So, we made it back to our (vacation home) hot tub after about 5 weeks away. I shocked it with dichlor granules prior to leaving. In that time, minimal service was rendered by a local fellow - adding bromine tabs to the floater and rinsing off the filter (no water checks, no shock, etc). Also, nobody else has used the tub - though just last night a home a few lots away had some unwanted bathers - "hot tub jumpers". His Ring Doorbell caught a nice pic of a streaker and friends running back to his car after he remotely triggered an alarm! I have 24/7 cameras on my tub and elsewhere, so we're good!
After my arrival yesterday I found the bromine levels ideal. The alkalinity and pH were quite low (that's been rectified) and the hardness was near zero - so I bumped it up to about 125 ppm. I had not previously addressed the hardness - a local hot tub shop told me it was not important, but I've read otherwise.
At this point, everything on the test strips (I have a couple different ones I use each time just to be sure) looks great.
My question is - does it need any MPS thrown in there today before our first use this return trip? I picked some up prior to our return trip, though I'm a little unclear on when to use this stuff !