What do I need for maintenance?

[bigkevj]

New pool owner. I have an IG Pool and Spa. What all do I need for maintenance? Here is what I have, let me know what I may be missing:

- Manual Sweep with Hose
- Older robot that floats on the surface with hoses that blow out air(I believe its air)
- Chemicals
- Pentair liquid test kit and Taylor K-2006 test kit
- Spa vac for the spa
- 2 telescoping poles, one has a brush on the end, the other a leaf rake

What is a must have that you own that you think I may need?

TIA,

 

[Texas Splash]

Kevin, here is what I could consider a short list of "must-haves":
- The Taylor K-2006 is good. Just make sure you have enough reagents for the season. Also consider the "Speed Stir" from TFTestkits.com.
- Good brush and pole
- Minimum ... manual vacuum head and hose for weekly or bi-weekly vacuuming. Automated cleaners are fine if you have the $$$.
- Chemicals will vary based on what your K-2006 tells you, but at a minimum you will need regular bleach (generic is fine). No splashless or scented varieties. Probably some muriatic acid from time to time.
- Skimmer sock for your skimmer(s) to catch fine debris before it goes to your pump/filter.

That's all I got right now.

 

[atttech-2]

Just adding to the skimmer sock idea THESE work great

 

[bigkevj]

Thanks Texas Splash.

I have the good brush and pole, I have the manual vac w/ hose.

For chemicals - I have the chlorine that goes in the auto feeders, Metal Out, Phos Free....that has gotten me through so far. I also use OxyBrite once a week for shock.

 

[Texas Splash]

I wouldn't worry about using any of those products. No need for any weekly shock if you're FC is consistently maintained all week long. That's just a pool store legend. The auto-feeder stuff, I'm assuming those are the tabs/pucks right? Be careful as those will increase your CYA incredibly fast resulting in a water exchange to lower CYA. Bleach is your purest form of chlorine and won't add anything else to the water. No need for metal-out unless you know for sure you have iron in your fill water or have used algaecides in the past that had copper. Just stick to the TFP Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals and you'll do great.

 

[bigkevj]

We do have iron in the water, and I do sometimes top off from our well. I need the Metal Out. The feeders are not tabs/pucks that I know of. I am not home to give you exact name, but it is a powder/granules.

 

[Texas Splash]

Good to know. Not sure how much you know about metal management, so here's the TFP page on that: Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains. Also, any pre-filtering you can do may help remove some of the iron before it can get to the chlorine. If you run into any issues later with the water changing color or you encounter stains, let us know and we can try to help you some more. Have a good day!