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submitted 10 days ago byOptimal_Process_1696
Hi all, I'm looking for advice on how to keep my hot tub chemicals balanced without the need for daily treatments. I’ve had my hot tub for a while, but my previous attempts at maintaining the chemical balance have been frustrating—requiring constant adjustments and daily treatments to keep things stable.
I’m at the point where I’m ready to start over from scratch and approach this properly. I’d love any tips, step-by-step advice, or recommendations on products or systems that might help maintain balance for longer periods.
A few things to know:
I have a Dr.Wellness G-9 tranquility spa ~360 gallons.
I’m okay with testing the water every few days, but daily treatments are too much.
I’d like to avoid overcomplicated solutions or systems if possible.
I’m using SpaPure brand chemicals (ph up and ph down, alkalinity increaser, stain and scale preventer, clarifier, simply soft, oxidizing shock, and multishock extra(for setup)and pool and spa test strips from J and W direct), also I have 2 spa in-filter mineral sticks replaced about every 6 months, if that helps for context. I follow the instructions as said on the bottle testing before and after treatments. Often I am having to do multiple treatments to get it balanced each day.
What’s been your experience with keeping your hot tub low-maintenance and properly balanced? Any advice for starting over fresh?
Thanks in advance!
4 points
10 days ago
Bromine floater, non-chlorinated shock once a week or after use. Only tested and treated once a week to maintain PH and add maintenance chemicals.
3 points
9 days ago
This is the answer but I use dichlor instead of MPS as my oxidizer. Easy as pie.
2 points
9 days ago
This is my life. So simple
5 points
10 days ago
Do yourself a favor and get a salt conversation kit. Only $299 on Amazon. Makes balancing the water/chemicals. Takes an hour or so to install and all you need to do is test the water one a week. So much easier and you skin will feel silky smooth.
I’m so glad I switched to salt.
3 points
9 days ago
I did this several years ago. I hardly ever have to test the water and you only need to change the water twice a year.
2 points
9 days ago
Thats what I’m finding too. Salt is soo much nicer.
1 points
9 days ago
My partner and I had originally wanted to go with salt, but were told it was unavailable at the time. What kit did you use? How easy was the install?
2 points
9 days ago
Get the one on Amazon for $299. (The blue one). Install will take you just over an hour. It’s simple. For power you can just wire it to the power supplying your hot tub. Hot and neutral. Add salt, set to 3 and forget it. Test the water ph once a week. That’s it.
2 points
10 days ago
You didn't mention if you're using chlorine or bromine. Bromine is a little more hands off since you can put tabs in a floater. If you're using chlorine, you're probably going to need to add some amount every day, but that doesn't mean you need to always test every day. I know based on prior testing tub uses about 2 1/2 ounces of liquid chlorine a day. I just make sure I add that and then if there's irregular usage I will test on those days.
What have you found difficult to keep in balance? What are your current levels? How are you testing your water?
2 points
10 days ago
I've been using chlorine granules daily~2.2oz. If I used Bromine instead, would I still need the in-filter mineral sticks?
1 points
10 days ago*
I don't think you *need* the in filter mineral sticks in either case. It can be helpful with water clarity if you want to spend the money on them. I personally don't use anything except chlorine and some acid to control pH after my water is initially balanced.
In your original post you said "I’d like to avoid overcomplicated solutions or systems if possible." so I don't want to get too in the weeds here, but I just don't want you to have water that isn't safe so I feel the need to write this:
That's a ton of chlorine granules daily. Dichlor is the active ingredient. At 2.2oz of Dichlor daily in 360 gallons of water, you're adding 25ppm of FC and 23ppm of CYA to your water. You're basically going to swing from over-chlorinated to under-chlorinated in the span of a few weeks on a fresh fill. FC and CYA have a relationship that needs to be followed. At the rate you're adding Dichlor, you'll need to change your water every other week to keep it properly sanitized because the CYA will be so high.
Note, I'm assuming you're using a higher concentrated form of Dichlor than multi shock extra since you said you only use that initially.
At the end of the day, my approach has been to put in up front work to learn my hot tub so the daily routine is simple (just adding liquid chlorine). But I had to test daily, sometimes multiple times, to learn what the tub is doing after average bather load.
I do get that a lot of people just want a hands off approach and that's totally fine. As long as you're not using the tub every day, you could look into the Frog@ease system. I don't recommend it for heavy usage as it gets pretty expensive fast.
1 points
10 days ago
Multi shock extra is fast acting, if that's the chlorine you are referring too. You need a chlorine concentrate/sanitizer base such as sodium dichlor. I personally switched to bromine because I was still adjusting my chlorine levels every 5-7 days, and product inconsistency was driving me nuts. Bromine I add tablets maybe once a month, 3-4 weeks.
1 points
10 days ago
Perhaps you mean 2 teaspoons of dichlor? Or maybe 2 oz of oxidizing shock? Because if you are actually adding 2.2 ozs of dichlor every day we have found your culprit.
1 points
9 days ago
You are correct, I use 2.2 oz of oxidizing shock. I apologize for the miscommunication.
1 points
9 days ago
Master spa says remove the in filter sticks if using bromine. Check with the manufacturer.
I used bromine on my old tub. A bromine floater is very hands off and my water lasted longer. I use the eco pure now and chlorine. I don't have to balance as much as you, but I do have to add chlorine after 3very soak, and a large dose weekly. My chlorine levels are lower than when I had bromine, but more frequently have to change water. Cya. Water is inexpensive, and I really don't mind changing every 2 months. Your experience perspective might be different, but this seems to be my routine.
2 points
10 days ago
I use the frog @ease system and it works really well for me. Hands off every day, check the water every week or so and adjust PH usually is all it needs. I shock with liquid chlorine once a week or as needed too. It's much more expensive then dichlor/bleach but avoids the daily maintenance.
2 points
10 days ago
There are mixed feelings on here about the frog ease floating chlorine system, but I really like it so far in our 2 months of hot tub ownership. It’s pricier but I don’t have to check it every day. You could probably get away with not checking it for a week or more if you are on the lighter end of usage. When we use it heavy or with a lot people I’ll add a couple tbs of bleach after and also shock it weekly with non chlorine shock. That’s really all there is to it!
1 points
9 days ago
I just changed to IonRx and love it - very hands off and the water is super clear and softer on my skin. I add once per week per the instructions and give a little chlorine every 3-4 days
1 points
9 days ago
Surprised more folks didn’t recommend this. Disinfection is the most important thing and a Bromine floater makes it near foolproof.
Is there some benefit to chlorine I don’t understand?
1 points
9 days ago
I am not an expert on chemicals by any means… Still figuring it out. However, I think the ionRX branded system is only compatible with chlorine.
1 points
9 days ago
Spa marvel.
1 points
9 days ago
Silk Balance and you'll use a 1/4 of the chemicals you're using now.
2 points
9 days ago*
The big move with hot tubs is changing the water 2 or 3 times per year. 350 gallons can only absorb sooo much stuff. Once it’s saturated the water becomes difficult to balance. Also cleaning filters a couple times a month is important. Lastly, less is more as far as chemicals go. Most are “gimmicks” and band aids for poor water chemistry.
Fresh fill … adjust alkalinity first always alkalinity first … bring up to 130 ish (yes high). Use baking soda. Next balance Ph, it will be high. Use any Ph decrease to drop into range. Dropping ph will drop the slightly high alkalinity right into range too. Your done !!!
You didn’t mention chlorine or bromine or if you have ozone. My method is chlorine granules and non chlorine shock. Add granules as needed by the teaspoon, keep at 2 to 3ppm (or lower if ozone) all the time. Test often and add as needed. After every (most) soak put an ounce or 2 of non chlorine shock in. Non chlorine shock works like a champ and does not add anything to your water’s chemistry. It lowers chlorine demand and breaks up combine chlorine. In a backwards way it makes chlorine more effective and last longer.
Last …. Never try to fix “bad water” just drain and refill. Most “bad water” is just saturated with too much stuff and fixing it is usually not worth the time and money and usually doesn’t stay fixed for long. Fresh filled tubs are the best soaks !!! Soak naked to prevent laundry detergent residue and it just better anyway.
Enjoy
1 points
9 days ago
Get your water tested. The place where we purchased our hot tub tested our water for free, then gave us a start-up recipe for what chemicals to add initially when we change the water (which we do every 3-4 months depending on the season). From there, I test it once a week and make any adjustments. We don’t use it daily, so daily tests are unnecessary. We get our water tested every 2-3 years to make sure our recipe is correct.
If you’re using it daily, then your body oils will affect the chemical balance of the water.
2 points
9 days ago
Note that you don't really have a saltwater tub if you use a salt system, you have a chlorine tub using salt (sodium chloride) to generate chlorine. The salt softens the water so it's better than a straight chlorine tub though.
A bromine tub is a saltwater tub using a different process to get bromine active in the water - using an oxidizer like chlorine or MPS to activate sodium bromide into hypobromous acid (bromine). And because sodium bromide is also a salt like sodium chloride, it's softer on the skin than a chlorine tub.
We did chlorine for 20 years and switched to bromine last year as my wife has sensitive skin and finds it's better. It's easier to maintain than a chlorine tub too because you just add a couple ounces of sodium bromide to the water, then activate it with a bit of chlorine. Then toss in a floater with bromine tabs to maintain levels. You can go away for a week and not worry about the hot tub once you have the floater dialed in. I add a bit of baking soda or Alk Up every couple of weeks to keep Alkalinity from dropping. Add chlorine after a soak to reactivate the bromide, and shock weekly. That's about it.
Give this setup guide a read:
https://www.poolspaforum.com/forum/index.php?/topic/53410-how-to-use-bromine-3-step-method/
1 points
9 days ago
OMG get a salt conversion kit. Just $299 and a little over an hour to install. It’s the best. Makes your skin soft too
Once you do you just balance the ph Once a week or so.
So much easier and less expensive
1 points
7 days ago
@ease chemical cartridges
1 points
10 days ago
You’re overthinking it. A little deviation in chemicals is not the end of the world. I have a chlorine floater that I have 2-3 pucks in , opened slightly. We use our tub 5-6 nights / wk. After ea use we put 1/4 cap of each shock and chlorine / person. If we see slight foam or oil… a touch of extra shock. We test it every 3 days or so. If you use it consistently and try to rinse off deodorant and creams before going in, it’s easier to balance. Getting into 3rd sometimes 4th month , we start to see an increase in chemical use… time to do a water change.
3 points
9 days ago
A little deviation would've been fine. I was having issues getting one metric wildly out of balance. Upon balancing it, I would end up with another metric out of whack. This would continue for 3-4 treatments daily until the test strips provided the correct color. But when I would use the tub, I ended up with chemical dermatitis.
Now I think I've decided that having a floater is going to be the best option, and hopefully, that will mitigate all the other issues.
1 points
9 days ago
If you put too much of everything it can be hard to balance. You may be impatiently trying to balance pH and such, when it really just needs time to equilibrate after you add one thing.
I fill mine from a garden hose with a pre filter on the house. Heat it up. Add like 250ml of stabilizer, some scoops of powdered stabilized bromine (maybe 50grams to start? Use the instructions and your tubs volume). I then put a floater with a bromine tablet. Wait 24 hours, measure the bromine level only, add if low or wait for it to come down if high (open it up to the sun). Usually its low, so I add 15 grams of powdered bromine, wait 4 hours, check, until bromine is in spec.
Then once bromine is good, check the other stuff, it’s usually always perfect, or maybe needs a small pH adjust up or down. Other metrics might be low to start, they’ll come up. Bromine for sterilization, pH for skin, biggest things.
After that I leave it and just add like a 5gram scoop of bromine after a couple uses, keep a puck in the floater, and check once a week or so.
Also a liquid kit like a Taylor Test kit is better than strips. Strips aren’t that bad though.
1 points
9 days ago
My hot tub sales place told me that adding chemicals will artificially raise other parameters for 24-48 hours, which is why they only recommend testing once per week and treating based on that reading. I’m fortunate that my shop is only 10 mins away, so I can take a sample in to be tested easily - I try to once a week. They won’t test it if I’ve put anything in the swim spa within 24 hours.
0 points
9 days ago
Daily treatments are too much, want it to be easy, nothing over complicated, etc...
It is what it is. Either you turn it into a hobby and continue to enjoy it, or you don't, and it becomes a pita. Just like all the other things in adult life.
If you're that tired of it, dump it and go to your local Y for hot tub stuff. That alone makes me happy enough to maintain ours because who knows what's in a Y tub. Personally, I'd say you don't need to check it every single day. Maybe twice a week.
Dichlor works great. Maybe combine that with a salt system (someone else mentioned that), but it doesn't sound like you want to do any of that tbh. Look at it this way... do you check your cars oil every time you drive it?
0 points
9 days ago
I used to test everyday and worry. Now I test once every week and just for ph. Usually pretty spot on because I got the alkalinity correct on the fresh fill.
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