Black Algae take over! New home owner/first time pool owner struggles against invasion!

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Z

Zmurk

Member
Jun 16, 2023
15
Tennessee
Hey everyone! Wanted to reach out for some advice/ comments on my current process. I am a new pool owner 3 weeks in! Pool was stagnant for a few months prior to moving in (a lot of issues with closing but they cancelled all their maintenance services at original date). We moved in with a swamp in the back yard.

After using the pool stores advice for 2 weeks, I decided to reach out online. I got tons of helpful advice but everyone directs me to TFP so I finally decided to try here for a progress review/advice.

I have a 35,000 gal gunite chlorine pool with sand filter. It’s currently sitting at 10.5 FC, .5 CC, and 0 CYA (using k-2006). I’ve been running pump 24/7, and back flushing filter every morning. There is a pretty bad black algae invasion that I just started scrubbing with a stainless brush (against the pool stores opinion). One day after it’s definitely cleared up some, maybe 5-10%, primarily on the walls as the floor seems more difficult to scrub. I am trying to maintain 12 FC just to kill the algae but I am not sure if that’s the right thing to do. Any guidance is greatly appreciated! Also is it safe for me to swim in to scrub the floors better? Thank you all!
 

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Can you get better pictures of the dark spots on the walls?

Black algae is a bacteria like black mold that can be scraped off and it will have a mushy feel with a green, blue or black color when wiped on a paper towel.

Can you remove the filter cartridge and show what it looks like?
 
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JamesW said:
Can you get better pictures of the dark spots on the walls?

Black algae is a bacteria like black mold that can be scraped off and it will have a mushy feel with a green, blue or black color when wiped on a paper towel.

Can you remove the filter cartridge and show what it looks like?
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It’s a sand filter so I cannot. But i added a photo of one of the wall sections I brushed before/after
 

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Yep, agree with those above. Likely staining., Get some vitamin-c tablets and hold one against a trouble spot for 1-2 minutes and see if the stain lightens in that area. Also, on a side note, your CYA of 0 needs to be brought up, not sure if anyone else mentioned that yet, (30-40 I believe for a non-SWCG pool? would need to double check that). You're taking all the right steps so far, you already have a good test kit, congrats!
 

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BTW, just re-looked at your comparison pictures. You removed that much of the discoloration from brushing? Holy cow I'm impressed. Staining seems almost impossible to "brush" away if it's been there for awhile (at least to me). Do you happen to know your pH?
 
Zmurk said:
It doesn’t really scrape off or rubb off. Should I use a tool?
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Nooo. Hang tight. First Let's verify what it is with the Vitamin-C tablets trick. Try one and report back (you can buy them at a Walgreens, Walmart, grocery store, etc.)
 
jesse-99 said:
Yep, agree with those above. Likely staining., Get some vitamin-c tablets and hold one against a trouble spot for 1-2 minutes and see if the stain lightens in that area. Also, on a side note, your CYA of 0 needs to be brought up, not sure if anyone else mentioned that yet, (30-40 I believe for a non-SWCG pool? would need to double check that). You're taking all the right steps so far, you already have a good test kit, congrats!
Click to expand...
Yeah! It was recommended to me! I’ll try to get a vitamin c tablet next time at the store. It kinda seems like I mis diagnosed it! Glad I reached out!
 
Zmurk said:
It doesn’t really scrape off or rub off. Should I use a tool?
Click to expand...
You have a tab feeder, which has probably caused the copper in the heater to be corroded.

I can't tell for sure, but I think that copper is more likely than black algae.

If it was black algae, then you should be able to scrape some off like scraping off black mold.
 
I suspect that the heater is probably seriously damaged from the tabs.

The multiport looks fairly new, so I suspect that it was destroyed by the tabs and replaced recently.

image-jpg.506587
 
JamesW said:
You have a tab feeder, which has probably caused the copper in the heater to be corroded.

I can't tell for sure, but I think that copper is more likely than black algae.

If it was black algae, then you should be able to scrape some off like scraping off black mold.
Click to expand...
Yeah it definitely does not scrape off. That is possible, but I think the heater is shut off from the flow. Can I get you any better pictures to diagnose?
 
Remove the front panel on the heater and open a bypass valve to see if you can see water leaking.

Also show pictures inside the heater.

I would get rid of the tab feeder.

What are all of the chemistry readings?
 

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