I did it. I FLOC'ed the pool. Now what?

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patreena32

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Jun 6, 2013
4
Midwest United States
New owner of a house with an AG pool. Have NEVER owned a pool, know nothing about pools (except I like to swim in them) and this one was a complete swamp.

Ive done everything the guys at the pool stores have told me and NOTHING was making this water clear. Nothing. So I went hardcore and put FLOC in, via advice from some dude on youtube. I see now this may not have been the right thing.

Anyway, the next morning GLORIOUS GLORIOUS clarity! Huzzah! Except the nasty blob of green algae at the bottom of the pool. Vacuum it up NO PROBLEM right? Well, as I begin this process it seems all the nasty is blowing back through the return. Pool cloudy again. This morning, a neat pile of nasty green algae once again, in the center of my pool. As large as before.

DID I remove ANY OF IT or just circulate it back into the pool? How do I remove this gunk? Please, speak like you are talking to an infant because if it gets too technical I get lost. I know a few terms and words now in Pool-ese but not much.... I tried to put as much info as I am aware of in the signature.

Also, I checked the numbers 30 seconds ago and my available info is:

PH: 6.2
Chlorine: between 5 and 10 (closer to 10)
Alkalinity: 120
stabalizer: 0

just with those little pool strips. Nothing fancier.

Thank you, Jen
 
Well, before I floc'ed it, I shocked it per the instructions from pool store guy....TWICE....each with 8 gallons liquid shock. Then ran the filter for 3 days non stop, except to rinse the cartridge every 3-4 hours. Which I did without fail, except overnight, obviously. Eventually, I had my husband pick up a brand new filter, fearing the original was too old, so now Im running a new one, with no tears that I could see.

In my search for info, I listened to a blurb somewhere about the pressure on the tank needing to be between 8-12, and a reading of 20 or over signifies a dirty filter. Well, originally the tank pressure was about 20. After we changed to the brand new filter, it is still at 20. The pool store guy says these guages are misleading and often unreliable. IS this so? Because we are reading "dirty" even after a new filter was placed.
 
Those gauges go bad on a regular basis, but they're pretty cheap so if there's any doubt just replace it.

what you did was not really shocking the pool. Shocking when done correctly is a process not a one (or two) time addition of a product. However, your immediate problem appears to be that he filter is returning debris to the pool so even shocking correctly (which we'll get to soon) won't clear up the pool.

I'd open up the filter and check to make sure the cartridge is seated correctly within the housing. Also check for tears.
 
79TAKid said:
I Floc'd my pool but when I vaccuumed I had the filter set on WASTE so that it all went straight out.
Click to expand...
I thought those were the instructions on some of this stuff. Otherwise you make a huge mess in the filter. Also means it should not be used with a cartridge filter without a waste option. Doing it wrong can result in a bigger headache and part of the reason we do not recommend the stuff.
 
With a cartridge filter... Shut the pump off, take out the cartridge, plug the return nozzle with a something so you country lose water, disconnect the return line from the side of the pool turn the pump on then vacuum the gunk out onto the yard.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
Yes, Im understanding that now. Upon further research on your site (here I MUST apologize....there was already a thread on this very subject....I asked because the forums seem so vast and I was frustrated using search terms with no immediate result....Im sure you are equally frustrated with the same question being asked....for that I am sorrya and appreciate your grace :)

The instructions on my floc product do not mention WASTE settings at all....just how to measure the correct "dosage", throw in and vacuum the next day. I am quite sure I purchased some crazy offbrand hoping to save a few measly bucks.......;)

I shall let you know, though, that I followed the advice of another poster, and primed my vacuum hose, connecting it to my vacuum head under the water, rather than the skimmer hole, allowing me to completely bypass the system altogether. I just cleaned out a gigantic fish tank with a tiny siphon vacuum yesterday, youd think I would have put 2 and 2 together...lol!

I lost water, of course, but saved my filter the headache and NOW she is sparkling clear. Ill probably have a lot of dead grass, though. Filling up, yet again. Thank the good Lord Im on a well......and thank you all so much for helping me connect dots and learn. Im on quite the curve;)
 

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And, yes, the pressure drops to 0, there are no tears in the filter I can see, I kinda did what you suggested fireman (thanks:) and I will be diligently reading up on the proper shocking of a pool Dave (againk thanks :). Why do they not explain this stuff at the Pool store, where POOL guys sell POOL products because they specialize in all things POOL? Methinks it has something to do with sales.....but just a hunch....
 
You're not the first *Pool Stored Person* and unfortunately... you won't be the last! AND, now that you know, you need to dive into Pool School and make sure you never get *Pool Stored* again. :goodjob:
 
name of the pool store game- SALES! "Hummmmm who had the highest sales today?"

name of TFP game- sparkles! :cheers:

The next step in your learning curve-proper test kit. You will save SO much money it is not funny! You will NEVER have to go to the pool sharks again!

Go ahead and do it yesterday. You will have fun playing with it and will learn your pool to the point all you will have to do is look at it and it will tell you what you need to do! :mrgreen: LOL

Have fun! :party:
 
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