Metal Sequestor vs. Mineral Cartridge

[riesnd]

Does a product such as Metal Gon sequestor the minerals that are put into the water as a sanitizer from feeding systems such as a Spa Frog?

The metal management products I have seen all have the same general statement of function: Sequesters iron, copper and other minerals in the water...

This statement indicates to me that while there is metal management product available in the water, it will defeat the purpose of the mineral cartridge. Without a definitive way to measure minerals however, I can't tell whether the minerals from the cartridge are available for sanitation or are being sequestered/removed.

I've done a bit of searching but have not found any definitive information. Does anyone have some facts to share?



Above is the REAL question. Below is how I came to ask this question.
In my specific case the tub has an in-line Spa Frog (mineral and bromine) and my water source has high iron content. During my first fill I added a bottle of Metal Gon as recommeneded and the iron tint in the water went away by the 2nd day. Rinsing the filter showed that the Metal Gon did its job. After a couple months I needed to add water to the tub. It was probably only about 20 gallons but it was enough that you could detect that familiar iron tint, not much but definately there. After a couple days the tint from the new water was gone which led me to believe some leftover Metal Gon was still in the water. This got me thinking that if there indeed is leftover Metal Gon in the water, how does it affect the minerals that are part of the Spa Frog sanitizer equation. I'm not having ongoing problems with my water but I have let it slip twice when I was gone for a long weekend and came back to cloudy water. These episodes indicated that perhaps the volume of mineral sanitizer was not high enough to allow for the low (1-2ppm) bromine level recommended for the Spa Frog. I now know that  the cause of the cloudy water was that too much of my bromine was going to oxiding vs. sanitizing and have since "fixed" by shock routine. Nevertheless the question of the mineral cartridge effectiveness being canceled by leftover Metal Gon is still rumbling around in the back of my mind.

[Spatech_tuo]

A few years back I asked that question of a Nature 2 rep because it obviously seemed like they would counteract each other and his answer was "Umm, ahh, hmm, let me get back to you".

A couple days later he responded saying to wait 2 days after adding Metal Gon before adding the mineral cartridge which is what has become my standard line.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

I have also learned the same thing, 2 days rinse filters and add mineral cartridge. What may have happened is the filter picked up the bigger particles of iron so you could not see it anymore. The metal remover helps sequester the smaller particles that you can't see into bigger ones that can be filtered out.

[stuart]

I have also learned the same thing, 2 days rinse filters and add mineral cartridge. What may have happened is the filter picked up the bigger particles of iron so you could not see it anymore. The metal remover helps sequester the smaller particles that you can't see into bigger ones that can be filtered out.

Here is the definition of a sequestering agent.

"In biochemistry, sequestration indicates that a compound or metabolite is locked away so as not to be readily available. The inhibition or prevention of normal ion behavior by combination with added materials, especially the prevention of metallic ion precipitation from solution by formation of a coordination compound with a tree/to leave or isolate form."

Which says to me that it will render Ionization useless....

Biogaurd has explained it for years as "a solution that suspends the metal particles and prevents them from oxidizing". I challenged the use of enzyme with a sequestering agent after they trained us many years ago that enzymes break up oils and solutions. wouldn't the two work against one another?

In many cases when a customer complained about dry skin and itching over the years, I’ve eliminated the sequestering agent and the problem went away even though they've always claim bromine or chlorine for the issue.

[riesnd]

I finally thougt to call King Technology, the maker of the Spa Frog system to get their thoughts. Yea, I know I should have done that first...I'm a little slow sometimes.

What I learned from their tech is that the primary minerals used in the Spa Frog mineral cartridge are limestone & sulfer and that these "minerals" are not affected by Metal Gon or similar sequestering agents. They recommend the mineral cartridge be added after the water has been balanced (which is what I did on the original fill).

So from the "Spa Frog" viewpoint, there is no concern. However this is likely NOT true for systems that use copper or silver. I suppose the Nature 2 system that was mentioned falls into this category, thus the recommendation to wait 2 days between adding sequestering agent and installing the mineral cartridge. Still with no simple test available, how do you know the copper/silver is available for sanitizing vs. being sequestered? Just take it on faith I guess. :-/

Thanks for your responses.

[stuart]

Here is what I know about king technologies....their answer will always be in line with their views on their product regardless of what is going on.

I would call the sequestering agent manufacture and get there answer and then try and derive the reality between the two.