pucks will be okay. just remember there in there and be careful about the CYA, as you already know. It doesn't hurt to go higher then target if you know you're going to be gone for a while.
Updating again: Test result time!
TC: .4
FC: .6
pH: 8
TA: 8
CYA: Off the charts low, less than 30 (tested 3 times, used a test strip we had to confirm - came back lighter than the 'very low' color)
CH: Didn't test - vinyl pool - can we skip this for now?
So, according to pool math, we need to:
- Add bleach (about 391 oz)...BUT - I think we have mustard algae (it's yellow, powdery, and all over everything?), and the calculator says to go to 14PPM? So in that case, add 557 oz?
- Add baking soda (about 626 oz)
- Add muriatic acid (don't have any - will have to wait on this)
Are we doing this right?
Note: You can switch to a 10ml test while you are SLAMming. It's accurate enough for now. Will help save on testing supplies. There should be instructions explaining the difference in your kit. But basically you shouldn't need as much powder and the drops are .5 instead of .2 each.
Woohoo! Just got home today and the pool is no longer green, just cloudy (big improvement). Can see all the way to the bottom of the deep end (very hazy) to a dark pile of muck which we're about to vacuum out. FC had dropped down quite a lot during the day (11.6 this morning, right about 1 when I got home), so we added bleach, skimmed, are eating a quick snack, and will start to vacuum.
So, about CYA -
Since our CYA is off-the-charts low, should we just keep slamming with bleach, or should we add either some chlorine powder or the pucks to help get that up a bit?
The pucks would be good because they'd help us keep the chlorine up during the day tomorrow while we're at work, but the slam is really working, and we don't want to get in its way.
Any advice? Over the weekend, we'll just be bleaching like crazy - we'll be home and able to test pretty much round the clock.