no problems. Could it have been the start up packet chemicals that came with the Spa Frog? I didn't add any MPS until after I had gotten in that first time, so that wasn't it. Do people have a reaction to the silver in the frog system sometimes? I wear silver jewelry with no problems. Or was it likely that the bromine level was just too high after two hours of the floater plus the frog? I did leave the floaters in the tub with me for about 10 minutes, since they stayed in their own corner, but I know i should have probably taken them out. I was thinking about flushing, draining and refilling the tub and switching back to dichlor, but thought I would get some feedback before going through all that in case it's just chemicals that needed to burn off a bit. Thoughts?? Thanks! I am dying to get back in the spa but afraid to until I have some answers and a decision.
  18. Hello - I have a 450gal tub that is 2 months old and I have a constant recurring issue. I filled the tub, added sodium bromide and shocked with MPS...I also have a bromine floater that is in the tub that I have set to "all the way open". I find it impossible to maintain a bromine readout from day to day. If I add dichlor I get a nice readout, but within 18 hours the readout goes to 0. Last night, I shocked w/MPS to try and reactivate the bromine. I will run a test strip tonight to see if there is anything, but the only thing I noticed this morning is that it made my water cloudy... Please help! UPDATE: Last night I was actually able to get a readout of bromine in my spa, which means something is finally working. The next question I have would be how do I maintain this level of bromine? Just keep shocking with MPS weekly, or is something else required more than that?
  19. posted on the wrong forum - please delete.
  20. Hello, i noticed that the couple times I haven't used my hot tub for a week or more, the bromine levels build up and go from 3ish to 7-8...and that's without shocking or doing anything. I use bromine tablet and a dispenser. it is then hard to bring the levels down, and I usually end up removing the dispenser completely for a while. Is that normal? I always read that you need to shock at least once a week even when not using the tub, but wouldn't that bring the levels up to the roof? Am i missing something? PH was a bit high and TA a bit low, so I adjusted that.
  21. Have had new tub for about a week. Day we got it, filled up, tested neg for metals so proceeded to use non chlorine shock after adjusting ph. Used a floating bromine dispenser, After a few days, still no bromine registered at testing. Left for vacation. Rash appeared on 3 of us (looks like mosquito bites, assuming pseudomonas from lack of bromine). Not too concerned with that and sure it will go away soon. came home to a slightly green translucent tub, barely registering bromine. Spa place recommended hyperchlorinating using granular chlorine. This definitely helped some with the green color, but we ultimately chose to drain, scrub and refill. After filling today, I adjusted ph, which is about 7.6-7.8, and added maintenance chlorine just to keep the water sanitized and not risk pseudomonas infectioN. I plan to get sodium bromide tomorrow to create a bank, then use the bromide floater. Am I missing anything? Is it safe to use today since we have added chlorine to sanitize?
  22. Hello, we've had our new caldera salina spa for about 3 weeks now, with the in line spa frog bromine system. We cannot keep a good level of bromine in the water, no matter what we do! the highest we've seen it was at 2ppm and that was after shocking with an oxidizing shock treatment. Stayed up for a day and went back down to zero... Non chlorine shock doesn't seem to help at all, but we use it after every use. I don't use the chlorine shock as often, as I heard it is harsher on the tub and shouldn't be used on a regular basis. Would you say it's a biofilm problem from the wet testing done at the manufacture? We're planning on flushing and draining if it doesn't get better...I contacted Caldera who told me it was unlikely, but that we could super-chlorine the spa...haven't looked into that yet Also, i find it very hard to get good results from the test strips. we got the AquaCheck digital thing, but the results are always very different than the ones at Leslie's pool supplies...I tend to trust them more than the machine. Should I? Thanks!!
  23. Hello, I have a Bullfrog X6R 291 gallon hot tub. I put 1.5 ounces of Leisure Time Sodium Bromide as an initial shock when filling. Once a week I add three Leisure Time chlorine-free Renew Tabs. I have a floating dispenser in which I use Leisure Time Brom Tabs (usually just one at a time, because otherwise the bromine level gets extremely high). I'm using Leisure Time bromine test strips. Normally, the above recipe keeps the bromine levels around the right range. However, in the past week the bromine level has plummeted. Adding an additional Brom Tab has brought it up just a little bit but not very far, and it fell back down again to almost nothing. What am I doing wrong?
  24. Hi, we have a bromine spa at home that is used about 30 minutes per week, which we have had for about 10 years. We change the water every 5-6 months as the spa is used so infrequently. We use the floating method with Bromine tabs (1 every 10 days approx), monthly about 20 grams of sodium bicarbonate and this seems to be about all we require to keep the water balanced and stable. Occasionally (every couple of months) I shock the water with liquid chlorine (12.5% strength). I do have the TFT100 test kit that I occasionally (few times a year) use to double check the readings, check TA or if something seems a bit off and maybe once a year (or if any doubt) i go the the pool shop and they have a proper machine to do more accurate readings, thankfully the readings have been the same so far as what my weekly testing says. Weekly I would do the quick test with Taylors or equivalent OTO and Phenol Red , in Australia this or an equivalent product can not longer be purchased or is recommended for use but I can get something similar via eBay from Hong Kong. Unfortunately I have just run out and need to get some more. I like this method as its quick and easy and has always seemed pretty accurate when I have done comparative test with another method. My questions is, is this still the simplest, reasonably priced/accurate method to use in our situation for weekly testing or should we consider something else or are we missing something that we should be doing? The ebay product is: OTO and Phenol Red Or something like this for Ph and something else for Cl PH only test Or I noticed these that look good and easy but not sure how they compare to our current method for accuracy: Electronic Ph and Cl test Or slightly more expensive and could just be to good to be true Another Electronic test
  25. We will be draining our spa soon since our TSD levels are already very high. We want to start over using the 3 steps bromine method and really hope it will work better for us. My question is that I currently have both MPS and chlorine shock. I know I can also use bleach, but since I have those bottles, I want to use them. When should I use the chlorine shock over the MPS one? Thank you!!
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