Just Drained And Refilled Spa. Now What?

[David66]

This was my first drain and refill since the initial one back in September. Things were a blur back then and I'm not sure I did everything correctly. Hoping to avoid that this time.

Just a couple quick questions:

I added Metal Gon per the instructions while the water was filling. I got the pumps primed and the jets fired up and I'll leave them run for an hour. Tub is at 52 degrees and warming up. Should I do anything else at this point? I thought I read somewhere to wait 2 or 3 days after adding the Metal Gon before shocking. But does that mean I shouldn't add ANY Dichlor or begin to monitor and adjust PH during these two days?

I plan on following Chemgeek's method of dichlor for a couple weeks, then bleach.

Also, regarding shocking, is it OK to always use bleach to shock or should use something else once in awhile?

Thanks!

David

[TinyBubbles]

I can't help you with the metal gon/shock thing, but I wanted to weigh in on shocking with chlorine. I think it's better to shock weekly with MPS. You can superchlorinate occassionally if you feel the need.

You should balance the water now, do not wait 2 or 3 days. When filling my tub (350 gallons) I add the metal gon, 1 tbs dichlor, and adjust ph, alkalinity and total hardness. Good Luck.

[cplarsen]

Wait! Let the Metal Gone do it's stuff!

Last time I didn't, got anxious to start on the water balancing, and all the iron precipitated out. Spent the next day draining, scrubbing and refilling.

A 48 hour wait isn't going to hurt anything before adding more chems. The water has already been treated by the city anyway.

[tony]

You don't have to wait to add chems after using LeisureTime Metal Gon. Add the Metal Gon while filling, balance and add sanitizer after water temp reaches 85 degrees. The wait you are referring to refers to the Nature2 mineral purifier.

[David66]

Thanks for the replies.

Looks like there are two different opinions on whether or not to start trying to balance the water. My thought is that maybe it won't hurt anything to have water that is out of balance for two or three days while the metal gon does its thing. By the way, it is well water, not city water. A bit on the hard side, and usually high in ph but when I did a test strip yesterday the ph was low. I'll start doing tests with the Taylor kit soon to get a better idea of where everything is.

My other question was whether I could add some dichlor. I haven't done it as of yet. It has now been about 15 hours since the fill. The water was fairly cold (started out at 52 degrees) and last night at 10pm it was about 80. This morning, of course, it is up to 103. I think I'll put a tablespoon of dichlor in soon. I'll wait a few days before shocking. Sound like a good plan?

Thanks!

David

[David66]

I forgot to mention: the water this morning has a definite green tint to it. It was crystal clear when I filled it. The green water problem was one I battled with the first fill. Could this be the metal gon "doing its thing"?

Or, since I didn't add any sanitizer, and none was in the tub for the first 15 hours, did something start to grow already? I believe from reading this forum that algae is the main culprit when it comes to green water, but the cover was on the whole time and it was brand new water.

Thanks,

David

[cplarsen]

Could be. Mine usually looks that way too.

Either chlorine or mps shock should clear it right out though.

You can shock with chlorine, btw. You just have to be sure to get the ppm high enough. 10 ppm I believe.

[biggz]

I forgot to mention: the water this morning has a definite green tint to it. It was crystal clear when I filled it. The green water problem was one I battled with the first fill. Could this be the metal gon "doing its thing"?

Or, since I didn't add any sanitizer, and none was in the tub for the first 15 hours, did something start to grow already? I believe from reading this forum that algae is the main culprit when it comes to green water, but the cover was on the whole time and it was brand new water.

Thanks,

David

David, It sound's like algae to me. Why didn't you add sanitizer? I also notice you didn't mention putting fast gloss before filling the tub. I'm not sure how important it is but my instructions suggested rubbing the fast gloss on the surfaces to help with the UV exposure from the sun.