Hello all,
I have had my pool about two months now. I am in Texas and my pool is a SWG that is in sun all day until about 7:45PM.
My question is well many, but I will stick with the pH TA relationship. I am ordering the Taylor K-2006 test kit that I have read about on here many time, but right now I am using the Stanley that the PB gave me. My stats as of 6PM yesterday evening are
FC = 2.0 (which says ideal on my kit)
Combined Chlorine = was the same after the 2-3 minutes they tell me to wait
PH = 7.6 (my tester stinks and the 7.6 and 7.8 color bars have gotten water in them so it is hard to match)
Acid Demand Test = it took 2 drops to get it to 7.2 and the book says don't count the drop that takes it to 7.2, so 1 drop which calls for 1 pint of muriatic acid at that level.
TA = 90 (it took 9 drops to get the blue water in the test vial to a clear and 10 drops to get to a yellowish color, so I am guessing between 90-100)
So, my question is my PB says my water looks great and it does look clear to me too, but what the heck do I know...LOL. I am worried that by having to add muriatic once a week that my TA will continue to lower and lower. I don't know if that is true or not. I can maintain my PH with the muriatic but am getting nervous because I have seen the TA drop as I have added muriatic (maybe it has nothing to do with that, I don't know). Let me explain, when we started the pool my TA was 170 ish and it has dropped over the two months as I have added muriatic to maintain PH. So I don't know if the TA will level out and not drop any more or if it even relates to PH.
Also, I am not able to test CYA yet until my Taylor arrives. My PB tested it two weeks ago and said it was about 20 so I added some stabalizer granules (about 4 lbs based on his recommendation) shorly after that but haven't been able to test it since. I am thinking that is why I stay at 2.0 FC on almost every check. I run my pumps/filter/SWG from 10AM to 6PM every day. My SWG is at 95%.
On last question (guess I lied about having one question up at the top...LOL). I had a bout with those little bugs (boatman/backswimmers). I read on here and elsewhere about Biogaurd and bought and used Biogaurd Back-Up and it took care of them. My question is do I need to maintain the 4oz per week of back up or if my FC was higher would it eliminate the algae that they are liking thus eliminating them / keep them away. Are the bugs there because my FC is too low or is algaecide just something that pools require. I would love to use as little chemicals as possible.
Sorry for the rambling on my first post but I am a newbie...LOL
I have had my pool about two months now. I am in Texas and my pool is a SWG that is in sun all day until about 7:45PM.
My question is well many, but I will stick with the pH TA relationship. I am ordering the Taylor K-2006 test kit that I have read about on here many time, but right now I am using the Stanley that the PB gave me. My stats as of 6PM yesterday evening are
FC = 2.0 (which says ideal on my kit)
Combined Chlorine = was the same after the 2-3 minutes they tell me to wait
PH = 7.6 (my tester stinks and the 7.6 and 7.8 color bars have gotten water in them so it is hard to match)
Acid Demand Test = it took 2 drops to get it to 7.2 and the book says don't count the drop that takes it to 7.2, so 1 drop which calls for 1 pint of muriatic acid at that level.
TA = 90 (it took 9 drops to get the blue water in the test vial to a clear and 10 drops to get to a yellowish color, so I am guessing between 90-100)
So, my question is my PB says my water looks great and it does look clear to me too, but what the heck do I know...LOL. I am worried that by having to add muriatic once a week that my TA will continue to lower and lower. I don't know if that is true or not. I can maintain my PH with the muriatic but am getting nervous because I have seen the TA drop as I have added muriatic (maybe it has nothing to do with that, I don't know). Let me explain, when we started the pool my TA was 170 ish and it has dropped over the two months as I have added muriatic to maintain PH. So I don't know if the TA will level out and not drop any more or if it even relates to PH.
Also, I am not able to test CYA yet until my Taylor arrives. My PB tested it two weeks ago and said it was about 20 so I added some stabalizer granules (about 4 lbs based on his recommendation) shorly after that but haven't been able to test it since. I am thinking that is why I stay at 2.0 FC on almost every check. I run my pumps/filter/SWG from 10AM to 6PM every day. My SWG is at 95%.
On last question (guess I lied about having one question up at the top...LOL). I had a bout with those little bugs (boatman/backswimmers). I read on here and elsewhere about Biogaurd and bought and used Biogaurd Back-Up and it took care of them. My question is do I need to maintain the 4oz per week of back up or if my FC was higher would it eliminate the algae that they are liking thus eliminating them / keep them away. Are the bugs there because my FC is too low or is algaecide just something that pools require. I would love to use as little chemicals as possible.
Sorry for the rambling on my first post but I am a newbie...LOL
