Did the OCLT last night....I put in 4 gallons of 10% Chlorine which raised my FC to 10.5 CC was 1 ( thats all I had on me)...in the morning my FC was 4 and CC was 1....I am still draining water to lower CYA....so how much chlorine should I put in? If 4 gallons got me to FC 10.5...does that mean I need 10 gallons to get up to a level of 25ish? My wife is gonna kill me with all these jugs of chlorine I have laying around!

You are losing chlorine fairly quickly still. That means you lost some chlorine between when you added it and when you tested the level. Because of that it won't be exactly 10 gallons, almost certainly a bit less, to get to 25. But it will still be a lot of bottles.

Just keep reminding her of all the money you'll save by NOT going to the pool store.

So how much chlorine should I add next? Putting in 4 gallons last night got me to 10.5 FC...should I try 8 and see where that gets me? I guess I need to get my FC up to the 25 range and follow the steps. And I am looking toward the future and wondering what happens if I pass my OCLT ? I use trichlor in my chlorinator, so do I just keep using that as I have in the past and hope for the best? Is the CYA being high going to cause constant problems? I drained a fair amount of water but haven't checked CYA yet. I am not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. And the boss is telling me she wants the kids to swim and doesn't want me adding chemicals to the pool....my FC is only about 2 right now and I'm sure its dropping fast....should I add a little chlorine to bump it up before they swim? I'm about ready to give up.

If you don't keep adding bleach to keep your FC above 25, you will not make any progress.

And yes continuing to use tablets adds CYA, and high CYA makes pools nearly unmanageable.

STOP using trichlor - that is sure to be the cause of your high CYA. I thought I knew how to look after my pool until I found this site. These guys sure know what they are talking about. My CYA was way off the scale, and with 440000 litres dumping water wasn't an option. I am having to struggle with high CYA levels, which are very gradually coming down with backwashing. Nothing but liquid chlorine for me from now on, with perhaps the very occasional use of dichlor if my CYA drops below recommended levels, which I can't see it doing this year.

Smykowski beat me to it, and yes it is extremely difficult to manage the pool with high CYA.

I just added 2 gallons of 10% chlorine....it took my FC to 8.5 from 1.0....CYA looks closer to 80 now...PH is around 7.5....CC 1.0

If I discontinue the trichlor, whats the best way to chlorinate? Was I just spoiled the first two years on the trichlor? I know my pool guy has built hundreds of pools with trichlor in the chlorinator...is it just the CYA catching up with me? It was almost like he was saying that he starts out the year with a low CYA...uses the trichlor....the CYA goes up but he doesnt mind until its 200 or higher...then drains the pool down at closing which drops the CYA back down....does that make sense? How much CYA does the chlorinator add to my pool through the summer I guess is my question?

Bleach is how you chlorinate. Clorox or equivalent. That 10% liquid chlorine you used is good, too.

This is all exactly correct. The fact that you said the above means that you are truly starting to understand your pool.

However, you still need more chlorine in your pool. Add 4 more gallons to bring it to 25ppm. It will immediately begin doing it's job, and that number will go down (think in terms of minutes at this stage). Test in an hour, and bring it back to 25. If it gets below 21, you are allowing the algae a chance to regroup.

Get it above 21, and then don't let it get below 21. Reread "How to Shock Your Pool" as a refresher.

Here are my latest results.....

10:00pm FC 35

midnight FC 30

6:15am FC 18.5 added 2 gallons

8:45am FC 26

10:45am FC 21 added 2 gallons

If I have to wait more than a couple of hours between tests, will that cause problems? If you have a shock level of say 21, is it a problem to raise the FC to a higher number...say 30-35...so you don't have to check as often?

You can go up to mustard algae levels on Pool Calculator. In fact, I suggest it. You have a gunite pool so no fears of fading a liner, etc.

Latest results:

3:15 FC 22.5 added 1 gallon
5:00 FC 25.5
7:30 FC 21 added 1 gallon
9:45 FC 21.5 added 2 gallons
12:00 FC 30.5
6:30 FC 20 added 2 gallons
11:45 FC 25.5

Anything I should be doing differently? I took more water to the pool store for analysis at 11:00 and they said my FC was 6.75 CC was 2. That really threw me for a loop. Am I doing something wrong? CYA from the pool store was 85....which is close to the 80-90 I was showing. My PH is 7.7...should I worry about dropping that? I did add some decreaser last night. Thanks for your help.

Nope, looks like you're still on track.

If your pH was adjusted correctly when you started shocking, ignore it until you're done. The test is inaccurate at high FC levels.

I've seen a few posts on fertilzer...I am downwind of thousands of acres of farmland, which it seems like they are constantly spraying with something....could this be why my FC is dropping so much at night? If that is the case I would never pass the OCLT....right? Not sure if I'm heading in the right direction.

Another question for anyone interested....a buddy of mine who was in the pool business for about 10 years said the filter I have is definitely not what they would recommend...he said I should get a DE filter.(...I know nothing about filters.)..anyone agree with what he's saying?

There is no "best" type of filter

You are headed in the right direction. It can be frustrating but keep up with it, and then suddenly, everything will be good! It will work if you keep at it!

...as far as the fertilizer/ammonia/whateverelsethefarmersuse concern, I wouldn't worry about it, unless they're sneaking in and dumping it in your pool at night. I live upwind, downwind, crosswind, diagonalwind, and curlycuewind from a gazillion acres of farmland. Complete with a crazy bi-plane pilot that sprays the fields. It doesn't affect my readings one bit. Well, it might a itsy bitsy bit, but I can't measure the difference with the TF-100 kit, nor any other kit that doesn't include a million dollar lab and an expensive chemist to use it.

Just keep doing what you're doing, it'll be fine!

I'll go with the 'ole camera saying...

The best filter is the one you have!

But I swear... Next time I'm gettin' the largest cartridge filter there is! (I use well water to refill...)

More numbers from yesterday and today:

3:45pm Wed. added 2 gallons
8:45pm Wed. FC 21.5

7:45am Th. FC 14.5
12:00 Th. FC 11.5
5:30 Th. FC 9.0 added 3 gallons
12:00 FC 19.0
7:15am Fr. FC 14.0

I let it drop a little because I talked to my pool builder and he made me feel like everything I was doing was wrong....his advice was to stop adding anything...turn on my trichlor chlorinator...get the FC to 1-2ppm and everything will be fine....but then I talked to Dave S. and he gave me back my MoJo! Even though my wife wants to divorce me, and family and friends think I'm nuts for dumping in chlorine...I'm gonna try to ride this thing til the end.

Keep on it, my friends think I'm nuts for dumping in Clorox, but I'm the one with a perfectly clear pool because of these fine folks. Sounds like you're on the glide path now, making progress and best of all learning how to really take care of your pool, not just follow what the pool store says. Good luck!