Brand new hot tub owner, so many questions

[kiarrith]

Hello!  We are about to own a Freeform Azure hot tub.  It will reside inside, in our walk-out basement [the floor is concrete].  We have a couple of dehumidifiers, plan to have a lot of plants in the room, and intend to crack windows next to the hot tub when it is in use. So, hopefully, the humidity will not be a concern.  If anyone sees any obvious flaws in this plan, please feel free to speak up.

I was wondering what products folks here use?  I have read about hot tub cleaners for above the water line maintenance, and wonder what exactly that means?  Are there brands you would recommend or advise we steer clear of?
To be honest, my house up til now has always been cleaned with some combo of vinegar, baking soda, borax, washing soda...but I want to do this correctly and thus am open to buying chemicals.  However, if I could make a nice cleaner myself I'd be happier.

Which brings up the question of chlorine.  Obviously, we are a couple of young hippies, and would prefer to use as little chemicals as possible, but my research seems to lean towards the natural hot tub products [and copper and whatnot] being not sufficient...which is sad, but not the end of the world.  For people who are a bit sensitive skin wise and nostril wise to chemicals, what would you recommend for an indoor hot tub? 

Also, provided my husband and I use it, say, 5 times a week, how often would folks recommend we change the water?  We are on well water and would prefer to have to do this as infrequently as possible.  But I also want to keep things healthy and running correctly in this hot tub.

I've read a lot about people testing their pH and alkalinity--what devices test this, what brands do folks suggest, and is there anything else I need to test [some sites suggest testing for calcium and others did not]?

I've read somewhere about 'clarifiers'--if these are necessary, what brands do people recommend?

As we are on well water and I know it has a higher than average mineral content, what stain and scale prevention chemicals do people recommend?

I saw in the store we are buying the hot tub from, bags of spa additives with things like minerals, salts, herbal extracts--are these things going to just be caught by the filter and not add to my problems, or are they not really a good idea?

Sorry for such a huge volume of questions, and thanks in advance for any advice you have!
Karen

[JohnnyK45]

We've been using EcoOne since getting our new spa recently and I love it, so simple to use.

Once a month, you add their all natural Spa Monthly, then when you get out, or every couple of days of non-use, you chuck in one small disolvable packet of their OneShock - that's it (might need two packets depending upon the size of your tub).

Spa Monthly...
http://www.ecoonespa.com/spa-products-2/spa-monthly/

And, their OneShock...
http://www.ecoonespa.com/spa-products-2/oneshock/

I no longer regularly test my levels with test strips; perhaps once every couple of weeks just for kicks I will, but everything is always perfect.

Good luck with your search and enjoy your new hot tub!

[kiarrith]

Thanks!! I'll give it a look.

[Spatech_tuo]

Which brings up the question of chlorine.  Obviously, we are a couple of young hippies, and would prefer to use as little chemicals as possible, but my research seems to lean towards the natural hot tub products [and copper and whatnot] being not sufficient...which is sad, but not the end of the world.  For people who are a bit sensitive skin wise and nostril wise to chemicals, what would you recommend for an indoor hot tub? 

do yourself a big favor and stick to chlorine granules, add as you exit. Add copper if you'd like, it helps some.

[goose973]

The best advice I got about water chemistry was to add as few different chemicals to your tub as possible. I don't do this myself, but some people use monopersulfate (MPS) shock as their primary sanitizer after each soak along with silver ion mineral packs (nature2). An ozone system or UV system along with those two things would also be necessary. It would lead to little odor. My experience, however, is that I still need to use chlorine. The chlorine bleach that I use is way cheaper than the MPS granules, so I use that after each soak and just shock with MPS twice a week. As for clarifiers, they can work a couple ways. Some are enzymatic and break down the things that cloud your water. Some are flocculents and cause the small particles to clump together and get caught in the filter. They come in handy after heavy use or people who don't use a hot tub regularly get in. You'd be amazed how much dead skin and body oil a hot tub will scrub off you. A little gross, but true. The chems you need to maintain pH and total alkalinity are pretty benign. Baking soda is one. Check with your dealer about what they recommend and get yourself a good test kit no matter what.

[vangoghsear]

You can use a Sun Sorb instead of clarifier to catch oils, soap scum, etc.  They are little foam floats that absorb scum.  They seem to work amazing well, much better than you would think from looking at them. 

I had friends over to use the hot tub and they had just washed their bathing suits (that was why they came a bit late), so I knew there would probably be some foaming, and there was.  I bought one of those little Sun Sorbs the next day, tossed it in the still foamy water, closed the cover and went inside.  A few hours later I came out to use the tub and the foam was gone.  I squeezed out the Sun Sorb, tossed it back in and it has been working great ever since.

As for other chemicals, I use pH Down as needed, a mildly scented Non chlorine shock about once a week, liquid 6% Clorox after each soak (starting after a month of Dichlor to build up CYA), Nature2 and my hot tub has Ozone.

I use my tub almost an hour daily.  I just had my water tested and TDS, total dissolved solids, had risen to 1200 after about 3 months, where 1500 is about the range for a water change so I'm due soon, but the water still looks great.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

You can use a Sun Sorb instead of clarifier to catch oils, soap scum, etc.  They are little foam floats that absorb scum.  They seem to work amazing well, much better than you would think from looking at them. 

I had friends over to use the hot tub and they had just washed their bathing suits (that was why they came a bit late), so I knew there would probably be some foaming, and there was.  I bought one of those little Sun Sorbs the next day, tossed it in the still foamy water, closed the cover and went inside.  A few hours later I came out to use the tub and the foam was gone.  I squeezed out the Sun Sorb, tossed it back in and it has been working great ever since.

As for other chemicals, I use pH Down as needed, a mildly scented Non chlorine shock about once a week, liquid 6% Clorox after each soak (starting after a month of Dichlor to build up CYA), Nature2 and my hot tub has Ozone.

I use my tub almost an hour daily.  I just had my water tested and TDS, total dissolved solids, had risen to 1200 after about 3 months, where 1500 is about the range for a water change so I'm due soon, but the water still looks great.

I'm assuming your just a spa owner (and not in the business), if so very impressive that you took the time to learn all of this...that said I have a vacation coming up I need coverage for, I'll just leave the price book and you should be fine...flat rate + commission, sorry can't cover benefits for just 1 week 

[vangoghsear]

You can use a Sun Sorb instead of clarifier to catch oils, soap scum, etc.  They are little foam floats that absorb scum.  They seem to work amazing well, much better than you would think from looking at them. 

I had friends over to use the hot tub and they had just washed their bathing suits (that was why they came a bit late), so I knew there would probably be some foaming, and there was.  I bought one of those little Sun Sorbs the next day, tossed it in the still foamy water, closed the cover and went inside.  A few hours later I came out to use the tub and the foam was gone.  I squeezed out the Sun Sorb, tossed it back in and it has been working great ever since.

As for other chemicals, I use pH Down as needed, a mildly scented Non chlorine shock about once a week, liquid 6% Clorox after each soak (starting after a month of Dichlor to build up CYA), Nature2 and my hot tub has Ozone.

I use my tub almost an hour daily.  I just had my water tested and TDS, total dissolved solids, had risen to 1200 after about 3 months, where 1500 is about the range for a water change so I'm due soon, but the water still looks great.

I'm assuming your just a spa owner (and not in the business), if so very impressive that you took the time to learn all of this...that said I have a vacation coming up I need coverage for, I'll just leave the price book and you should be fine...flat rate + commission, sorry can't cover benefits for just 1 week 

I've only had it about 3 months, I had dozens of those little blow up the to ring type pools to soak in and finally figured out what I really wanted was a hot tub.  I learn a lot from reading all you pros on here on how to care for it.  Commission you say...!?   

[vangoghsear]

One other thing I thought of is that I noticed most of the water that leaves my hot tub drips off the top when I open it and off of me when I step out.  You probably need to figure out some way to wipe down the top before it drips on your floor, or catch it underneath.  Another thought might be to use a floating cover under the thermal cover to keep humidity off the cover in the first place, (but the Sun Sorb won't be able to float around under the cover...oh well).

[smackman]

TwinCitiesHotSpring
I'm assuming your just a spa owner (and not in the business), if so very impressive that you took the time to learn all of this...that said I have a vacation coming up I need coverage for, I'll just leave the price book and you should be fine...flat rate + commission, sorry can't cover benefits for just 1 week 
[/quote]

TwinCitiesHotSpring
I assume you are maybe 18 years of age the way you answered that. Not necessary to be such a SA. I mean really.....................

[Spatech_tuo]

One other thing I thought of is that I noticed most of the water that leaves my hot tub drips off the top when I open it and off of me when I step out.  You probably need to figure out some way to wipe down the top before it drips on your floor, or catch it underneath.  Another thought might be to use a floating cover under the thermal cover to keep humidity off the cover in the first place, (but the Sun Sorb won't be able to float around under the cover...oh well).

I agree, a floating blanket would be wise in this case.

[Wantasmalltub]

How do you like the Azure tub? Reliable? What price did you pay?