New tub owner! 480 gallon Strong Spas with ozonator. Attempting the 3 step bromine sanitizing process. About 3 weeks in and water is clear but chasing my tail on some of the water balancing.
Bromine levels have been pretty good and stable. If they get too low I add Leisure Time Renew to shock (yes - I created a bromine reserve when I first filled the tub). Ph staying a bit high around 7.8. It will drop to 7.2 if I use Spa Down, but then creeps back. TA was around 90, but read that can keep Ph high, so it is now around 60-70 after last use of Spa Down a few days ago. Put Ph back at 7.8 a few days later. Calcium is at 250 (recently raised that b/c hadn't know it was an issue to be super low).
Realistically, what am I trying to achieve day to day? I feel like I am always chasing one of the numbers and maybe overthinking things. Is Ph at 7.8 okay? Should I be trying to lower it daily? Weekly? Does TA matter? So many conflicting opinions. What is the reasonable tolerance for this water chemistry so that I can enjoy this and not have it be a second job?
Filter is set to circulate 2x a day, once for 2 hours and once for 15 mins (left factory settings along). Any concerns there? 2 smaller adults using the tub 1-3 times a week for not too long each time. Could see this usage increasing though when I can get the hang of all of this.
Lastly - do I keep all the jets open all the time? I closed most of them to avoid raising the PH from the movement during the filtering, but maybe that isn't the right thing either. Jets open or closed?
THANK YOU!
Bromine levels have been pretty good and stable. If they get too low I add Leisure Time Renew to shock (yes - I created a bromine reserve when I first filled the tub). Ph staying a bit high around 7.8. It will drop to 7.2 if I use Spa Down, but then creeps back. TA was around 90, but read that can keep Ph high, so it is now around 60-70 after last use of Spa Down a few days ago. Put Ph back at 7.8 a few days later. Calcium is at 250 (recently raised that b/c hadn't know it was an issue to be super low).
Realistically, what am I trying to achieve day to day? I feel like I am always chasing one of the numbers and maybe overthinking things. Is Ph at 7.8 okay? Should I be trying to lower it daily? Weekly? Does TA matter? So many conflicting opinions. What is the reasonable tolerance for this water chemistry so that I can enjoy this and not have it be a second job?
Filter is set to circulate 2x a day, once for 2 hours and once for 15 mins (left factory settings along). Any concerns there? 2 smaller adults using the tub 1-3 times a week for not too long each time. Could see this usage increasing though when I can get the hang of all of this.
Lastly - do I keep all the jets open all the time? I closed most of them to avoid raising the PH from the movement during the filtering, but maybe that isn't the right thing either. Jets open or closed?
THANK YOU!