Hello everyone! First I just want to thank you for all the helpful information on these forums that's put us on the right track to managing our pool this year. We have a intex round above ground pool...pretty small at 3100gal but enough to have fun in. Last year we only used it a few times after setup and then it got neglected :S Last week we finished cleaning it out completely and filled it with water on Monday. I found tfp on tuesday and have been following the instructions in the beginners guide and I'm on the third day of putting in shock to bring up my cya.

Last night my tests were:
CL 4
PH 6.8
TA 30

So I put some baking soda in to bring my ta up before using borax but my problem is that the pool calculator recommends that CL be at 6 but my test kit only goes to 5 :S

I have this kit http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors-o ... 27256.html The $70- kits are out of my price range atm. I have some local stores that do water testing but if I need to shock I can't exactly run to the store every couple hours . I'm sure I probably missed something somewhere and hopefully one of you fine pool professionals can point me in the right direction. Thanks again!

Welcome to TFP!

That's the problem with your kit. The better ones go to 50ppm, so it's not an issue. You can get around it, although you'll lose some accuracy, by diluting your pool water sample with two parts distilled water, and then testing the mixture and multiplying the reading by 3.

That sounds good. Is it alright then if I keep my CL at 5 instead of 6? Since I can test up to that level with my kit.

You can get the stand alone FAS-DPD test for very reasonable. I unfortunately bought the wrong Taylor Test Kit and ended up having to buy it as well. I think it was like 14 bucks.

Cool thanks I believe this is the one you're talking about? http://www.amazon.com/Taylor-K-1515-A-C ... B00785UKZK

I was going to post a pic of the pool but a small storm popped up http://i.imgur.com/PSFMD.jpg

Did your original test kit come with the CYA tests? It's important to know your CYA level so you can maintain your FC accordingly.

No it did not. I planned on going to a local store and getting it tested (ace hardware offers) to figure out my levels today.

Unfortunately, the CYA test is one of the worst for pool stores to get correct. Take the same water to 3 different stores and you will get 3 different answers. Or given tap water, they will report that there is CYA in it ... which there is not.

Instead of spending $15 for the FAS-DPD test, you would be better served spending $50 to get the K-2006 ... although the TF-100 is a little better value as the quantity of the reagents is more, but costs bit more.

That would be this kit right? http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/poolsupp ... dtype=free

I can probably swing that eventually but not this week. Is it worth at least trying the store tests to see what results they give?

Just a update on my TA. I added 1lb of baking soda earlier and tested around a hour later but my Ta still came out to 30. Just added another pound and will see what that does in a bit. Will rain affect the reading? We had a downpour earlier right after I added the first dose.

Second update @ 8pm just re-tested the pool and:

CL 2
Ph 6.8
TA 50 (up 20 woot)

So my ta is going up like I hoped but CL was down due to sun/rain I think. Added the nightly shock towards upping CYA and put some liquid CL in to get it higher overall.

I got the water tested earlier and the CL readings are really low for some reason. TA was close to my tests but CYA was only at 9 when it should be closer to 20. I'm going to go back saturday since tomorrow will be my final addition of shock and see what it says. Here's a picture of the results even though it was mentioned earlier they are usually inaccurate :S http://i.imgur.com/fzgma.jpg

Well the pool is going good so far. I have the TA/Ph just right and the clorine seems to be chilling where it needs to be but we're having a problem with frog eggs in the pool. Is there a effective way to remove them without a vacuum? They seem to half break up but resettle on the floor and the pump doesn't seem to be pulling them through the filter at all. The water is sparkling except for those mounds of eggs here and there. Our pump probably can't support a vacuum since its intex junk but is there a alternative?

Your best bet is probably scooping them out gently. Once you get the levels correct they probably won't come back.