Chemical Question

[hymbaw]

Neohcouple & Constance,
 DO NOT use shock and stain and scale on the same day!! The shock will make the Stain and Scale ineffective and you'll be throwing $$$ away. I suggest a Sunday - Wednesday routine. Balancers, sanitizers, etc. on sunday then Stain and Scale on wednesday.

Good Luck

[Ehizzle]

I always reccomend for my customers to check their levels more often when they first get started. Once you get the routine down you shouldnt have to check as much.

[Neohcouple]

 DO NOT use shock and stain and scale on the same day!! The shock will make the Stain and Scale ineffective and you'll be throwing $$$ away.

Does shock make all other chemicals ineffective or just the Stain & Scale?

[HotTubMan]

Using baking soda to raise pH may result in high Total Alkalinity. TA increaser is sodium bicarbonate. While it will raise your pH, it will raise your TA more so.

Sodium Carbonate is much more effective at raising pH. As a side effect it will raise TA slightly.

Are you testing for TA or just sanitizer and pH? If it is the latter, may I suggest you get some test strips or a kit that does test TA. Adjusting pH while ignoring TA can be a very frustrating experience:

For example if you use baking soda (bicarbonate) to raise your pH when its low, and your TA is good, this may result in water that is high in TA and good pH. Now, because your TA is high, your pH will tend to creep higher. Applying the logic suggested by Neohcouple above adding more baking soda to try to lower the pH will result in even higher TA and then even highr pH.

In summary, using Baking Soda to raise pH may work, but is not ideal. USing Baking Soda to lower pH will not work and will frustrate to no end.

[Vinny]

But if you add something (MPS) and it lowers the PH doesn't it also lower the alkalinity? I learned (at least I thought I learned) that both PH and alkalinity are affected by PH reducing items.

If it works that way, then adding baking soda should be fine as long as you are within the proper range.

[hymbaw]

Does shock make all other chemicals ineffective or just the Stain & Scale?

Just the Stain and Scale

[HotTubMan]

But if you add something (MPS) and it lowers the PH doesn't it also lower the alkalinity? I learned (at least I thought I learned) that both PH and alkalinity are affected by PH reducing items.

If it works that way, then adding baking soda should be fine as long as you are within the proper range.

Agreed. I was just saying that using baking soda to lower pH is a bad idea.

As Tony pointed out, sodium bicarbonate is pH 8. If your pH is higher than that it will lower your pH immediatly (but no lower than , but will raise your TA which may over time cause your pH to rise back up (depending on what the TA was at the time of the addition).

Too many "ifs" if you ask me. Use acid to lower pH. Use bicarbonate to raise TA and cabonate or airation to raise pH.

[Vinny]

Agreed. I was just saying that using baking soda to lower pH is a bad idea.

...

Too many "ifs" if you ask me. Use acid to lower pH. Use bicarbonate to raise TA and cabonate or airation to raise pH.

You're right! I didn't read the use baking soda to lower PH part.