Bromine and chlorine together.....new to this

[jonnymac44]

Hi all,
I'm new to the hot tube thing....purchased a spa for my family and got a Leisure time bromine starter kit for the tub.  Got some additional products and ph balancing and calcium hardness have been very easy to keep in the proper range.  Using bromine tabs in a floater and the Leisure time Renew non chor shock every week.  Heard somewhere that the leisure time granules worked really well and ordered some of the Spa 56 granules not realizing they were chlorine and not bromine based.  Have been using them to supplement for a couple weeks now.  Do I need to discontinue using the chlorinating granules in my bromine tub?  Are there any granulated bromine products out there?

Thanks for any advice for this newbie -Jonny

[kporter]

edit

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

If the chlorine has any Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid) you cannot be using that with Bromine.

?

 Spa 56 is sodium-dichlor, has Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid)  in it, and is FINE to use as a shock with bromine.

[chem geek]

If the chlorine has any Stabilizer (Cyanuric Acid) you cannot be using that with Bromine. If the chlorine is unstabilized then go to town.

Yes you can find granular Bromine out there.

Bromine is not affected by stabilizer (cyanuric acid) so there is no problem using stabilized chlorine to oxidize bromide to bromine.  As for granular bromine, there is brominating concentrate that is a combination of Dichlor with sodium bromide so produces more bromine, but unless you've initially created at least some bromide bank such a product will produce a little bromine with a lot of chlorine.  The same is true for BCDMH tabs that are really a combination of both bromine and chlorine -- without a bromide bank initially, they will produce both bromine and chlorine, not bromine alone.  Of course, over time a bromide bank is built up as bromine is used/consumed.

So if one wants only bromine then one initially adds sodium bromide to the water to create a bromide bank.  Then, any oxidizer added such as Dichlor, bleach, MPS, or any bromine tabs used or any brominating concentrate will all create bromine.

[jonnymac44]

Thanks for the info guys.  I did start off with a bromine bank when I first filled and treated the tub.  The info so far is very helpful and appreciated!