Mustard Algae- 2B or Not 2B

[Tammi]

For the past week, water has been clear, lose 2 FC consistently per day, no slime on walls, but returning "yellow/brown/green dirt-like" spots on bottom of pool...they brush away easily, but come back, usually around the same spots, so I brought my FC up to shock level...this morning, I read here that if it is mustard algae, the shock level should be considerably higher (29 ppm for 50 CYA), so I just added more bleach.....now, I may just be overreacting to the algae thing (can anyone see my battle scars), but I figure better safe than sorry, since we're done swimming for the season...

but my question is, if it were algae, would it have grown substantially in a week's time, since I did not have it up to shock level? It really hasn't affected my water, or grown to cover even 1/4th of my pool floor...it's just that I'd vacuum, and the next day, it would be back...I have considered it possibly to be fine debris, since we've had a lot of wind here the past week....but I'm playing it safe...any tell-tale signs of mustard algae?

thanks :lol:

 

[duraleigh]

I have considered it possibly to be fine debris, since we've had a lot of wind here the past week....but I'm playing it safe...any tell-tale signs of mustard algae?

I think it's dead algae and not mustard algae. mustard algae will tend to cling to the walls and is a pretty noticeable yellowish-green.

It sounds to me like you have had a very small intrusion of algae in your pool and the chlorine is killing it, but it's enough so that the "carcasses" are accumulating on the floor of the pool.

You certainly didn't hurt anything to elevate the chlorine. It may be that you will see an increased amount of this stuff for 24 hours as the elevated chlorine kills off any remaining but I think you are safe to let the FC drift back down to normal.

 

[Tammi]

As much as I like the sound of "carcasses"...in my past battles, dead algae appeared white...is that not always the case? Appreciate your input!