Still trying to get this right - I'v got some green

[HammerGeek]

I'm thinking that I am not keeping my FC at a high enough level consistently. My pool keeps bouncing from clear to a tinge of green back to clear and back to a tinge of green. I've been adding liquid bleach about a gallon every 2-3 days. I also notice that my CYA is dropping which will make my chlorine burn up faster. Correct?

I've been using test strips between TF-100 weekly checks.
Do I need to test chlorine more often than once a week with my TF-100?

I appreciate any tips you folks may have.

Last two week's TF-100 results.

	Goal	8/30/16	9/5/16
FC	6	1	2.5
CC	?	0	0.5
pH	7.5	7.9	7.5
TA	110	210	190
CH	300	300	375
CYA	40	50	30
Water Temp	79	84
Air Temp		70-95	70-95
Week's Rain	< .25	< .25

 

[oldguy70]

I test every day, but more importantly is knowing how much chlorine you use daily. I add chlorine every single day.

 

[txnole]

Until you get it stable, I would be testing CYA 2x weekly. That much loss with that little displacement means your not stable. Once CYA normalizes, you should really put see very little movement, if any.

 

[Texas Splash]

While you're a bit north of me, you're still getting some good sunlight. Your FC should never be below 3-4 ppm. As stated above, most of us who add bleach manually do so daily. I test my FC & pH everyday and add my HEB Bravo bleach at the same time - everyday. You should be able to predict with relatively consistent accuracy what your FC should be 24 hours later when you check again. If it dropped more than 4 ppm in 24 hours, you may have an issue that requires a SLAM or more stabilizer. That's when doing an overnight (OCLT) test comes-in handy. Oh, and stick with your TF-100. It's your best tool. The test strips won't do you any favors for water testing.

 

[HammerGeek]

Do you do the full test everyday or just chlorine and pH?

 

[HammerGeek]

Today the pool looks the same if not slightly greener than yesterday. Yesterday I added 240 oz of liquid 6% Cl. Today after testing (see updates test results below) I added another 120 oz of liquid 6% Cl. I also put a BioGuard Silk stick (just 1) in the skimmer. My reasoning is to help maintain a slightly high Cl level and I don't have to worry about CYA getting too high because it has been plummeting over the past tests. If this is dumb or a waste, please let me know.

What do you recommend for a stabilizer? Something off the pool shelf at Walmart, Lowe's or, HD? Or something else?
I appreciate any help I can get on this, even if that is to tell me to be patient.

The Liquid Cl I'm using is Clorox brand concentrated. I buy them at Sam's in a 3 pack.
Clorox Concentrated Regular Bleach (3 Pack, 121 Ounce Bottles) - Sam's Club

	Goal	8/30/16	9/5/16	9/6/16
FC	6	1	2.5	5.5
CC	?	0	0.5	1
pH	7.5	7.9	7.5	7.5
TA	110	210	190	200
CH	300	300	375	400
CYA	40	50	30	20
Water Temp	79	84	82
Air Temp		70-95	70-95	70-95
Week's Rain	< .25	< .25	<.25

 

[Mr Bruce]

If you have a green pool you need to SLAM Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain Once a day additions of chlorine are not going to get you clear.

I'm also curious about your disappearing CYA. Are you testing with your back to the full sun, waist high, two fingers at the top of the tube? Glance in the tube, glance away, glance back etc?

edit: You can skip everything but the FC/CC test for your SLAM. After that it's FC/pH every 1-2 days, the whole test every 1-2 weeks.

 

[HammerGeek]

I am doing all the testing indoors. I take a large sample from an arms length depth. Then use that large sample divided into 10ml, 10ml, and 25ml tubes as well as the CYA test procedure. I'll admit the CYA has been a little uncertain in my mind. I stand in the kitchen with all the lights on so I have the exact same amount of lighting each time. I hold it waist high and look down into the tube as I fill the CYA text mixture. Where I have trouble is understanding exactly when the dot is not seen anymore. Sounds simple to do in theory, however as I look into the tube I have trouble determining when it is gone. Is it gone when I can "sort of" see it? Is it gone, when I can no longer discern the edge of the black dot from the white area around the dot?

I honestly don't like some of these tests that rely on my assessment of when a color has changed, has stopped changing, or when a dot is no longer visible. So, I may not be as precise as some other forms of evaluation.

 

[Hoster]

I went through a similar situation this season and I may finally have things under control (and of course, we will close our pool within next 2-3 week ;-) ) Here are some of my lessons learned:
1. my SWG was too small (this may not be applicable to you)
2. 12.5% ($23 / 5 gal here in NJ) works the best if you can find it
3. OCLT is as important as SLAM (like TFP experts say, do it right once and I learned this the hard way ;-) )
4. Since I kept failing OCLT (and the pool kept turning murky), I cleaned out my light / niche - and it was not pretty (but glad I did because once I cleaned out all that dead / live algae, the pool "stabilized" a bit more than the past) If you have light and want to clean out, make sure you have a vacuum ready (before they spread when you take out the light)

Good luck!