Algae is gone, but seeds staining my pool

[parkespapa]

I have been using the troublefreepool method for about a month and a half now, and have virtually eliminated the black algae problem I have had for the last four years. Of course, my pool looks almost as good as it did when it was first built. Well, I should say, looked as good until seeds, I think, have been getting in my pool and staining the plaster. Have been keeping fc between 3-6 and have had no algae problems, but this amount of bleach has had seemingly no effect on the stains which started showing up about two weeks ago. HELP!

 

[Agent99]

What are the seeds from? Do you know? I have a oak tree and when parts of it sit on the bottom, I'll get a brown stain start developing around oak tree part. Most plant material is acidic. Oaks have tannins...and they are acidic. Thankfully, the chlorine oxidizes it right up and the stain, assuming I remove the source, fades in a day or two.

I've read to try rubbing a puck on it to focus chlorine on the stain to see it that helps. I've heard of using Vitamin C tablets in the same manner.

 

[duraleigh]

Vitamin C tablets are to identify non-organic stains (iron) and will generally have no affect on organic( tannin) stains.

 

[Agent99]

I see. I'm learning all the time!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Parkspapa- I also have at times had seed/pod stains but they disappear in a few days after removing the debris. Make sure you're brushing and vacuuming often enough to be removing pool debris in a timely fashion.

Sidenote: Please add your state to your location (helps us help you when we understand your climate) as well as your pool description and equipment which you can put in a signature line. Thanks! You can find where to add a signature under "settings"

 

[JoyfulNoise]

Do you actually see physical seeds in the water or just "stains" from where you think they landed? I would not assume those are stains from seeds unless you actually have seeds in the water. If you indeed had black algae in your plaster, then it is entirely possible that you eradicated the visible portion of it but not the algae "roots" that grow into a porous plaster surface. Black algae is harder to defeat than standard green algae as you not only have to kill what is visibly growing but you also have to maintain the higher FC levels longer (and brush vigorously) to remove the portion of the algae hiding in the plaster surface.

Have you performed and overnight chlorine loss test to determine how much FC you lose overnight with no sunlight?

 

[parkespapa]

Thanks for all the relpies! Try to answer some of the questions. Yes, I see the seeds. Actually, they look more like stamen from lily-like plants. When I pick one up from the bottom of the pool they just crumble and leave nothing but the stem. I have searched my back yard for anything that looks at all like them, but to no avail. They are tiny, and leave streaks that look like rust stains. I am thinking that they are blowing in from the neighbors. They have not faded at all in two weeks. I vacuumed once, and have tried brushing them, but it doesn't seem to have any effect that I can tell. Like I said in the first post, it sure would be nice to have clean and bright plaster after finally getting a handle on the black algae that has plagued us for the last four years!

My pool water is almost perfectly balanced and is crystal clear. Here are my latest test readings:

fc-5
cc-0
ph-7.6
ch-210
alk-90
cya-35
temp-80

As for my location, we live in the Memphis, TN area, and my pool is about 20000 gal with white plaster.

Just wondering if anyone has seen anything like this and found a solution.

 

[JoyfulNoise]

If you have a trichlor puck, you can try to place it on the stain and see if it bleaches it away. If it does bleach it away, then you may be able to get all of the stains if you raise your FC up to a higher level. People that have oak trees run into this problem lot because acorns and oak debris have lots of tannins in them that stain pool surfaces brown. It usually takes a few days at elevated FC levels to bleach away the tannin stains.

If you can post a picture of the "stamen", I'd be interested in seeing it.

 

[parkespapa]

I hope you can see from this. I will try a trichlor puck, but I have to go and get one. Again, I appreciate all the help. Since there are only a few weeks left in the swim season here, I think I will wait until the water gets too cold to swim and hit it with a bunch of chlorine then. Hopefully, maybe before then, someone can tell me what kind of plant this is coming from. I don't think it's an oak, but I do have a medium sized red oak in my front yard, but I've never seen this before, and I do get a lot of the oak pollen/stamen in the pool in the spring, but never any stains. I have some canna lilies near the pool, but they've never caused this either.

 

[Richie Rich]

it does look a lot like mine, mine are a little smaller, but same look

 

[YippeeSkippy]

I would try the Vit C tablets on those stains to determine if they're metal.

Just a sidenote- Papa, your calcium level is a bit low, I'd suggest for your gunite pool you raise it to about 300.