Spotty algae

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Suley

0
LifeTime Supporter
May 31, 2011
246
Los Angeles, CA
Pool Size
23000
Surface
Plaster
Chlorine
Salt Water Generator
SWG Type
Pentair Intellichlor IC-60
Hello all!

I am new here and this is my first post.... I just brought a house with a IG pool and Spa and this my first time maintaining a pool.

I have been getting some spots of green algae in my pool on the sides and it does not seem to go away. I have tried to raise the chlorine level and it made a slight difference but algae keeps coming back.

I raised the chlorine level to 7-8 PPM for a week but still algae was growing. I brushed it off and ran the pool vacuum. It comes back at the same spot and is now appearing in more areas around that spot.

TA= 110, pH=7.5, phosphate is at 400. Temperatures are in the 70-80s here. FC= 3-4 PPM now. Water is clear otherwise and the pump is running 11 hours a day for a bit more than one change over per day flow rate.

Also, how do i make the skimmer more effective? Install a weir gate? install one of those skimmer arms? Install something in the two holes at the bottom of the skimmer?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Have you gone through the shock process as outlined in Pool School?
A full set of test numbers would help too.

Side question, how long you had that Dolphin, and have you had any issues with it? I have one also.
 
Welcome to TFP!

You should get a full set of water test results, especially the CYA level, and post them. I suspect your CYA level is too high, but there is no way to know without test results.

Installing a weir will improve the skimmer action. If you know what brand/model of skimmer you have you should be able to find a matching weir.
 
Thanks for the replies!

CYA=40.... sorry i left it out in my earlier post...

I love the dolphin so far and have had it for two months now... filter is a pain to clean and i just hose it out.

My skimmer is Waterways... how do i find its model number?

Thanks!
 
Agreed, filter is a pain but it seems to work well. I've been considering the cartridge filter, but now that my pool is clean it can go a week without me cleaning it out. Keep us posted if yours fails. I've lost one power supply and one we believe the cable on the robot failed.
 
Yes. You have to call Maytronics and get the part number unless your Leslie's guy knows more about them than mine does. He was reluctant to order it because there were multiple part numbers and he wasn't sure which one fit the one we have. When my sand filter was blowing sediment into the pool, some of it was so fine that the bag would just pass the sediment, it would make a cloud out the top of the robot. But now that my filter is working properly, the robot is also doing an effective job, and I've not been in a hurry to order the cartridge. It is supposed to filter a lot finer than the bag, so I still may order one.
 
Back to solving one problem at a time, your chlorine has been too low in the past. Algae simply will not grow in a pool with adequate chlorine. If you have algae, you have/have had inadequate chlorine.

Shock the pool according to Pool School. You will find that shocking is a process that will eliminate the algae. It is important to understand how to complete the process for your algae to go away.
 
That is so true.... I had lapsed in checking the chlorine for two weeks and at the end of two weeks it was at zero... that's when the algae started....

I will shock the pool like pool school says and see what happens....

Thanks for all your help... But ill be back with some pool automation questions and energy conservation questions... :eek:)

I love this forum already!
 

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Since my test kit does not have a CYA test, i took a sample to leslies... CYA is at 80 now! it was 40 like last week according to them... should i trust their results? I have been using dichlor granules as my chlorine source.... but a jump of 40 in like a week???

Should i buy the tf 100 and wait till it arrives to act upon the algae? or just buy liquid chlorine and dump it in without the TF100? Can too much chlorine damage any of my pool equipment?
 
Dichlor adds a lot of CYA. As a general rule I don't trust pool store test results, but that seems plausible given you have been shocking with dichlor (never a good idea).

Yes, way too much chlorine can cause damage, though it takes quite a bit before there is any risk.

I would wait for the TF100 to arrive before really going after the algae, but only assuming you continue to have it at least partially under control.
 
Thanks!

I will wait for TF100 to arrive and in the meantime will use some liquid chlorine to keep the levels on the high side... how are you guys posting such accurate water test results for like CC down to 0.5? the test kit i have says FC 2-4, 7-8, etc... is it the TF100 which gives you readings with such high accuracy?

Also, any way i can reduce the CYA without changing water? Water is expensive here in my area!
 
Thanks... i was afraid of that... another thing i think i should mention is that i was leaving my dolphin in the pool for a few days after it was done vacuuming... could having all the debris in the robots bag sitting in the pool have promoted algae growth?
 
Suley said:
Hello all!

I am new here and this is my first post.... I just brought a house with a IG pool and Spa and this my first time maintaining a pool.

I have been getting some spots of green algae in my pool on the sides and it does not seem to go away. I have tried to raise the chlorine level and it made a slight difference but algae keeps coming back.

I raised the chlorine level to 7-8 PPM for a week but still algae was growing. I brushed it off and ran the pool vacuum. It comes back at the same spot and is now appearing in more areas around that spot.

TA= 110, pH=7.5, phosphate is at 400. Temperatures are in the 70-80s here. FC= 3-4 PPM now. Water is clear otherwise and the pump is running 11 hours a day for a bit more than one change over per day flow rate.

Also, how do i make the skimmer more effective? Install a weir gate? install one of those skimmer arms? Install something in the two holes at the bottom of the skimmer?

Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


I just got one of those skimmer arms...It really makes a difference. It gets stuff that would just keep going in circles. I am forever emptying my skimmer basket because of it.
 

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