Recent content by rubicon

I brought TA up to 40 and PH to 7.8 then added about 16oz of Boric Acid. About 12 hours later and my TA is still at 40 and my PH is 7.5. Based on your feedback I think these are good numbers to stick with. I am hoping with the boric acid that both my TA and PH stay steady.

I ordered some boric acid. Looks like I will need about a pound for my 425 gallon tub. I believe you are recommending I bring my TA up to 40 and my PH to 7.7-7.8 before adding the acid.

I don't have any Borates in there on this fill but the only thing I add is bleach and bromine tablets.

My PH has been holding at 7.4 now and my TA has dropped to 30. Is this acceptable?

My PH continues to rise to 8.0 consistently after I bring it down to 7.4-7.6. The TA is now at 50ppm. I am only using bleach as my activator. How can I get to a more stable PH?

Ah, I was looking at the "by weight" not "by volume" since I was weighing the chemicals. I thought I needed to increase TA to make the CSI number good. I am using Bromine. It sounds like I can leave it where it is and my PH should hold steady?

Using the pool calculator it tells me I need 0.9oz of soda ash which seems to be more than the 4 tsp you recommended. Am I miscalculating?

Thanks for the replies Don't I also need to worry about the CSI number? With a PH of 7.4, TA at 72, CH 130 and temp at 100 the CSI is -0.28 which I thought wasn't good.

Upon fresh fill these are my readings: Gallons 425 CH: 130ppm TA: 60ppm (target 90ppm) PH: 7.0ppm (target 7.6ppm) I am going to leave CH alone but was wondering if I should raise PH first (sodium carbonate)? I know this will also raise TA and then I could adjust TA as necessary. Or should I...

Great suggestion on looking to achieve water clarity with the minimum filter time. Regarding your earlier suggestion of quickly reducing bromine levels with hydrogen peroxide (if desired), wouldn't that practice minimize the effectiveness of the shock treatment?

Thanks for the info. A quick follow-up - * How long should the filter cycle run? I am coming off of using Nature2 where I ran it 3x a day for 2 hrs each run. This tub gets weekend use only which is why I am looking for a sanitizer that can last between uses (sometimes 2 weeks).

I understand the need to shock a spa when the water becomes cloudy or another adverse condition exists but I don't understand why you must shock the spa right after a fresh fill. If I am able to start with 4-5ppm Bromine after balancing and building up a Bromide reserve, why is it necessary to...