Freshly filled pool, couple quick questions

[sh4unz0r]

First post, was getting ready to give up on my stupid pool forever before I stumbled on this site and discovered my CYA of 150+ was probably part of the reason my pool was unmanageable. So I did a full drain and should be done with my refill in a couple hours here. I have 9 gallons of clorox in the garage, 3 boxes of borax, 2 gallons of murietic acid, 2 gallons of conditioner, and a new fancy test kit. So hopefully I will be ready to keep this thing in top shape going forward.

Before I drained my pool I was having a major algae bloom I have been fighting for 2 years. (Its hard to get a decent shock when your pool has a 150+ CYA!) So when I drained it i sprayed the walls with bleach and scrubbed them and let the intense Phoenix sun beat down on them for a couple days. But I am still worried there could be algae hiding somewhere.

Question 1: Should I go ahead and bring my FC up to shock levels right away?
Question 2: Considering the amount of sun I get, how high should I set my CYA? I got liquid conditioner so I can change it quickly.
Question 3: What order do I add all these things?

Here is the test from the pool on the fill water:
FC - <.5
CC - <.5
pH - 8
TA - 140-150
CH - 250
CYA - 0

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Tell us what your water looks like....clear, I assume?

 

[sh4unz0r]

Welcome to the forum. :lol: Tell us what your water looks like....clear, I assume?

Quite clear, though it has a slight aquamarine tint but that could be normal. Honestly, I have never had the pool this clean before.

 

[sh4unz0r]

Ok, so I didnt want to let the pool sit like that all day in 100 degrees and direct sun. So I added enough liquid conditioner to get the CYA to the 40-50 range and enough bleach to get FC to ~5.5-6.

I'll take a sample in an hour or two and then work on lowering the pH a bit.

Please let me know if i am doing anything dumb

 

[jblizzle]

Not dumb ...Although a little expensive to use the liquid stabilizer.

 

[linen]

Welcome to tfp, sh4unz0r

What you did is fine (though the liquid conditioner is much more expensive than the granular). poolcalculator.com gives me 4-7 ppm FC for the normal range (for 50 ppm cya), so you are good there.

Work on lowering ph with Muriatic acid. Make a change and then test again in a hour (with pump running).

Looks like you have a good test kit?

 

[msgtdan]

Welcome

You could bring it up to shock level and do and OCLT tonight to know that nothing survived the drain, clean and refill. If it passes go swimming and let the FC come down to maintenance level. It's safe to swim up to shock level.

 

[sh4unz0r]

I used the liquid because of the super harsh sunlight here. I assumed if I used granules to get it up, then i would burn off all my chlorine daily until the CYA adjusted. I figure I can use granules going forward. With all the trouble I have had i wanted to get things in order ASAP and I am still well under budget for this project since I included a new pool light but was able to fix the existing one

Given my location and sun exposure. Should I stay at CYA~50 or shoot to get into a 60-70 range?

Also, will the liquid conditioner I added change my pH or am I good to start with the acid now before I do my next water test?

 

[sh4unz0r]

Looks like you have a good test kit?

The easiest access was to the Leslie's Chlorine FAS-DPD Service Test Kit. So that is what I am using for now.

 

[jblizzle]

Rare to find that kit.

The CYA should not have much impact on the pH. The granular is acidic, but the liquid is pretty neutral.

 

[linen]

The easiest access was to the Leslie's Chlorine FAS-DPD Service Test Kit. So that is what I am using for now.

Yeah, that one is hard to find, but should give you good results.

I used the liquid because of the super harsh sunlight here. I assumed if I used granules to get it up, then i would burn off all my chlorine daily until the CYA adjusted.

That is a decent reason. You would have to watch your FC closer if you did it the other way.

 

[Butterfly]

Given my location and sun exposure. Should I stay at CYA~50 or shoot to get into a 60-70 range?

I suggest that you stay at 50, raise to shock level tonight and then do the OCLT that msgtdan recommended.

After you confirm that you are done shocking , raise it to 60 and if that isn't enough, you can take it to 70ish.

Got a pic for us? :-D

Welcome to the forum

 

[sh4unz0r]

Given my location and sun exposure. Should I stay at CYA~50 or shoot to get into a 60-70 range?

I suggest that you stay at 50, raise to shock level tonight and then do the OCLT that msgtdan recommended.

After you confirm that you are done shocking , raise it to 60 and if that isn't enough, you can take it to 70ish.

Got a pic for us? :-D

Welcome to the forum

Thanks to the subtle hinting by everyone I did find that I had the DPD test and not the FAS-DPD test. So I ordered a FAS/DPD Chlorine & CC's test from TFkits. So I will have to wait to do the shock and overnight test.

Current Test:
FC - >5
CC - cant calculate until new test kit arrives
pH - 8
TA - 150
CH - 260
CYA - 40

Here is a pic anyway: