Newbie- bacaquil to TFP

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Well I'm not a very happy camper I ran out of the FAS DPD and now I'm back to the drawing board till the replacement chemicals are here. I'm showing nothing on test except for the Ph
The water is beautiful and clear.
Ph 7.2
CL 0
CYA 0
ect..... 0000000!
So I never got through with the slamming of the pool, any suggestions on what to do now? I guess just wait?
 
It's okay. Try to continue with the amounts of bleach you were adding before you ran-out. Example: If you typically added 1/2 gallon every 4 hours ... just do the same. It's not perfect but it's better than stopping completely. Continue with the sweeping and cleaning and once your refills arrive, you'll get right back on that SLAM train and wrap it up. :)
 
I don't recall your reasons for changing the sand, but normally we just recommend a thorough deep cleaning (first) since sand typically never goes bad. But whether you replace or deep clean, you can do it whenever it's good based on your schedule.
 
Got a link on how to just clean the sand ? And the reason would be that I was converting from bacaquil to TFP .
But instead of clearing the water up my husband decided to drain it and start all over. But the water has never changed color or anything else it is crystal clear since the refill of the water and a good scrub
 
If the water is clear and you are just maintaining the higher FC level (with bleach) for the SLAM, then I would wait on the filter for now so you don't get overwhelmed. If we learn later that your SLAM is not working well, then we may encourage the sand change or deep cleaning at that time. But for now, since everything is clear, perhaps just stick with the backwashing. If you two decide to change the sand anyways and have questions, just let us know.
 

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When you first started, you were converting from a Baquacil set-up. It's possible that somewhere along the line any CYA was just eliminated. For a lot of folks the CYA turns into ammonia which is very aggressive. As long as you are maintaining a CYA level now that's good. Your CYA should be around the 30 ppm mark. If you have any problems with that test, let us know.
 
Proper lighting is important for the CYA test. You want to test for CYA outside on a sunny day, but keep the skinny view tube in the shade. Taylor recommends standing in the sun with your back to the sun and the view tube in the shade of your body. Use the mixing bottle to combine/gently mix the required amounts of pool water and R-0013 reagent, let sit for 30 seconds, then gently mix again. Then, while holding the skinny tube with the black dot at waist level, begin squirting the mixed solution into the skinny tube. Watch the black dot until it completely disappears. Once it disappears, record the CYA reading. After the first test, you can pour the mixed solution from the skinny view tube back to the mixing bottle, shake, and do the same test a second, third, or fourth time to instill consistency in your technique, become more comfortable with the testing, and validate the CYA reading. If you still need help, let us know. That test and CYA reading is extremely important, so we want you to feel confident doing it.
 
A few things appear to be getting mixed in this thread. With the user converting from Baquacil the OP never had any CYA in the water as Baquacil system doesn't use CYA to help keep anything in the pool. The reason you never saw it at first was because you've never added any. Hopefully you have not added any CYA to the water as it could cause your conversion to go longer if you've still got large amounts of Baqua in your water. That said, I've skimmed the thread and see you've drained the pool and now you have clear water. This is expected when doing a drain/refill during a Baqua conversion. Being able to drain the water helps speed up the conversion GREATLY, however it doesn't remove 100% of all the BaquaGoo from the water. You'll still need to complete the process. Likely you've already removed the Goo as you've maintained a high chlorine level for a few days, but let's slow down some and make sure we cross off everything as we go.

Let me ask you a few questions before we continue,
  • On 4/17 you stated you drained the pool then refilled. Have you preformed an OCLT since then? If so, what were the results?
  • Have you added any CYA to your pool? If so, how much??
  • The last time you tested for CC's and posted those results was on 4/20 when you were still seeing 5.5ppm CC's......WAY high. When was the last time you tested for these? What was that reading?
  • Are you still brushing the pool frequently?
  • Have you changed the sand?? If not, don't do so just yet. Let's make sure the other bases are covered before we go into this. You WILL have to change the sand at the end of the conversion as it's VERY likely the BaquaGoo has greatly gummed the sand up making it almost impossible to deep clean. The Baqua conversion is the only time on TFP we suggest changing the sand, but it will make your life ALOT easier in the long run. Again though, don't do this until we make 100% sure you have removed all the Baqua

It's VERY likely you're at the end of the conversion, but we need to make sure to take things step by step still. Draining your pool did NOT remove all the BaquaGoo as it's still hiding in the ladders, lights, skimmers, and so forth. Let's make sure you finish off the conversion correctly so in the future you're setup correctly, not left battling Baqua and not knowing it.
 
I will try it again but have tried that way too, from something I had read on here before. The solution is always very clear and I always see the black dot. I even tried looking away and then glancing back at it and still can't get it.
 
Have you added any stabilizer to the water? It's VERY likely your CYA is very low to zero. This is expected. Don't bother retesting at this point. We'll work our way there shortly. Take a look at the 5 questions below, let's make sure we cross them all off the list before worrying much about the stabilizer. Having no CYA in your water is actually a requirement during the Baquacil conversion. Take a look at the questions below and answer these. From there I'll be able to tell you just how far along you really are. It's VERY likely you're complete, but I just wanna make sure you've 100% finished the conversion before moving on.

  • On 4/17 you stated you drained the pool then refilled. Have you preformed an OCLT since then? If so, what were the results?
  • Have you added any CYA to your pool? If so, how much??
  • The last time you tested for CC's and posted those results was on 4/20 when you were still seeing 5.5ppm CC's......WAY high. When was the last time you tested for these? What was that reading?
  • Are you still brushing the pool frequently?
  • Have you changed the sand?? If not, don't do so just yet. Let's make sure the other bases are covered before we go into this. You WILL have to change the sand at the end of the conversion as it's VERY likely the BaquaGoo has greatly gummed the sand up making it almost impossible to deep clean. The Baqua conversion is the only time on TFP we suggest changing the sand, but it will make your life ALOT easier in the long run. Again though, don't do this until we make 100% sure you have removed all the Baqua
 
I have never done the OCLT test, cc has not been done since last week 4/20 5.5, still brushing and I have not changed the sand
CYA was added this morning 53 oz
when we drained the pool we scrubbed and cleaned every thing that was attached or not attached ,skimmer ,floor, walls ,ladders all pool equipment. I think I am very confused now .
Is this a good time to just start from scratch ? Lol:confused:
I did start out doing the conversion but when we did the complete draining with no water at all in pool and scrubbing I did not go back to doing the conversion. I just went straight to slamming the pool.
I ready to throw the towel in :(
 
I ready to throw the towel in
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Now that's simply not allowed. :D I'm very sorry if my last few posts tossed a curve to you, but I'm concerned that skipping a few steps will leave you with high chlorine demand in the future and have you wondering what's going on. I can tell you that as a Baquacil user for 15 years that while converting to chlorine was a pain it's greatly worth doing, and doing right. If we need to I'll be more than happy to spend a few minutes on the phone with you to better explain things if it helps you out. For now though, let me say that I'm still VERY sure you're towards the end of the conversion. I just wanna make 100% sure all the stinking Baqua is gone.

I have never done the OCLT test, cc has not been done since last week 4/20 5.5
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These two readings are the two that will tell us IF chlorine is being consumed by the sun or by the conversion. We hope to see less than 1 FC loss on the OCLT and .5CC's at the most. Seeing a CC reading of 5.5 shows us that your chlorine is being consumed by something in your water........very likely the Baqua. Now it's VERY likely some of the Baqua has been broke down since then as that reading was from a week ago, but I'd still suggest making sure by retesting. Your OCLT also will show us a great deal about IF anything is remaining in your water. By testing your chlorine loss overnight when there is no sun to consume your chlorine we will see if there's anything remaining in your water. Again, once your reagents arrive I will help you with this test.


I have not changed the sand
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Perfect.....don't worry about this at all until we verify your CC's are gone and you pass the OCLT.

Is this a good time to just start from scratch ? Lol
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I wouldn't say start from scratch......as you really are very likely almost done. What I would suggest is that we hold off doing much more until your FAS/DPD reagent arrives and you can retest to make sure everything is clean. Until then, which test kit did you purchase? It's likely I can help walk you if you have some sort of chlorine test kit such as the OTO test (the little blue box in the TF-100).
 

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