Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/-$50

[y_not]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Understood. I needed to ballpark the initial water quality (or lack thereof :-D ) and the strips were all that was available. I didn't use the strips to establish a level of chlorine for shocking though, I initially used the pool chem calculator. Example: I have zero CL, I want 15. How much to add? I erred on the side of being too high for too long though. Kill the algae....kill...the...algae...killllll... :grrrr:

HAHA, you're too funny. I got a good laught out of your mad, evil face rant. HEHE

Sounds good, that's what I would have done.

I didn't have to replace my filter, it does work okay. But my cartridge filter was due for a new set of carts, so I figured it'd be good time to upgrade the entire filter itself.

What'd you upgrade to?

I've only had an algae bloom once before....

Pre TFP, right?

...and that time the filter cartridges were brand new and would not filter out the dead algae. I can't vacuum to waste.

WOW! Bad quality replacements?? No vac to waste? DRAT! Time to mod the plumbing. HEHE

So I added a bit of DE through the skimmer to coat the C&C 240 pleated cartridges, <snip> The DE-coated cartridges then did filter out the dead algae.

Good ol' DE!! BTW, for future use. When doing this to a cartridge, use cellulose powder. DE tends to ruin cartridges.

I figured I'd have to do that again this time, but the cartridges I put into the filter were a spare set, a few years old. The filter media was garbaged up enough so they actually filtered out the dead algae. That was my "pleasant surprise."

Aaahhhh yes!! The "cake" concept. The dirtier any filter is, the more dirt it traps, to a point. There's a "green zone" if you will, go too far past it and the filtration rate suffers and the pump labors.

You're waiting till you get your proper test kit/refills, right? It's all done now, but yes. I waited for the reagent kit before I went to work on getting the water "right". Which it now is.

...proceed /w the OCLT. Test it before you go to bed, then again just before sunrise with as little light as possible. Compare the two and so long as you loose <1ppm FC, you're good to go.

That's where I ended up, and that's exactly how I did it. <snip> Then I let the FC slowly bleed down to normal levels, which took a few more days. Then I did just as you wrote, I tested to see how much was being consumed per night. All is well!

You probably blasted it high enough for possibly long enough, but there's no way to know without an OCLT.
Which *puts up tiny finger space with hand* you aaaalllmooosssttt did, but not quite. You have to do it at shock levels due to the low CL range at standard operating levels.

Think of it this way. If you loose 1ppm OCLT at 20ppm FC shock level, repeat the exact same test with the same water, but this time at 5ppm FC and now on an OCLT you only see a <0.5ppm. You just really don't have a full picture due to so little CL to work with.
That's the best way I can explain it, at least ATM.
Hopefully it makes sense.

With that said, you technically never did pass a true OCLT. I suppose it depends on who you ask here. I was told the above by the big kids here on the playground, but I have put it in my own words. The concept they instilled makes perfect and logical sense to me.

I know CL costs money to verify this, but it's cheaper than having another algae outbreak. At least I'd do it if it were my pool. Just to BE SURE, ya know?

The water is still chilly, in the low 60s, but I've been swimming laps. Been firing up the spa too. I do like my pool.

I miss my pool, still quite, quite cold here at night. So with no solar cover, not gonna happen yet.

60 degree water??
How can you stand that? I used to when I was in my teens, but now that I'm into my 30's it FREEZES to the point it's painful in certain areas.

I used to be all about: "baaaahhhhhh, it's not cold, just when you 1st jump in, then it's fine after you get moving." LOL
Always jump in, or fall in standing, and FAAAST!
Get it over with, no wading in slowly. UGH! Torture!!! The other way.
Still am, but not with 60 ish degree water.
Upper 60's I can handle still, although I know many can't even handle that. So I consider myself at least still lucky.

 

[Mongo]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

What'd you upgrade to? Pentair Quad DE100

Pre TFP, right? No, it had nothing to do with TFP. I simply couldn't open the pool until late that year, I was out of the country for a while.

With that said, you technically never did pass a true OCLT. I did. I just didn't write out everything completely. I should have written "Then I did just as you wrote, I reschocked with the Taylor Kit, then I tested to see how much was being consumed per night."

The new carts that didn't filter out the algae way back when, I don't necessarily think they were bad. It's just that cartridge filters sometimes don't filter out small debris that a sand or DE filter might capture. Algae, for example, might be small enough to pass right through a new cartridge filter.

I'm still waiting on a tool to be delivered, so I haven't gotten around to replumbing the pad and adding the new filter and pump. Hopefully next week.

 

[y_not]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Oh, cool! Well right on then!
Aren't miscommunications fuuunn??

Glad you whipped it in to shape.
I hope you didn't think I was ragin' on ya.

Actually, it's the exact opposite with cartridge vs. sand. Sand goes as low as 30 microns, where as cartridges do about 10 microns and of course DE takes the cake /w 3-5 microns of filtration.

Any one of these filters will catch dead algea. Although I'm not sure of its actual size in microns, though if even a sand filter will grab it, then its pretty big. Chem Geek did tell me that live, green fresh water algae, is about 7 microns in size on average. How it suddenly gets bigger when it dies, is beyond me. But if I were to make an educated guess from what I have learned here, I'd hazard to say that it clumps up when it dies.
The fact that DE can catch "live" algae is a moot point though.

So if you weren't clogging up your cartridge filter while shocking. Something was wrong with the cartridges or the filter. That is of course assuming a properly functioning pump and circulation system, with no other clogged areas or obstacles, such as a choked up skimmer basket or main drain. In fact, sand filters are where its at for cleaning up a swamp. They can handle a lot of dirt!! Cartridges and even worse, DE filters are a pain when doing cleanup like that, as they just clog up waaaay to fast.

In short, this is because they filter so fine, that there's no room for all the big stuff still left in the water. It's an OCD filter, busy polishing the chrome when there's a dumpster load of garbage to pick up and haul away. LOL

Of course we all love an OCD filter when our water is clean already though. Then again, the difference between cart<DE can only be seen at night with the pool lights on.

Just thinking out loud here, but...
An ideal setup for DE and even cartridges would be to have a sand filter as your 1st pass, then send the return out through the DE/cart to catch all the fines before it returns to the pool. It could potentially save you a lot of money in the end. Having to perform very few cleanings on your "polishing" filter. Of course, this would all depend on your pool's water filtration needs, IE. environmental, and swimmer load.

 

[Big_kid]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Well, it's green again, but I think it's pollen. I've not been consuming chlorine, I passed the OCLT, and a few days ago I brought it up to shock level and kept it there for 2 days with NO visible changes. I put a nylon over the inlets on both filters and kept them running, they caught very little debris. Last night I tested:
FC:6.0
CC:.5
CYA has been @ 35.

This morning it tested the same. I've turned off both pumps and am going to see if it settles, then vacuum to waste. The more I think about it, I'm beginning to remember going through this with one of the older pools. any thoughts on how long it may take to settle? I'm also thinking it's time to add some DE to the sand. With one bag of sand (50lbs?) How much DE should I add if I go that route? Thoughts?

 

[jblizzle]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

I think you add enough DE to get a 1psi pressure rise ... see the article in Pool School.

 

[Big_kid]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

D'OH! The obvious answer! Thanks for pointing out what should have been obvious to me. Sometimes I'm the guy who looks for the car keys that are in his hand.

 

[Big_kid]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Alright, it's time for me to add some DE to the filter. At first I thought maybe the pool store sold me some bad liquid chlorine. I then found that Ollie's had it in stock again, so I stocked up and switched to that with no better results. I've been maintaining shock level for a few days, no change. I've been getting 0-.5 CC's. It's GOT to be pollen, I can't see getting these results with algae. I went a little overboard on the chlorine last night because we had HEAVY rain. I expected the pool to overflow but it didn't. I'll turn off the filter and see how much it settles while I'm at work today.

This morning's results:
FC: 21.5
CC.5
CYA has held steady at 35 since I added it last month.

Does it sound like I'm on the right track? This is making me question the handle I thought I had on being a pool owner.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

That doesn't look like pollen to me.

Reading zero CC's isn't an indication that there's no algae.

You can run an OCLT to determine whether it's organic or not.
Is that thing at the top of the photo laying on the bottom of the pool?

 

[Big_kid]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

No, that's a reflection. It's been a few days since I did an OCLT but it came up 0.

 

[Big_kid]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

I think I may be bleaching pollen at this point. Last night at 9:00 PM I had:

FC: 19
CC: .5
Still cloudy, less green.

This morning @ 8:30:

FC: 19
CC: 0
still cloudy, even less green. HEAVY rain this morning.

I added some DE yesterday, but wound up backwashing last night when the pressure went up (was 10, backwashed @ 14). I'll add the same amount in a few minutes before I go to work, hopefully this will help get the cloudiness out. Hopefully I'll have this cleared up soon.

 

[Big_kid]

Re: Too cold for algae?Wrong.Swamp to sparkle in10 days & +/

Green is gone again, just working on the cloudiness. Both filters are running 24/7, sand filter gets 2½ "scoops" (½-¾ cup) of DE at each backwash, which has been happening pretty frequently the past few days.

I've got to admit- when I poured the DE solution into the skimmer, I was ¾ expecting to see it come blowing out of the return. So far though, I've seen nothing but water. Even that little puff of debris I used to get through the return after a backwash has stopped.