A leak would have nothing to do with a flow issue or the 3 dots. Might be a bad pressure switch or a dirty filter. Remove the filter, shut the spa off for 15 min. Turn it back on without the filter in and see if the dots go away. If they do then put the filter back in slowly, if the dots come back it's probably a bad filter. If the dots are still there after turning it back on without the filter in you have something else going on like a air lock, bad pressure switch or a bad board maybe.