We have a above ground pool. We also have a field behind our property and they plowed it last Sunday. After 12 years of this same field being plowed we have neer had this experience. While floating on a blue raft in the pool Sunday afternoon I felt like something was biting me but I could not see anything in the water. I got out of the pool and looked on the blue raft and there were little tiny yellow, orange and some black bugs. They crawl, hop and seem to fly. They also bite or sting. They are so tiny, its really hard to see them. I have double shocked the pool and also got Bug-Out from the pool store. They are puzzeled and so are we. I am letting the pump run 24 hours a day and still as of today I have these in my pool and they are still alive. I have vaccumned twice and the water looks fine. All test for chemicals are fine. Does anyone have any suggestions. I don't think draining the pool and re filling it would work due to I think they are in the air. I sprayed home defence around the grassy area of the pool two days ago. They are still there. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!!!!
Tiny bugs that bite in pool
- Thread starter bassingal
- Start date
Those sound like they might be backswimmers or waterboatmen. Usually they like water that is not properly sanitized, FC to low, etc.....can you post a full set of test results (and tell us how you obtained the test results - strips/drop kit).
Some users report that Borates added to the water helps to keep them away as well.
Some users report that Borates added to the water helps to keep them away as well.
Sounds like thrips or no-see-ums. They are really small, almost smaller than fleas, they fly and hop, and pack a big bite. I know. We have them every year. They are generally gone by late June. They don't live in your water.
It helps (doesn't eliminate them), but helps to use something like Yard-Guard or other pyrethrin based outdoor fogger on the bushes, trees, and grass in your yard. Careful to watch the spray drift as you don't want it in your pool. It will keep them at bay for a few hours. You may also discover that the calmer the wind is, the worse they are. They are so small that they don't do well when it's breezy.
It helps (doesn't eliminate them), but helps to use something like Yard-Guard or other pyrethrin based outdoor fogger on the bushes, trees, and grass in your yard. Careful to watch the spray drift as you don't want it in your pool. It will keep them at bay for a few hours. You may also discover that the calmer the wind is, the worse they are. They are so small that they don't do well when it's breezy.
frustratedpoolmom said:
Pretty sure that they are in the air. OP noticed them biting her while on the raft. They way she described them (yellow...so tiny it's hard to see them), they didn't sound like waterboatmen or the like as those are large and obvious.
We get these too. Ours are little bitty orange looking ones. Bite the devil out of you. Stay in the water and off the raft.....LOL! When it gets real hot they tend to go away. I wonder if any of that bug/sunscreen lotion would work for you? I don't notice them as bad when I have a thick coating of sun oil on but that doesn't mean they aren't there. If they are real bad I would look into getting the perimeter the yard around your pool sprayed.
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR ADVICE. I JUST GOT OUT OF THE POOL AND TRIED TO LOOK AT THE WATER AND I CAN SEE ONE FLOATING AROUND SOME OF THE TIME. BUT I TOOK THE FLOAT OUT AND AGAIN THEY WERE ON THE BOTTOM OF IT AND THEY ARE MOVING. I SPRAYED OFF BUG REPELLANT ON ME A LITTLE AND ALSO A LITTLE ON THE TOP SIDE OF THE FLOAT BEFORE I GOT IN SO I REALLY NEVER GOT ANY BITES THIS TIME. I SURE HOPE THEY GO AWAY. I THINK THEY ARE IN THE AIR AND THEN THEY GET INTO THE POOL. I AM GOING TO SPRAY AROUND THE POOL AGAIN LATE THIS EVENING IF IT DOES NOT STORM. IT POURED DOWN RAINING ABOUT 3 HOURS AFTER I SPRAYED THE OTHER DAY. I APPRECIATE ALL OF YOUR ADVICE AND SOUNDS LIKE A COUPLE OF YOU HAVE THE EXACT SAME BUG!!!!!!!!!!!! ITS FUNNY AFTER 12 YEARS THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE, BUT THIS YEAR THEY DID PLOW THAT FIELD LATER THAN THEY EVER HAVE. I THINK IN YEAS BEFORE THEY PLOWED IT THE COVER WAS STILL ON THE POOL. SO THAT MAY HAVE KEPT THEM OUT. ITS IS FUNNY THOUGH YOU CAN SIT ON THE POOL DECK AND NEVER GET BITTEN. ONLY IN THE POOL!!!!!!!!!!!!I THINK THEY LIKE MY WATER. I TOOK THE WATER SAMPLE TO THE POOL STORE TWO TIMES THIS WEEK AND THEY TESTED IT AND I HAVE PUT EVERYTHING THEY RECOMMENDED IN IT AND IT TEST FINE, ONLY THING A BIT LOW IS THE CAL. HARDNESS. BUT THAT IS ALMOST IN THE CORRECT ZONE. THE CLORINE IS HIGH DUE TO THEY TOLD ME TO PUT EXTRA SHOCK IN IT TO TRY TO KILL THE BUGS, WHICH DIDN'T WORK. :?:
frustratedpoolmom said:
This completely worked for me! Got one early this season, re-added my borates and they were gone that same day! + it helps the pool water feel a little better. Time for Borax! (about $2.50/3 at Target).
so-you-want-to-add-borates-to-your-pool-why-and-how-t4921.html
i have had the same problem this year. i don't know what else to do. All i can tell you is to keep scooping them out everyday. my water is balanced and i have done an overnight chlorine test twice. those tests show nothing is wrong. i shocked the heck out my pool anyway just not knowing where else to turn. i still have the bugs. the only thing that makes getting them easier is to get a sprayer and put dawn dish detergent in with water. we spray the entire surface of the water. they start drowning pretty quickly. we do this again to get the ones that 'hang on'. after that we can run the polaris or vacuume manually. another thing we do if its not too bad that day is get a bucket with a small amount of water and add some dawn dish detergent. we then scoop them alive and dump them into the bucket to kill them there. this has just become an everyday ritual with us. i kept my pool at shock level for two days at 21ppm. today its just right above 10ppm chlorine. i turned down my SWG this afternoon so that i can get it below 10ppm.
Oh, and i have borates at 50ppm and it makes my water feel great and it helps my Ph stay, but it does nothing for my bugs.
Oh, and i have borates at 50ppm and it makes my water feel great and it helps my Ph stay, but it does nothing for my bugs.
We had them for a short while this year. Yes, they are VERY tiny! I would see them in our skimmer. But we don't seem to have them anymore (that I know of anyway, since we haven't been in the pool much this year so far 
) We had TONS of them last year too - found them in the skimmer then too. But we have had absolutely no backswimmers this year 
And once our deck is done, we hope to begin keeping a cover on the pool when it's not in use!
) We had TONS of them last year too - found them in the skimmer then too. But we have had absolutely no backswimmers this year And once our deck is done, we hope to begin keeping a cover on the pool when it's not in use!
I never saw, heard, or got bitten by them until I had to erect a wolmanized wood fence for the new pool a couple weeks ago. They HAD to come in with that lumber pile. Man those things sting!
You could have a point. The year we had the pool installed was at the same time my husband built his workshop. We haven't had any this year, that I've seen yet anyway. But we've also had the solar cover on for the last two months.
Old thread I know but I am getting these darn little bugs too. They are so small you can barely see them and to get them off your arm or whatever they pretty much just squish and are orange or a dark yellow, gross I know. I think you guys may be onto something about wood though we just tore down a fence and havent got rid of all of it yet will see if things improve once we take it to the dump.