Spa Frog

[Davidny]

Greetings spatopians...

I'm buying a spa which comes with a "Spa Frog" which inserts into the core of its filter. I see lots of info about Nature2 and am wondering if this is the same thing.

Thanks for any info you may have.

David

[MarKee]

It's very close.  One advantage of SpaFrog is that it will work with bromine and dichlor(chlorine).  Nature 2 only works with dichlor.  

[Gomboman]

How does the Spa Frog system work? Is it a Silver Ion based type of product? Should us N2/Dichlor users switch over to the Frog?

[MarKee]

It does use silver ions.  I don't think you would be able to notice the difference between the two, and in most places I think you will find that the N2 is a little bit less expensive.

[NE-Phil]

It does use silver ions.  I don't think you would be able to notice the difference between the two, and in most places I think you will find that the N2 is a little bit less expensive.

N2 is less expensive than the blue mineral cartridges? Now you have my attention.
Do you know if N2 comes in the same size as mineral cartridges? I'm wondering if I can just replace them with N2. I'll have to research this, too.

Phil

Oops - never mind. I just reread one of the earlier posts and realized that N2 will not work with bromine. And I like using bromine.

[MarKee]

NE-Phil:  The makers of SpaFrog (King Technology) make a mineral cartridge (that is used in a floater or the inline system on your Marquis) and they make a mineral cartridge stick, similar to the Nature 2 that goes in the center of the filter.  The price difference isn't too large, the store I work at sells the three for:

Nature 2 - $25
SpaFrog Mineral Cartridge - $29.99
SpaFrog Mineral Stick - $36.99

[Bonibelle]

Markee, I am having some problems deciding when my bromine cartridge is really spent...The tub is set to give the "change sanitizer message" based on the old yellow cartridges. The green ones are supposed to last longer. So often I ignore the message and forget about the cartridge...My tub turned cloudy about a week ago so I took out the cartridge and gave it a shake. There is still plenty of material there but it wasn't being injected in my tub (based on testing). I turned the setting to 6, but I am still not sure if that is right.
I guess what I am asking is...as long as you can shake bromine out of the cartridge, should I assume it is not completely spent?
I have tons of old cartridges that have material that I can hear rattle inside, but I pulled from the tub, because I was not able to maintain a good bromine reading. Are they designed to have some product left even though they become ineffective (or less effective)??

[Mendocino101]

The difference between the the frog and N-2 is that the frog grinds the silver parts very small where N-2 is more marble like in size, if you read N-2 takes about 2 weeks to fully break down and become effective in your water, the frog less than 48 hours. It is my understanding that the grinding process is what allows them to work with bromine.

[MarKee]

Boni:  Are you using the yellow or green cartridge?  They should empty all the way out, sometimes it comes in handy to have some granular bromine concentrate to supplement the cartridges when you get a low reading.  The mineral cartridge should never sound empty.

[Bonibelle]

Thanks Markee, I think I have been removing them a bit too early. Like I said, they all have material that rattles when they dry and I can shake bromine out if I shake the cartridge when they are wet. The mineral cartridge is not what I am talking about, but they should last about 4 months...right?
I am using the green cartidges and I thought they were supposed to last about 5 weeks opposed to the yellows at 3 weeks. If I am not mistaken the reminder is set for 3 weeks. I don't know if you can modify the settings for the new cartridges.

I actually did throw a bit of granular bromine in when the tub got cloudy, and it cleared the tub up real fast but I would rather not get to that point.  

[IDW]

The frog is silver only.
Nature2 is copper and silver.
Copper is good at killing algea, silver can kill bacteria but has a slow kill time

[MarKee]

Boni:  What we're finding with the green cartridges is that usually it needs to be set lower than what your yellow cartridge setting was.  Common settings are 0, 1, and 2.  You might try lower the setting and shock more often.  Shock is cheaper than the bromine cartridges, but not much cheaper

[tony]

The frog is silver only.
Nature2 is copper and silver.
Copper is good at killing algea, silver can kill bacteria but has a slow kill time

The frog also contains limestone which is supposed to keep it pH neutral.  I believe it is the copper in N2 that makes it incompatable with bromine.

Silver attacks bacteria by weakening the outside protective shell of the organism.  Kill time is slow, but the weakening allows chlorine or bromine to more effective, thus the need for lower ppm.  That is why silver and chlorine are a good combination.  Also, when the spa is not being used after it has been sanitized, any stray bacteria can be handled by the silver, even though the kill time is slow.  Enzymes (Eco One, the Natural) will do the same thing.

[Davidny]

It's very close.  One advantage of SpaFrog is that it will work with bromine and dichlor(chlorine).  Nature 2 only works with dichlor.  

Do I still need to shock with Cl if I use Br? I'm using well water that has a good bit of iron in it. I bought a filter to use with the garden hose to lessen the iron content.

Thanks for all the replies!  

[MarKee]

You'll want to shock whether you are using chlorine or bromine.  It is possible to shock with a high dose of chlorine, but I reccomend using potassium monopersulfate which is a non-chlorine oxidizer.  I think that is what most of the people on the forum use.