What are "Clorine Enhancers"

[waterbear]

The ammonia based chlorine enhancers work by forming monochloramine, which is slightly more effective (supposedly) at killing algae than straight chlorine. Without the addition of chlorine they do nothing. In a similar way, sodium bromide based products won't do anything until you add chlorine, which is then immediately converted into hypobromous acid and bromamines to kill the algae. Do they work....in a word, yes. Choramines and bromamines are nitrogen containing compounds and the algae will eat them as food and die. Do they work better than just chlorine....maybe. Do they create their own set of problems that can be as hard to deal with as the initial algae problem once the algae is gone...usually! Do you really need them....most likely not.

I will add that the sodium bromide products have, in my exerience, some limited usefulness in dealing with very stubborn outbreaks of mustard and black algae but getting your chlorine to hold afterwards can be almost as big as a problem as killing the algae was!