Frog Spa newbie

[paulitzlee]

Last year, I bought a house with a hot tub. The old owner had a bromine floater, so I just bought tablets and used it exclusively, plus a few tablespoons of baking soda once or twice a week to balance alkalinity. That was all I ever did.

But my wife complained about the bromine smell and refused to go in.

This year, I bought a Spa Frog floater to minimize the bromine. I'm limited to a floater since it's an old spa and doesn't have a strong pump. It does have a low pump when heating, but there is no option to have higher speed pumps run during the day. When the jets are on, water is sucked into the filter compartment, and water is filtered that way. The spa is from 1983, and is in remarkably good condition. If it ain't broke, don't fix it...

MY QUESTION:

On the Spa Frog instructions:

"Balance the water's pH and total alkalinity and shock the spa to establish a chorine or bromine residual of 1.0 - 2.0 ppm."

Question 1)

I'm a newbie. Last year, I never "shocked". I used bromine tablets in the floater exclusively. Does this "shock" simply mean buying some bromine or chlorine shock, which is probably a power or liquid, and throwing it in the tub to get the level between 1 and 2? Like a few tablespoons? And that's it for the chlorine or bromine "shock"?

To "balance the water's pH and total alkalinity", is that what I did last year, simply tossing in baking soda once or twice a week? That's what the old owner did, since he said our water is acidic. I used the test strips last year.

A salesman at the pool store said to bring in a water sample and he would sell me the stuff to balance. He said once it was balanced, it would stay balanced until I drained.

Is that necessary, or is he just trying to sell spa chemicals? I want as few chemicals in the water as possible. If I can get by with baking soda, it's cheaper and not as toxic, so I prefer that.

Question 2)

Do I do the chlorine or bromine and alkalinity adjusting BEFORE or AFTER Spa Frog goes in?

[Chas]

I am not a fan of Bromine tablets. They contain chlorine, and are very hard on the cover and headrest pillows.

As to the spa frog - it is dependent upon water motion, so if your tub only has then when you are using it, you might not get the desired results.

I would sure recommend Dichlor. There are threads about using a simple "Dichlor Regimen" here on the forum, but the basics are this:

Balance the pH and TA.

Add some Dichlor to the filter area with the jets on and the lid open. Let her rip for about ten minutes or so. Close lid.

Next night, enjoy the tub - you should have a barely readable amount of chlorine, and no real chlorine odor. Water should be sparkling clear.

As you exit the spa, add some Dichlor. Again - put in filter area, run jets with lid open.

Repeat as often as you want to - add Dichlor every time you exit the spa, it should be barely readable the next time you come to use tub. If you skip several days of tub use, add a smaller amount of Dichlor and run jets.

How much Dichlor? You will have to find that by trial and error: test the following evening and adjust the amount you add until it is a barely readable Chlorine residual when you go to use the tub next.

If done correctly, there is no odor, no bleaching of suits (if you use them) and very little drying of skin above what hot water does by itself.

HTH