I've read the "further reading" on Calcium Hardness and I'm still confused about a few things when it comes to my acrylic spa.
1) Can magnesium control foaming and scale as well as calcium does?
2) If my utility water is exceptionally low Calcium (undetectable by K-2006, dealer lab test says 11 PPM, utility water quality report says 5 PPM), but it has magnesium in it and I don't have foaming problems, does it make sense to use a K-1514 to test Total Hardness?
I have an acrylic spa with no metal trim pieces, sitting on a concrete pad and near concrete retaining walls. It's a Bullfrog R7L with 2 therapy pumps and 1 circulation pump.
My dealer's lab did not seem concerned with selling me any calcium chloride to address this, and on our first startup they suggested I use SpaGuard Spa Sentry and SpaGuard Stain and Scale Control product - first bottles free of course. These bottles didn't add CH at all, but may have added Mg into the water ... I have no interest in using these specific products for my next water change, so I assume the smart thing to do is add Calcium Chloride to raise CH to 130 to protect my concrete pad from staining/etching.
Mostly I'm just curious if there is any reason to be measuring the Magnesium contribution of my water hardness at all - the K-1514 test kit seems expensive and unnecessary but I would like to learn more from the chemistry nerds here!
1) Can magnesium control foaming and scale as well as calcium does?
2) If my utility water is exceptionally low Calcium (undetectable by K-2006, dealer lab test says 11 PPM, utility water quality report says 5 PPM), but it has magnesium in it and I don't have foaming problems, does it make sense to use a K-1514 to test Total Hardness?
I have an acrylic spa with no metal trim pieces, sitting on a concrete pad and near concrete retaining walls. It's a Bullfrog R7L with 2 therapy pumps and 1 circulation pump.
My dealer's lab did not seem concerned with selling me any calcium chloride to address this, and on our first startup they suggested I use SpaGuard Spa Sentry and SpaGuard Stain and Scale Control product - first bottles free of course. These bottles didn't add CH at all, but may have added Mg into the water ... I have no interest in using these specific products for my next water change, so I assume the smart thing to do is add Calcium Chloride to raise CH to 130 to protect my concrete pad from staining/etching.
Mostly I'm just curious if there is any reason to be measuring the Magnesium contribution of my water hardness at all - the K-1514 test kit seems expensive and unnecessary but I would like to learn more from the chemistry nerds here!
I don't think magnesium is anything you need to go out of your way to test, but I'll tag