0 CYA and 0 FC. Need advise

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LovinPoolLife

LovinPoolLife

Well-known member
Apr 17, 2024
99
Northern Illinois
Pool Size
20000
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
I opened my pool Saturday and water was very cloudy. before doing anything I ran my robotic pool cleaner a few times then broomed towards main drains. Ran pump for 24 hrs then added 5 gallons liquid shock, as I do every year at opening. Let run for 24 hrs then took water sample to pool store for testing like every year. usually PH, alkalinity and CYA are always great and FC is high, due to the 5 gal liquid shock. This year my readings are:
CYA=5
FC=0.3
TC=3.8
PH=6.9
T Alkalinity =128
I was told to add 5 lbs powder stabilizer, wait 1/2 hr then add 16 gal of liquid shock. Before doing so, I read it’s best to add less stabilizer and check results because it’s easier to add more than take it out. So I’ve added 2 lbs total since Monday and I only added 5 gal of liquid shock. From a suggestion on internet that said it’s all that’s needed to supershock my 20,000 gal pool. Well I did a test strip yesterday and still 0 chlorine. And it didn’t register CYA on strip. Should I wait until CYA is 30 before adding more shock and if so, how much shock should I add to get pool water right?
 
Hey LPL and Welcome !!!

We put zero faith in test strips here, as you've seen. You're flying blind without an adequate test kit. Either TF kit from TFtestkits.net in this link is a better value than the Taylor equivalents for both price brackets, but you need one of the 4 going forward.

Test Kits Compared
 
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Hi Newdude, I’ve read enough threads on here to know test strips are not liked. I’d rather take my water to the place that installed the pool, but their hrs don’t coincide with when I get off work. I just want to know if I should wait for CYA to raise before adding shock and how much shock would need to be used to get my free chlorine in line with total chlorine.
 
LovinPoolLife said:
I was told to add 5 lbs powder stabilizer, wait 1/2 hr then add 16 gal of liquid shock.
Click to expand...

Ok, maybe I'm reading this wrong....5Lbs and 16 Gallons ?

5Lbs of dry stabilizer, thats not unreasonable, assuming the starting level of 5 is accurate...no guarantee. Makes you wonder why it's so low to start with tho..

16 GALLONS of liquid shock ? Assuming 12.5% strength, that would push you to 100 FC. 1.5 Gallons would get you to the top end of the TFP recommended range even assuming you'd added the 5lbs of stabilizer, so 16 is like 10 times what you need, and frankly, dangerous. Even if it were really crappy shock, it would still be somewhere around 4 times what we'd ever recommend adding to your pool.

5 Gallons of 12.5% shock should bounce you up to the 30s FC - so either something is eating all the chlorine, your tests are faulty, or your shock is no good.

Step 1 - ditch the strips. Seriously, guessing is more accurate.
Step 2 - Verify your Liquid Chlorine is good - date code? Age ? etc.
Step 2 - assuming the pool is uncovered, I'd add at most 1 gallon of Liquid Chlorine (12.5%) per day until your test kit arrives. Less if its covered.
Step 3 - Run a full set of tests, and post back.

Honestly, the only reason to drop 16 gallons of shock at the start of the season would be to sell shock you had left in the store from the previous season...

Check out : Pool Care Basics - the TFP way and Free Chlorine/CYA
 
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LovinPoolLife said:
I just want to know if I should wait for CYA to raise before adding shock and how much shock would need to be used to get my free chlorine in line with total chlorine.
Click to expand...
It's a little more complicated unfortunately. In an ideal situation, an owner opens their pool in the spring and may need to remove some algae following our SLAM Process. Hopefully you've seen that article already which emphasizes the importance of accurate at-home testing. That is critical for you to maintain the proper (elevated) SLAM FC level. No pool store can do that.

The other concern is that BEFORE dumping stabilizer in the water, it's good to ensure there are no other factors that could make opening difficult - specifically ammonia. Most pools don't see an ammonia conversion issue in the spring, but some do, so we watch for that as well. If a pool has ammonia, adding stabilizer only feeds the ammonia making it worse.

One way or the other you'll need one of those kits so you can actually start the SLAM Process. If you have any questions about the SLAM Process let us know.

Also be sure to download and use the PoolMath APP. It can really help.
 
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SJPoe said:
Ok, maybe I'm reading this wrong....5Lbs and 16 Gallons ?

5Lbs of dry stabilizer, thats not unreasonable, assuming the starting level of 5 is accurate...no guarantee. Makes you wonder why it's so low to start with tho..

16 GALLONS of liquid shock ? Assuming 12.5% strength, that would push you to 100 FC. 1.5 Gallons would get you to the top end of the TFP recommended range even assuming you'd added the 5lbs of stabilizer, so 16 is like 10 times what you need, and frankly, dangerous. Even if it were really crappy shock, it would still be somewhere around 4 times what we'd ever recommend adding to your pool.

5 Gallons of 12.5% shock should bounce you up to the 30s FC - so either something is eating all the chlorine, your tests are faulty, or your shock is no good.

Step 1 - ditch the strips. Seriously, guessing is more accurate.
Step 2 - Verify your Liquid Chlorine is good - date code? Age ? etc.
Step 2 - assuming the pool is uncovered, I'd add at most 1 gallon of Liquid Chlorine (12.5%) per day until your test kit arrives. Less if its covered.
Step 3 - Run a full set of tests, and post back.

Honestly, the only reason to drop 16 gallons of shock at the start of the season would be to sell shock you had left in the store from the previous season...

Check out : Pool Care Basics - the TFP way and Free Chlorine/CYA
Click to expand...
Thank you for replying. If something’s eating the chlorine, what would be the amount of liquid shock to add to kill it, so my pool will hold the free chlorine?
 
Texas Splash said:
It's a little more complicated unfortunately. In an ideal situation, an owner opens their pool in the spring and may need to remove some algae following our SLAM Process. Hopefully you've seen that article already which emphasizes the importance of accurate at-home testing. That is critical for you to maintain the proper (elevated) SLAM FC level. No pool store can do that.

The other concern is that BEFORE dumping stabilizer in the water, it's good to ensure there are no other factors that could make opening difficult - specifically ammonia. Most pools don't see an ammonia conversion issue in the spring, but some do, so we watch for that as well. If a pool has ammonia, adding stabilizer only feeds the ammonia making it worse.

One way or the other you'll need one of those kits so you can actually start the SLAM Process. If you have any questions about the SLAM Process let us know.

Also be sure to download and use the PoolMath APP. It can really help.
Click to expand...
How would I test for ammonia in the pool?
 
LovinPoolLife said:
How would I test for ammonia in the pool?
Click to expand...
Some people buy an ammonia kit, I think some pet stores have them for fish. Even better we have a chlorine application and testing drill/method to eradicate ammonia "IF" it's present. I don't want to run down that rabbit hole just yet. I'm not implying you have ammonia at this time, only emphasizing that whether it's for ammonia or just a standard SLAM Process, the test kit is extremely important to perform the operation(s).
 
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LovinPoolLife said:
Thank you for replying. If something’s eating the chlorine, what would be the amount of liquid shock to add to kill it, so my pool will hold the free chlorine?
Click to expand...
And yes the pool store said to add 16 gal of shock to get my fc and total chlorine in line with each other because something is using the chlorine.
 
Texas Splash said:
Some people buy an ammonia kit, I think some pet stores have them for fish. Even better we have a chlorine application and testing drill/method to eradicate ammonia "IF" it's present. I don't want to run down that rabbit hole just yet. I'm not implying you have ammonia at this time, only emphasizing that whether it's for ammonia or just a standard SLAM Process, the test kit is extremely important to perform the operation(s).
Click to expand...
I do have a lot of dirt, leaves and dead worms at the bottom of the pool from winter. Plus we had a very mild - warm winter here this year. Which maybe contributed to something eating the free chlorine. In regards to CYA being so low. It was over 150 last yr so when I winterized the pool, instead of adding the “winter” shock which has high stabilizer in it. I just used liquid shock and lowered water level to half. The snow and rain filled the pool up to operating level for me. So it had diluted the CYA I guess. I honestly didn’t think it would diminish it to nothing though.
 

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LovinPoolLife said:
I do have a lot of dirt, leaves and dead worms at the bottom of the pool from winter. Plus we had a very mild - warm winter here this year.
Click to expand...
And that's quite common. The ammonia thing is really a perfect storm of sorts that only happens in some pools. I wouldn't focus on that right now. Continue to brush, sweep, and scoop all the debris out you can. If/when you are able to obtain one of those recommended test kits and post a full set of results, we can easily coach you through the testing, SLAM, and balancing process.

The article below may also help you.

www.troublefreepool.com

Opening your pool- An easy to follow guide

Opening your pool can be stressful. This Pool Start Up guide teaches everything from start-up chemicals, covers, and more for your start up.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
Texas Splash said:
And that's quite common. The ammonia thing is really a perfect storm of sorts that only happens in some pools. I wouldn't focus on that right now. Continue to brush, sweep, and scoop all the debris out you can. If/when you are able to obtain one of those recommended test kits and post a full set of results, we can easily coach you through the testing, SLAM, and balancing process.

The article below may also help you.

www.troublefreepool.com

Opening your pool- An easy to follow guide

Opening your pool can be stressful. This Pool Start Up guide teaches everything from start-up chemicals, covers, and more for your start up.
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
Click to expand...
I’ve never had this happen opening before. This is my 8th time opening and it’s always been almost perfect. I could just cry and haven’t been able to sleep worrying about how to fix this. I have the robot in now (2nd time today) and after work I am going to manually vacuum pool and buy fresh shock. The one from pool store Monday had Jan 8 ‘24 date on it.
 
Texas Splash said:
Some people buy an ammonia kit, I think some pet stores have them for fish. Even better we have a chlorine application and testing drill/method to eradicate ammonia "IF" it's present. I don't want to run down that rabbit hole just yet. I'm not implying you have ammonia at this time, only emphasizing that whether it's for ammonia or just a standard SLAM Process, the test kit is extremely important to perform the operation(s).
Click to expand...
I just got back from a diff pool store who says I have ammonia in the pool. But she refused to give me the printout of all of the other levels, like free chlorine, total chlorine etc. At first her ammonia test was neutral then she shook it again and all of a sudden it turned dark green. Said she’d call me in a 1/2 hr with how much chemicals I need to buy from them to fix it. I am truly at a loss. I don’t have a test kit to do at home, not sure how I find out if I really have ammonia problem.
 
LovinPoolLife said:
I don’t have a test kit to do at home, not sure how I find out if I really have ammonia problem.
Click to expand...
Tftestkits.net is fast and will only take a couple days. Amazon can be also, (if going with Taylor) it just depends on how far it needs to travel.

Add 5ppm FC perPoolMath, daily, until it comes.

Do not listen to the lady who told you to add 100 ppm to your pool. That's absurd.
 
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Newdude said:
Tftestkits.net is fast and will only take a couple days. Amazon can be also, (if going with Taylor) it just depends on how far it needs to travel.

Add 5ppm FC perPoolMath, daily, until it comes.

Do not listen to the lady who told you to add 100 ppm to your pool. That's absurd.
Click to expand...
I went to another pool store today. She told me I have ammonia in pool and to add 30 bags of burnout 73 or 36 gallons of liquid shock. I could just cry right now. I dont know if it truly is ammonia or maybe algae growth. Would algae eat the free chlorine as well as CYA. My CYA in fall was 150. Was at 5 2 days ago now at 10 after adding 2 lbs stabilizer
 
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LovinPoolLife said:
I went to another pool store today. She told me I have ammonia in pool and to add 30 bags of burnout 73 or 36 gallons of liquid shock. I could just cry right now. I dont know if it truly is ammonia or maybe algae growth. Would algae eat the free chlorine as well as CYA. My CYA in fall was 150. Was at 5 2 days ago now at 10 after adding 2 lbs stabilizer
Click to expand...
Please slow down and take a deep breath. We’re working on pools, not curing cancer or building rocket ships. It’s not life or death and you can do this. Step 1 is to stop going to pool stores that want to sell you their over priced chemicals. I have clients that spend $15/gallon on liquid chlorine from the pool store that could spend $5/gallon if they’d consult me first. This example is not to bash pool stores but to illustrate that they need to turn a profit and often over-markup their chems to do so. Then they need to sell you the same chems through their “free testing”, to keep margins up.

You can do a better job and will be more invested in your pool than they ever will be. They are invested in your wallet.

As was said before, get a test kit on order. Until then go to Menards and get their Pro-chlor liquid pool shock (it’s 12.5% chlorine). It’s currently about $5/gallon. Add 3/4 gallon daily which should add 5ppm FC to your pool until your test kit arrives. We will coach you through the rest once you have a reliable means of testing.
 
Last edited:
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Lake Placid said:
Add 3/4 gallon daily
Click to expand...
That's 75% of a gallon. Not 3 or 4. Or even 16. Or 36 :shock:

Like for real what is wrong with them ?

There is selling stuff and there there is filling your pool with bleach instead of water. :ROFLMAO:


This is what our pools look like LPL
How Clear is TFP Clear?

We'd love to show you how for nothing but feels. It's a pretty sweet deal if I do say so myself.
 
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You see a common theme here..... No more pool store testing or advice. It will drive you nuts. :crazy: We see it time and time again. Do not purchase their chemicals. Test your own water first, then we can show you what you need and YOU choose where to shop. YOU can take control of the water.

But it all starts with the proper test kit. From there, we can coach you through the process.
 
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