So I have a 250G hot tub and figured it would be easy to learn the ins and outs of the chemical situation having cut my teeth on a new pool earlier this year. Well I guess I was wrong.
I first tried bleach as chlorine and I would add a few oz to hit my 3ppm target but it was not showing any FC. In retrospect this was after initial bathing and perhaps the FC was getting consumed right away, hence it not showing in a test. I kept adding more bleach until I hit 3ppm.
Then I made the mistake of putting brominating tabs with DMH into my feeder, thinking I could just hot swap from chlorine to bromine and set it and forget it, haha.
Came back a couple days later and I’ve got cloudy water and no Bromine or Chlorine. I tried adding bleach to hit 4ppm but it didn’t show. I was also at TA of 210 and pH 8.3 so I added a teaspoon of 14.5% MA to bring me down and start the reduction of TA. An hour later the pH had only gone down to 8.2 and still no FC. I started doing research and learned I should not have hot swapped chlorine to Bromine so I drained, cleaned filters and flushed pump with fresh water. I’m now refilling it and deciding what to do.
I don’t have sodium bromide on me to start a bank and I feel like I have a decent intuition on chlorine so I’m thinking I just run with that, using only bleach and checking every day or every other along with chlorine tabs. Or maybe no tabs and manually bleach and CYA as necessary.
I just checked fresh water and I’m at pH of 7.6 and I presume similar TA around 200. So I think my plan is to reduce to 7.2 with MA then add bleach to get to 3ppm FC. Advise on that and application of CYA is welcomed or perhaps just, am I over thinking that bromide approach? So far I have no chemicals so I can decide what to do here, I’m not committed either way.
Thank you!!!
I first tried bleach as chlorine and I would add a few oz to hit my 3ppm target but it was not showing any FC. In retrospect this was after initial bathing and perhaps the FC was getting consumed right away, hence it not showing in a test. I kept adding more bleach until I hit 3ppm.
Then I made the mistake of putting brominating tabs with DMH into my feeder, thinking I could just hot swap from chlorine to bromine and set it and forget it, haha.
Came back a couple days later and I’ve got cloudy water and no Bromine or Chlorine. I tried adding bleach to hit 4ppm but it didn’t show. I was also at TA of 210 and pH 8.3 so I added a teaspoon of 14.5% MA to bring me down and start the reduction of TA. An hour later the pH had only gone down to 8.2 and still no FC. I started doing research and learned I should not have hot swapped chlorine to Bromine so I drained, cleaned filters and flushed pump with fresh water. I’m now refilling it and deciding what to do.
I don’t have sodium bromide on me to start a bank and I feel like I have a decent intuition on chlorine so I’m thinking I just run with that, using only bleach and checking every day or every other along with chlorine tabs. Or maybe no tabs and manually bleach and CYA as necessary.
I just checked fresh water and I’m at pH of 7.6 and I presume similar TA around 200. So I think my plan is to reduce to 7.2 with MA then add bleach to get to 3ppm FC. Advise on that and application of CYA is welcomed or perhaps just, am I over thinking that bromide approach? So far I have no chemicals so I can decide what to do here, I’m not committed either way.
Thank you!!!