Yet another first-timer with no clue what he's doing...

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First replacement part ordered: pump basket. Had a couple cracks in it, and a couple pieces let go when cleaning it this time. Thankfully, $10 and Amazon will bring it Tuesday. Other than that, looking good for the moment. Did more dredging, but not really coming up with much even in the deep end. Think I'm currently just in wait mode, letting the bleach and filter do their thing.

Question: what's the 'right' water level for the pool? Started off a bit on the full side (slightly above the skimmer frames), and I'm now about 1/3 to 1/2 way down towards the middle of the skimmer after more than a few backwash/rinse cycles. At what point do I need to start putting water in again? Assume I'm good as long as the water is above the bottom frame of the skimmers (i.e. water is still comfortably going in and not sucking air), but what's the ideal spot? Halfway? I don't want to over-drain on one of these backwash rounds, or be cutting them short because I'm worried about water levels.
 
Since you know you will be doing a couple more backwashes I would have the water as high as you can get it to give your more backwash room.

When the pool is clear then you will want the water in the middle of the skimmer plate.

Kim:cat:
 
Yeah, will add tonight when I get home. I've been leaving the main drain wide open, so not getting a ton of skimmer action. Thought having it around 1/2 way down may help, but obviously winging this. Will bring it back towards the top as I will definitely be doing more backwashes. Kinda get the feeling I need a solid sand cleaning or at least long backwash, but trying to get everything else under control before I start taking apart the pieces that currently work :)

Still a bit confused about the low FC drop rate. Looked like it was at 13 again this morning, after having been raised to 15-ish in the evening. Been trying to keep it just on the high side to maintain good levels while I'm asleep or at work, but not so high I cause other problems.

Took a crack at redoing the CYA test, but not quite getting that one yet. Does the dot go away because of cloudy water, or more of an optical illusion thing? Either way, looked like it may have been about 20 this morning, but the last 2 lbs of CYA was added Saturday late morning, so maybe that hadn't fully hit yet. Either that, or I may need to add a bit more, but was trying not to overshoot and then require more FC. Since my numbers aren't dropping fast, inclined to leave it alone for now.

Will get a fresh picture tonight, but visually it looks like things are on track. Not coming up with much (if any) solids anymore, pump basket not as full of sludge and dead worms as fast. Still a few roaming silt clouds in there, but nothing I can get with manual tools. Will try more vacuuming later, and looking for recommendations on a good cleaning robot in the cleaning sub-forum. Much more inclined to have an independent robot roam the pool than keep trying my luck with the vacuum and having it dump into the filter anyway.
 
Fc at 11.5 after work, fed another quarter bottle in to get it back up. Then after a backwash, put some fresh water in, so another splash of bleach. No pics, Internet down in the northeast, so working from my phone. Looking better and better, though. This place is great!
 
Glance in only. Do NOT stare! If you stare you will see the dot LOL. Just glance in and look away. Glance again. Fill it up to a line at a time. Glance and if you do not see the dot call it good at that number.

Kim(I HATE the CYA test)
 
Yeah, will get the hang of it eventually.

Steady Progress. 10.5 overnight, boosted back up to around 13-13.5 since I'll be at work all day. Color continues to improve, while still cloudy.

IMG_2177.jpg
 

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Thanks, the support/knowledge here has been extremely helpful. Of course, once the SLAM gets finished, expect me to start the next round of bugging you. As in "now that I'm done initial load, how do I keep this thing working?!?"

Forgot to mention, the bloodthirsty pool has increase it's kill count since last time. It's taken 2 more mice and 2 more chipmunks. Thought it had a frog, but he was able to hop away under his own power. Worried that it's gotten a taste for blood...

Still have the issues with the automation system, and no word back from the pool guys yet. There's a thread someone started in the other forum that I jumped on (same issue, system seems to work and screen lights up, but no text displays, so can't do anything that doesn't have a fixed button), but no one's come up with anything yet.
 
Your mileage may vary, but I found that adding borates to my pool eventually gave animals a distaste for my pool water. You can add either borax and muriatic acid, or for a little more money you can add dry boric acid to bring borates to 50ppm. It will also most likely help stabilize your pH if you have swings. Just make sure TA is right where you want it before you add borates, because it's much harder to shift it once you have the borates in the pool.
 
I'm a little shocked I'm getting them in there. It's not like the water is super high and they can lean over and drink or anything; probably 8" drop from the coping down to water level, give or take. And then obviously no way to reverse the process, even if they survive the SLAM dose of bleach they received. They've gotta be literally jumping into the pool without planning their escape first.

$40 x 2 skimmers seems kinda pricy to safe the life of rodents. I guess obviously better than them floating in the pool for the day, though. Seems like they'd have to be lucky to make it to the ramp, if they know to aim for it and can swim long enough, too. Haven't seen how long they fight it out before drowning/being poisoned, but I'd think without at least a couple of them, they wouldn't have a chance anyway.

Sorta a gross problem to have.
 

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