Nature 2 Placement

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Chiefblue

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Oct 6, 2018
42
Bay City, MI
New to the forum and a new hot tub owner. Today I purchased a Nature 2 spa mineral sanitizer. I have a closed top filter and it says to place it up inside the filter so the stick sits on the inside lip of the filter, holding it in place. The problem is my filters lip is only about a 1/4” making this next to impossible to keep it in place. My question is can I just lay it in the basket that sits on top of the filter? Any help would be greatly appreciated
 
TFP doesn’t recommend the use of mineral sanitizer systems in hot tubs as they don’t work well and cause many more water problems. Most hot tub owners here use chlorine. A few use bromine. There are Sticky threads at the top of the Hot Tub subforum with details on how to use either chlorine or bromine.

How do I use Chlorine in my Spa (or pool)?
 
Thanks for the reply. I am using chlorine right now but the people at the pool store told me to use this Nature 2 stick because adding chlorine also adds stabilizer and to much build up of that is bad. With this system they told me to only add 1 1/2 tbls of chlorine a week. I have not put the Nature 2 device in yet. So do you think I should not use it at all?
 
Well, "the pool store told me" is why most of us ended up here!! They told you roughly half the story there! Don't install it yet. Do some reading here about how TFP recommends taking care of your water. You'll be surprised how easy it is, and how much better off your water will be. Start here (I like the ebook, but the same info is online, too):

Trouble Free Pool School

The best part of using TFPC for my pool is now I know what I'm doing with my pool, better than any pool store employee ever could, and that's very comforting...

Welcome to TFP! ;)
 
Chiefblue said:
Thanks for the reply. I am using chlorine right now but the people at the pool store told me to use this Nature 2 stick because adding chlorine also adds stabilizer and to much build up of that is bad. With this system they told me to only add 1 1/2 tbls of chlorine a week. I have not put the Nature 2 device in yet. So do you think I should not use it at all?
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If you follow the sticky in my reply, you’ll see that TFP advocates using dichlor granules in a hot tub until the CYA (stabilizer) level reaches 30ppm and then you switch to liquid chlorine thereafter. Liquid chlorine (aka, bleach) has no stabilizer in it and can be used safely for chlorination.

What the pool store did not tell you is that those mineral systems (silver ions mostly) should only be used with MPS non-chlorine shock as chlorine reacts with silver forming an insoluble precipitate (silver chloride). They also failed to tell you that Silver + MPS only works as an effective sanitation/disinfection protocol if the tub water is kept ABOVE 98F at all times. Once the tub water temps fall below that, the kill rates of silver ions are ineffective against most pathogens.

I suggest you do as Dork Dirk suggests and read up on the TFP Method and then follow the sticky link I put in my original reply to learn how to properly use chlorine in a hot tub.
 
Thanks all for the replies. After reading the the thread linked above I am going to use that method. The one thing it mentions is to switch to bleach after the CYA levels are up. Would using pool chlorine from the pool store be ok? Vs using chlorox bleach. I am assuming that pool chlorine doesn’t contain any CYA is this true? Thanks again for your help in advance.
 
Chiefblue said:
Thanks all for the replies. After reading the the thread linked above I am going to use that method. The one thing it mentions is to switch to bleach after the CYA levels are up. Would using pool chlorine from the pool store be ok? Vs using chlorox bleach. I am assuming that pool chlorine doesn’t contain any CYA is this true? Thanks again for your help in advance.
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Liquid chlorine from the pool store and liquid bleach from the grocery store are the same chemical ingredient(s) - a solution of sodium hypochlorite in water. The difference is the percent concentration (10% sodium hypochlorite is typical for liquid chlorine versus 6-8% for store bleach).

But yes, pool store liquid chlorine is fine.
 
Pool store chlorine wouldn't have the additives that some bleach products do. I don't buy bleach for my pool, but I think I've read here that Clorox is one of the bigger offenders, as their bleach products contain all kinds of additives with fancy marketing names, all bad for a pool. I get my chlorine at Leslies, and sometime Lowes.
 

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Update. So I went to the pool store to return the Nature 2 and get a couple of gallons of liquid chlorine. They told me to keep using dichloro as a sanitizer and not liquid chlorine because liquid chlorine will raise my TDS levels, which I believe they said was total dissolved solids. My TDS level when they tested the was 200. She said if my TDS gets to high from using liquid chlorine my water will get cloudy. Any input on this would be greatly appreciated. Again thanks in advance for the help.
 
TDS is an antiquated irrelevant parameter. It includes all solids dissolved in the water ... like CYA, salt, calcium, etc.
The liquid chlorine adds salt, which is harmless ... and get this ... you know what Dichlor adds to the water in addition to the CYA build up .... SALT!!!!!!
Avoid pool store advice.
 
That is the reason I joined this forum. For good and true advice. It’s my first owning a hot tub and there’s a lot to learn. It just freaked me out when she told me to never use liquid chlorine in a hot tub. My free chlorine tested 0.1 at the store so I used the calculator on this site and added 1.3 oz of liquid chlorine. I entered the percent in the calculator as 12.5% because the jug says “sodium hypochlorite.....12.5%”. I’m assuming this is correct?
 
I think you're doing your due diligence, and that's a good thing. But you'll achieve ultimate success with your tub once you sever your reliance on, or curiosity about, any other source of advice. No mixing and matching advice. Ignore pool stores, pool guys, neighbors, etc. Give TFPC an unbiased, unaltered, uninfluenced try, and you'll never look back.

The advice you get here, especially from those with a "Mod" or "TFP Expert" designation, is designed, presented and curated to be very consistent. There are a lot of folks giving advice here, but it's all one voice, one concept, one method, based on actual science and torture tested across 1000s and 1000s of pools and spas, over years and years. It is not anything like the collection of myths and anecdotes and dis-proved practices that is picked up by summer employees of pool stores, who have spent upwards of 30 minutes watching the company training video before they take their place behind the counter. A video focused on sales and profit, not science and proper water care (OK, I made most of that up, but it's probably something very much like that!)

Stick with TFP. Go into the pool store for the chlorine and the MA, it's good to support them when you can, you never know when you might need a part that they carry. We don't want them to go away. I even let them test my water once in a while, because they'll send me coupons and discounts via email. I just toss the results paper. Thank you very much. But other than that, you turn a deaf ear, and just nod your head, and give them whatever line you feel most comfortable with "Thanks, I'll give that a try next time." or "OK, let me check with the boss first. He/she runs the pool, I just run the errands!" or simply "No thank you." After a few visits they'll recognize you and leave you alone. That's how it works for me, anyway...

You're doing great here so far, keep it goin'!
 
They told me to keep using dichloro as a sanitizer and not liquid chlorine because liquid chlorine will raise my TDS levels

She said if my TDS gets to high from using liquid chlorine my water will get cloudy
Click to expand...

Not to put too fine a point on it, but the person that said this doesn't know what they are talking about.

Chlorine is Chlorine. Here are the ways the different kinds effect water chemistry:
For every 10 ppm Free Chlorine (FC) added by Trichlor, it also increases Cyanuric Acid (CYA) by 6.1 ppm and decreases Total Alkalinity (TA) by 7.1 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Dichlor, it also increases CYA by 9.1 ppm and decreases TA by 3.5 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by Cal-Hypo, it also increases Calcium Hardness (CH) by at least 7 ppm and increases TA by about 0.4 ppm.
For every 10 ppm FC added by ANY source of chlorine, there will be 8.2 ppm salt from when the chlorine gets used/consumed and converts to chloride. For bleach, chlorinating liquid, and lithium hypochlorite, there is an additional 8.2 ppm salt added upon addition so the net result is 16.5 ppm salt from these sources and the TA rises by 0.1-0.6 ppm depending on the amount of "excess lye" in the product.
Click to expand...

Certified Pool Operator (CPO) training -- What is not taught

Yes, bleach adds more salt than the dry stuff, no it isn't a problem. You just drain the salty water out a few times a year.

You'll need your own testing equipment, as a spa needs to be tested preferably every day, but at least every three days when not in use.

If your pool store gave you paper dip strips, they are unreliable and not recommended for use. You'll need these items for testing:

FAS/DPD Chlorine CC's test
Taylor K-1000 Basic OTO Test Kit
CYA (Cyanuric Acid) Test
Ahh-Some Hot Tub/Jetted Bath Plumbing Jet Cleaner (2 oz)

Welcome to TPF.
 
Sorry, I didn't write that well. I didn't mean for you to run out and buy those things. I meant that as in: the pool stores offer some of the chemicals you'll need for your spa, and so it's a good idea in the long run to buy something from them once in a while to help keep them in business. Not based on their advice, though, as they'll attempt to sell you all kinds of things your spa doesn't need.

But I digress. You came here with a specific question, which was answered. If you'd like to continue on with TFP methods and advice, get one of the two recommended kits and get your signature filled in. Have a look here and this'll get you started:

Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post
 

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