I'm back- this time cloudy water.

[goneaway]

I've only had my soft tub a few weeks. The first weekend it was used really heavily, (garden party) so I drained it. Since then it's had light use, just myself and the wife at the weekends.
I didn't realize that chlorine dissipated, so was a little surprised that the levels had totally gone inside a day or two. I topped up the levels, put the covers on, came back a few days later, to find it needed doing again.
As I say, I'm still learning, so now If i know it's not going to be used for a few days, i'm double dosing the chlorine. I guess I should be buying slow release tablets ?

With the tub being stood most of last week, just circulating and maintaining a temperature, i came back to it on Friday, and thought the water looked a little cloudy.
Considering it had been shocked on Monday, was then covered up, and under a garden gazebo, why would the water go cloudy. (ish)
I'd assumed that any organisims would have been well and truly nuked with the double dose. ?

Also, what are your thoughts on an OXY shock over a Chlorine one. ?

Thanks Guys & Gals

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

chlorine will dissipate at approx. 25% per day (more with heavy usage) so depending on how much you added on a Monday the levels could easily reach 0 ppm by the end of the week.  Once the level reaches 0 ppm it doesn't take but 6-12 hours for bacteria to start growing (great environment for bacteria..moisture + darkness) hence the cloudy water.  The resident water expert is user 'chem geek' and I believe his recommendation is 1.5 tsp, per person/per 20 min. of use but again it will dissipate on its own as well during the week so you'll need to add more sanitizer

[goneaway]

Its 250 gallons, so i found that 3 tsp, is enough to take it into the OK band  on the test strips.
Considering, both me and the wife may sit there for an hour with the blowers on, Chem Geeks recommendation would mean that all my chlorine would be gone in one session then ?
Wow

Even though, all the chlorine had gone, there was still a strong smell of it, which I assume is chloramines what ever they are.

Supplies sellers are quoting that an OXY shock removes these, is this true or just a bold statement.
Iv'e already invested about £100 in chemicals, strips, anti foam, aqua sparkle etc.
I'm a tight fisted Yorkshireman (we don't like spending money if we can avoid it) so i don't want to go spending another £15 on OXY shock if its all hype.

I wish I'd studied science a little more at school.

Thanks for being patient with me. 

[Sam]

Yes, non-chlorine shock will oxidize chloramines which cause that chlorine odor you refer to.  The spa frog system may be more to your liking, which uses bromine and mineral cartridges.  These float in the spa eliminating the need for daily chlorine doses.  I have put multiple people on this program with positive feedback. 

[goneaway]

I had read about bromine being less smelly, however, I now have about 2lbs of chlorine to use, so it may be at least a year before it's all used up. I guess I could split it into smaller bags and sell it on ebay. :-)

[chem geek]

You have several options.  If you use Dichlor-only, then the Cyanuric Acid (CYA) level builds up over time lowering the active chlorine level to the point where it can't keep up with oxidizing bather waste and you can get smelly byproducts (monochloramine and dichloramine, among others).  You can avoid this CYA buildup by using the Dichlor-then-bleach method, but with chlorine you have to add it every day or two so it works best for those who use the spa frequently.  If you use the spa less frequently, then bromine with its bromine tabs is usually more convenient.

Another option is to use Nature2 with MPS which only uses chlorine on occasion, about once every week or two.

[goneaway]

I need a PHD.!!!
Luckily, we are not on a water meter, so it might just be easier to water the lawn every week, and refill it.