New Tub On The Way With Frog System

[JackVa1]

My dealer and I just agreed to a new Caldera and he said, great news, the 2008 comes with a Frog system. We'll set your dial for about a "3" and I'll leave you test strips and see how it goes. We will sign the deal tomorrow.

As part of the deal he is going to provide me a years worth of canisters for the frog.

I know nothing about this stuff, but have time to do something else if I know what I really want to do.

I have read the article about bleach and ading cya to the bleech, but this Frog sounds easier.

Please give me some advice. I could not exactly gleen what to but to use bleech and add cya. where do i get cya? What about the Ozone part of keeping the tub water clean?

If this Frog is a waste of money, I'd rather take off a couple hundred dollars and purchae unscented bleech and cya (whatever that is).

Thanks to anyone who can make this simple for me.

Jack

[TinyBubbles]

It's a mineral system that is usually used with bromine, I think. If I remember correctly, it combines the mineral cartridge and a bromine dispenser. Bromine is the most common sanitizer used for spas. Some people just choose not to use it because it's irritating to their skin or they don't like the odor. You will not need to use bleach or worry about cya. Your ozonator should help oxidize organics in your spa, like sweat, lotions, etc. There is controversy over wether or not it is a sanitizer. Mineral cartridges are meant to be slow acting sanitizers. The jury is still out on if you need them or not. If it's just a mineral system and not a bromine delivery system, then it's up to you to choose which sanitizer you prefer. Luckily, you've found this forum and know where to come if you have any questions. Congratulations on the purchase of your new spa!

[Shaamus]

The inline systems have both the Frog and the bromine cartrige so you should be covered as far as sanitation. Just don't get lulled into not testing your water on a regular basis for proper levels. It's inline, not auto-replenishing. Congrats on your new tub purchase.

[ncspa]

The inline systems have both the Frog and the bromine cartrige so you should be covered as far as sanitation. Just don't get lulled into not testing your water on a regular basis for proper levels. It's inline, not auto-replenishing. Congrats on your new tub purchase.

Congrats - you'll enjoy it. My new spa was delivered with the frog system as well. Seems easy to me - bromine and minerals dispensed to keep your background sanitizer levels up. With the ozonator, you can keep your bromine use low (around 1-2ppm). If you read the posts you'll notice that the test strips can be difficult to read. Based on advice in this forum, I just purchased a Taylor kit - expensive ($60) but much easier and more precise.

have fun!

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

The inline systems have both the Frog and the bromine cartrige so you should be covered as far as sanitation. Just don't get lulled into not testing your water on a regular basis for proper levels. It's inline, not auto-replenishing. Congrats on your new tub purchase.

Congrats - you'll enjoy it. My new spa was delivered with the frog system as well. Seems easy to me - bromine and minerals dispensed to keep your background sanitizer levels up. With the ozonator, you can keep your bromine use low (around 1-2ppm). If you read the posts you'll notice that the test strips can be difficult to read. Based on advice in this forum, I just purchased a Taylor kit - expensive ($60) but much easier and more precise.

have fun!

They work real well and the mineral aspect of this system seems to keep the water "softer" not as harsh feeling and between the mineral and being able to keep the bromine a little lower there is not as much of the bromine smell. You also won't have to worry about warranty issues if you don't use the bleach. Just make sure to keep everything balanced and I think you will enjoy the simplicity of the system.

[JackVa1]

The inline systems have both the Frog and the bromine cartrige so you should be covered as far as sanitation. Just don't get lulled into not testing your water on a regular basis for proper levels. It's inline, not auto-replenishing. Congrats on your new tub purchase.

Congrats - you'll enjoy it. My new spa was delivered with the frog system as well. Seems easy to me - bromine and minerals dispensed to keep your background sanitizer levels up. With the ozonator, you can keep your bromine use low (around 1-2ppm). If you read the posts you'll notice that the test strips can be difficult to read. Based on advice in this forum, I just purchased a Taylor kit - expensive ($60) but much easier and more precise.

have fun!

They work real well and the mineral aspect of this system seems to keep the water "softer" not as harsh feeling and between the mineral and being able to keep the bromine a little lower there is not as much of the bromine smell. You also won't have to worry about warranty issues if you don't use the bleach. Just make sure to keep everything balanced and I think you will enjoy the simplicity of the system.

Help me with the mineral aspect you mention

We are ready to buy a Kinetico system to REMOVE minerals. Will I be putting them back in??

[waterbear]

The 'minerals' you will be adding to your water are silver and zinc. Minerals sounds more 'granola-crunchy' and 'spa like' than saying it's putting metals in your water but that is what it and all other ionizer systems, passive or active, do. The frog is a passive, erosion feeder type of device that slowly introduces metal ions into the water.(Nature2 is the other popular erosion type of 'mineral' system but it is only compatible with chlorine.) Metals have algaestatic and bacteriostatic properties but very slow kill times which is why a redidual of a fast acting sanitizer like bromine or chlorine is still needed. If you get an algae problem then the Frog system has a product called Frog Bam, which is just a chelated copper sulfate solution. This will introduce another 'mineral', copper. Copper is an effective algaecide. In fact, just about every major pool/spa product company has at least one copper based agaecide in their product line!

BE aware that these metal systems, whehter active, passive, or in a bottle, are NOT primary santizers.

The downside to metals in your water is that they can stain the surface of your spa and can stain people as well! (The infamous 'green hair' is caused by copper. End of story.)

[tony]

The 'minerals' you will be adding to your water are silver and zinc. Minerals sounds more 'granola-crunchy' and 'spa like' than saying it's putting metals in your water but that is what it and all other ionizer systems, passive or active, do. The frog is a passive, erosion feeder type of device that slowly introduces metal ions into the water.(Nature2 is the other popular erosion type of 'mineral' system but it is only compatible with chlorine.) Metals have algaestatic and bacteriostatic properties but very slow kill times which is why a redidual of a fast acting sanitizer like bromine or chlorine is still needed. If you get an algae problem then the Frog system has a product called Frog Bam, which is just a chelated copper sulfate solution. This will introduce another 'mineral', copper. Copper is an effective algaecide. In fact, just about every major pool/spa product company has at least one copper based agaecide in their product line!

BE aware that these metal systems, whehter active, passive, or in a bottle, are NOT primary santizers.

The downside to metals in your water is that they can stain the surface of your spa and can stain people as well! (The infamous 'green hair' is caused by copper. End of story.)

Nature2 for a spa is a combination of silver and zinc and can be used with chlorine only. The Spa Frog is a combination of silver and limestone and can be used with either chlorine or bromine. The Frog Bam is a product used for pool Frog system and is not available for use in a spa. I have used both the spa N2 cartridge and the spa Frog cartridge for extended periods in my spa. I also had a pool Frog system on my pool. For the record, my pool Frog now makes a pretty good trichlor chlorine feeder and I am not using any minerals in my spa.

[waterbear]

The 'minerals' you will be adding to your water are silver and zinc. Minerals sounds more 'granola-crunchy' and 'spa like' than saying it's putting metals in your water but that is what it and all other ionizer systems, passive or active, do. The frog is a passive, erosion feeder type of device that slowly introduces metal ions into the water.(Nature2 is the other popular erosion type of 'mineral' system but it is only compatible with chlorine.) Metals have algaestatic and bacteriostatic properties but very slow kill times which is why a redidual of a fast acting sanitizer like bromine or chlorine is still needed. If you get an algae problem then the Frog system has a product called Frog Bam, which is just a chelated copper sulfate solution. This will introduce another 'mineral', copper. Copper is an effective algaecide. In fact, just about every major pool/spa product company has at least one copper based agaecide in their product line!

BE aware that these metal systems, whehter active, passive, or in a bottle, are NOT primary santizers.

The downside to metals in your water is that they can stain the surface of your spa and can stain people as well! (The infamous 'green hair' is caused by copper. End of story.)

Nature2 for a spa is a combination of silver and zinc and can be used with chlorine only. The Spa Frog is a combination of silver and limestone and can be used with either chlorine or bromine. The Frog Bam is a product used for pool Frog system and is not available for use in a spa. I have used both the spa N2 cartridge and the spa Frog cartridge for extended periods in my spa. I also had a pool Frog system on my pool. For the record, my pool Frog now makes a pretty good trichlor chlorine feeder and I am not using any minerals in my spa.

King Technology changed their website about a year ago and took all references to Zinc off the site at that time. Before that they said the minerals were silver, zinc and limestone. I don't know why but I don't think they made any changes to the product. Limestone is basically just calcium carbonate, which is what we call 'scale' when it deposits on the walls of our pools and spas. I suspect it is the delivery system for the metals. Nature2 uses ceramic beads. I suspect the delivery system is the main difference why N2 can only be used with chlorine and Spa Frog is suitable for use with either but it is interesting that on their website King Technology states that the PoolFrog is not EPA approved for use with bromine so it might just be about the EPA registrations each company obtained (or it might be due to the repective patents each company holds). In any case the technology is basically the same. Metals are added to the water by a passive erosion process. Zinc is probably a bit less effective an algaecide as copper but is not going to cause the same type of staining problems. Silver will and can stain. I know zinc's been added to trichlor tabs in Canada in much the same way copper salts are added to trichlor tabs in the US for the algaestatic properties.

[tony]

King Technology changed their website about a year ago and took all references to Zinc off the site at that time. Before that they said the minerals were silver, zinc and limestone. I don't know why but I don't think they made any changes to the product. Limestone is basically just calcium carbonate, which is what we call 'scale' when it deposits on the walls of our pools and spas. I suspect it is the delivery system for the metals. Nature2 uses ceramic beads. I suspect the delivery system is the main difference why N2 can only be used with chlorine and Spa Frog is suitable for use with either but it is interesting that on their website King Technology states that the PoolFrog is not EPA approved for use with bromine so it might just be about the EPA registrations each company obtained (or it might be due to the repective patents each company holds). In any case the technology is basically the same. Metals are added to the water by a passive erosion process. Zinc is probably a bit less effective an algaecide as copper but is not going to cause the same type of staining problems. Silver will and can stain. I know zinc's been added to trichlor tabs in Canada in much the same way copper salts are added to trichlor tabs in the US for the algaestatic properties.

I used the PoolFrog for two years because it came with two years worth of trichlor. As I mentioned, it now acts as a pretty good trichlor puck feeder. I use trichlor to keep about 1ppm free chlorine and suppliment with liquid chlorine about twice a week. This gives me a good free chlorine level and keeps my CYA levels in check. I never have any combined chlorine in my pool so I do not shock. Right now I am experimenting with bleach to sanitize in my spa and shock with 1.5 tablespoons of non buffered MPS weekly. I have yet to register any combined chlorine with this routine. I have removed my ozonator and stopped using mineral cartridges as I do not believe they add any value to my water because I use my spa almost daily, thus I add chlorine daily. I keep my TA at about 80 and need to add about one tablespoon of dry acid every other week to keep my pH in line. I am about two months into my bleach experiment. So far everything looks good.