Sorry this is long but this is my first pool and I'm still learning. I have a Poolmaster Pool Shop Basic 4 Test Kit I got at Home Depot that does TC, CC, pH, Total Alkalinity and Acid Demand. The pool has been up for about a month and the water was nice and clear. The pump was on 24/7, I'd shocked the pool and put in the recommended amount of cya (18 oz) and my TC was maintained at 2 ppm with one 3" tablet every other day (HTH 3-in-1 chlorinating tablet-47.6% Calcium Hypochlorite, 45% Minimal Available Chlorine). My pH was 8.2 to start so I added 8 ounces of Muriatic Acid which brought it down to 7.6-7.8.
I was running low on tablets so I visited a pool store. They said I should only run the pump during the day for 6-8 hours and use their tablets which would last 5-7 days. I put in their tablet and turned the pump off that night and the next day the FC was still 2 but the water was very cloudy. I changed the filter cartridge but the next day the water was still cloudy and the FC was down to .6 I added 16 oz of regular bleach which brought the FC back up to 2. The clarity started to improve but it still wasn't clear.
That was yesterday. Today, the clarity was the same but the FC was down to .6 so I took a sample to my local pool store. They gave me these results:
TC 0
FC 0
pH 7.4
CY 37
TA 140
TH 203 ("total hardness")
TDS 100
SI 0 ("saturation index")
They recommended .25 lbs of BioGuard Lo 'N Slo to lower pH (?), 1 lb of Bioguard Smart Shock and 1 oz Polysheen Blue. I opted instead to add 2 qts of 10% liquid chlorine based on the pool calculator for shocking to 12 ppm. Now my FC is around 4 and my pH is 7.8. (My tester only goes up to 5 for FC) I live in Tucson so we get a lot of heat and sun.
At this point, I'm not sure if I need to follow the suggestions for a "regular" pool or the ones in the post "Simplifying BBB for very small pools (e.g. Intex)". Do I need a TF or Taylor 2006 type test kit or should I just keep adding liquid chlorine until it clears? Should I also add some more muriatic acid to bring the pH down further?
Thanks for any help you can provide.
I was running low on tablets so I visited a pool store. They said I should only run the pump during the day for 6-8 hours and use their tablets which would last 5-7 days. I put in their tablet and turned the pump off that night and the next day the FC was still 2 but the water was very cloudy. I changed the filter cartridge but the next day the water was still cloudy and the FC was down to .6 I added 16 oz of regular bleach which brought the FC back up to 2. The clarity started to improve but it still wasn't clear.
That was yesterday. Today, the clarity was the same but the FC was down to .6 so I took a sample to my local pool store. They gave me these results:
TC 0
FC 0
pH 7.4
CY 37
TA 140
TH 203 ("total hardness")
TDS 100
SI 0 ("saturation index")
They recommended .25 lbs of BioGuard Lo 'N Slo to lower pH (?), 1 lb of Bioguard Smart Shock and 1 oz Polysheen Blue. I opted instead to add 2 qts of 10% liquid chlorine based on the pool calculator for shocking to 12 ppm. Now my FC is around 4 and my pH is 7.8. (My tester only goes up to 5 for FC) I live in Tucson so we get a lot of heat and sun.
At this point, I'm not sure if I need to follow the suggestions for a "regular" pool or the ones in the post "Simplifying BBB for very small pools (e.g. Intex)". Do I need a TF or Taylor 2006 type test kit or should I just keep adding liquid chlorine until it clears? Should I also add some more muriatic acid to bring the pH down further?
Thanks for any help you can provide.