Hey guys. I have now been a little more than a year using the BBB method & loving it. Thanks to all who helped. Now, apparently I got a bit lazy over the summer & not only allowed my FC levels to stay too low ( blamed the ridiculous heat ) but didn't realize my CYA was also low.

Guess what...black mold! So I have done some refresher reading here...& adjusted my FC & CH & working on CYA (results sometime next week). I am in the first full day of shocking & brushing & shocking in order to get rid of the mold (following the guidelines in pool school). My current levels are:
FC-11.0
CC-1.0
pH-7.2
TA-80
CH-390 (replaced about 30% of water to reduce this)
CYA-20 (before adding stabilizer yesterday with a goal of 50)
Borate-50
Temp-78

I am pretty confident I can get rid of algae, but had a little incident upon raising chlorine levels this morning...water turned clear, but very green. My further reading here indicates I have copper (probably caused by improper chem levels over an extended period running thru my heater). I have now treated with "the blue stuff" as well.

Any other suggestions or surprises I need to be looking for? Help me get back my sparkle please. I promise I won't take it for granted again!

You can rub a trichlor tablet over the spots and then scrub with SS brush. Very hard work.

I am lucky on that part...I caught it pretty early in the growth. So many have already loosened, and the others have at least gotten scratched well enough during my twice daily brushing (using SS brush) that the chlorine is able to penetrate.

It's the green color I am worrying about. It has lightened considerably since treating with Blue Stuff...and I have made sure the pH is staying at 7.2. But until my shock cycle is completed, the higher FC level has to remain. The overnight test last nite showed only .5 CC and the FC went from 11.5 to 11.0. Much better than the previous evening. But, how long does it normally take for the B Stuff to return my water to clear? Will that not happen completely until my FC is reduced to normal?

Brian,

Is there a place near you that can test for copper? I have been puzzled that I have seen this posted here on the forum before and have experienced an identical problem myself. In my case there was no copper (or iron) present.

I will try to get it tested tomorrow & post the results then.

I had my water tested today for metals & all it showed was a tiny bit of copper. It read .2 for copper. Everything else tested the same as my own tests...

FC 14
CC .1
pH 7.4
TA 90
CH 410 (I am gonna get this lowered after I am finished shocking)
CYA 30
Borate 50
Temp 78

Is it possible that because I have treated with sequestering agent (Jack's Blue Stuff) that it affects the test for copper?

And BTW, as of this morning, it is back to sparkling clear. Still a little of the algae, but another day or so & I will be able to declare victory! This has been a good refresher course about maintenance & because I have been using this system for a year, some info makes more sense this time around.

It doesn't take much copper. Generally, copper above .3ppm is troublesome so you are on the cusp. Any idea how it got in there?

Why did you use the sequestering agent?

It was probably from either the old way of pool care using algaecides...although that would have been at least 2 yrs ago. And possibly from allowing my chems to get out of balance for longer than I realized over our "summer living on the face of the sun". I forgot to check my CYA last spring & couldn't figure out why my FC was disappearing at an alarming rate...but when 110 was the high & even by 2 PM it only cooled to 95...I just assumed it was the relentless sun. I have no shade in the summer months on the pool. The water temp reached 98 this summer without using a heater...I only push the hot tub to 102 when I use it! Trust, this has been a great lesson for me. I think it became so "trouble free" that I became a bit complacent.