BBB Start up procedure..?

[Daf-Tekno]

Dear PF people,

I'm about to refill my hot tub, and want to follow your BBB system, but have a few questions:

1. What is the start up procedure for BBB? (I searched here but was told I don't have access to the pages)

2. That fantastic 'Pool Calculator' web page is great.
But is there any particular order I should follow when applying its suggestions? It gives them in the order of FC, pH, TA, CH, CYA, Salt & Borate.

So should I firstly add the suggested chemicals for FC, then the chemicals for pH, then TA...
Or should I add the FC chemicals, then WAIT fora while, then proceed to pH....

In what order should I deal with these areas?

3. You guys seem to operate with far lower TA than I'm used to.
I used to aim for 100 - 120, but you seem to aim for 50-ish..!
How is this possible / safe?

Bare in mind, my hot tub is only 1700 litres / 450 US gallons

Thank you in advance

[CarlD]

Hi!
We're not really a hot tub forum, so the closest we come is the small Intex-type donut pools that can be as little as 10-12' across.
Probably the best place to start is our super-simple start-up routine for such pools and adjust your amounts downward:
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php/17055-Super-simple-pool-chemistry-recipe-for-Intex-type-pools-start-up-amp-routine-care.

If you log out you should be able to see it as a "lurker" ( :) )

Initially, your two most important controls are FC and pH. Personally, with a "pool" that small I'd adjust pH first, then add chlorine.

Unless your hot tub is masonry (and I've only ever seen those at a resort like "Sandals") you don't need to worry about CH. Anything from 0 to 400 is fine--calcium does nothing for you.

Salt, unless your tub has a salt-water chlorine generator, is only for the "feel" of the water and can be added or omitted as you please.

Total Alkalinity is a more over-stated and over-rated measure, especially in vinyl and fiberglass or other plastic pools. Unless it's over 200ppm and your CH is over 400ppm, which combined can lead to milky water, its sole function is as a pH buffer. There's no safety issue involved at all. The "standard" range is more for masonry pools.
So if your pH keeps trending up, you want to lower your TA. If your pH keeps trending down, you want to raise it. If your pH is stable, you probably want to leave TA alone--"if it ain't broke....." I don't think my TA got over 90 this summer. As long as my pH was stable, I don't worry.

Hope that helps.