newbie Newbie owner and I have no idea..!

[Cheesie]

Hi all,

I have just purchased a hot tub and seriously having issues with understanding how to treat the water.. 

I have the strips that test the water, but it all seems quite high (colour gradience) so I put the minus pH in.. 

I then need to add more alkalinity so I do and it rockets up..

After 2 days of using the tub, water has gone murky so I've changed the filter and was told to chlorine shock it..

My point is, how often do I need to treat the water and when and how do I get crystal clear water (it's only been filled a week..!) 

Each time I test the water to use, it never seems right and haven't been able to use it other than the first 2 days..?! 

Should it be this difficult or am I just thick..??

[Krulligo]

Test trips are garbage don't rely on them let alone be dumping chemicals in a new spa based on your interpretation of their inaccurate results.

Get yourself a good pool/spa chemistry drop test kit. You will thank me later. The one I use for both my pool and spa is the Taylor K2006C kit. Works great and never had better water or any issues once I started testing with this kit. Very consistent and accurate readings. You can do both chlorine or bromine tests (for bromine, multiply chlorine test value by 2.25). Once you get a good test kit and still don't understand what chemicals to add or how much, there are people here that will help out based on your accurate readings.

[ratchett]

New tubs are filthy from factory assembly/testing - lots of nasty stuff festers in the plumbing before delivery day.  Additionally, internal components are still pH neutralizing.    Your water chemistry is going to be a mess for the first fill.  Plan on using extra sanitizer and pH/TA balancing chemicals for the first few weeks, and then plan on a purge/drain/refill after the first 4-8 weeks.

I promise water chemistry is much easier after the first refill.