bugs

[delfargo]

every pool season i've always had a few of those wierd swimming bugs in the pool. i think they are called "boatman bugs" or something like that, but THIS year, there seems to be ALOT more of them. also got some of those small black beetle looking bugs swimming around in there. my clorine levels are fine, water is clear (well, not CRYSTAL clear, but as clear as i've been able to get it ) so, is it the weather or something ? anyone else having bug problems? is there anything i can do to prevent these bugs? thanx for the help.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

This is a bad year for the beetles. My neighborhood has just been swarmed! Everyone has the bag-traps, we're catching them in the thousands daily.

As for the boatmen, they seem to like under sanitized pools; really warm water pools; and they seem to don't like borates. So I would say keep your FC up to target as much as you can, keep it covered at night if you can, and consider adding Borates to your pool. If you can scoop it up, smoosh it, otherwise it will just fly back in. Luckily this kind doesn't bite like backswimmers but man they are freaky and aggressive - diving towards you....

I added some Proteam Supreme last summer (had some left over) and that is the PS version of borates and since then I have had one or two, I used to get 10-20 a summer.

 

[Jimbo]

This year seems to be worse than last as far as bugs. I haven't had as many backswimmers and boatmen this year but have seen the water beetle and a few water scorpions. Last year I didn't have those at all.

I keep a skimmer net handy and squish 'em if I can catch em. Most of the water scorpions I find in the skimmer basket.

 

[MrFr33z3]

Hey gang - first post here, but this forum looks great, so I figured I'd join.

About those bugs... I have both "Boatmen" and "Backswimmers" in my pool. I'm in the Central Florida area, and my wife and I are scooping/killing roughly 10 of these things per day. I believe I killed about 15 this morning, so it appears to be getting worse. A bit of history...

I have a 24' - 15k above ground pool that I've just transitioned to chlorine with. I had been using Baqua since I got it, and while this it probably a topic for a different area on this forum, I must say that I had been pleased for the last several months. However, I could never keep enough sanitizer in the pool, and spent $80-100 every month on supplies! Crazy! A friend of mine offered to give me a Floatron that would allow me to convert to chlorine, but only use trace amounts and rely on the copper/silver ions to take care of the rest...

I have a feeling that allowing the sanitizer and algistat to burn off has created an even better breading ground for these little buggers. I've kept up the oxidizer at appropriate levels and have had the Floatron unit in there to keep things clean though. My family members have been bitten more than once, and since I have one of those larger, hollow, above ground staircases, the bugs have a perfect place to hide out and multiply. I've read that adding liquid detergent works for some bugs, but that is only those bugs that rely on better surface tension, as the detergent acts as a surfectant (sp?).

Anyway - the "conversion" went off without a hitch today, as I had no sanitizer left in the pool. The water was already crystal clear (only had the pool since the beginning of the Florida summer), so I'm not seeing any noticeable difference in clarity. I'm just hoping that converting to chlorine will do the trick. It isn't like I've been plagued with algae or anything, so this recent outbreak of swimmers has me a bit perplexed though... By the opinions posted in this forum, it appears as though I should ditch the Floatron and go the BBB route. Or at least get some borates in the water! Is this correct? Already made the switch to chlorine!

Here's a shot before adding the chlorine - as you can see - crystal clear. I had to stay on top of things with the Baqua to keep it this way though. The filter is a horrendously goupy brown!
[attachment=0:nj9zunin]DSCN2728_resized.jpg[/attachment:nj9zunin]

 

[delfargo]

As for the boatmen, they seem to like under sanitized pools; really warm water pools; and they seem to don't like borates. So I would say keep your FC up to target as much as you can, keep it covered at night if you can, and consider adding Borates to your pool. quote]

what do you mean by "borates"? like "borax"? woudn't that then raise my p.h., which i'm trying to keep down?

 

[MrFr33z3]

Here's a picture of the little Backswimmers that I have in my pool. As I've been adding chlorine to my pool, it looks like the numbers of these things are dropping steadily, but they're still there. These buggers are fast, too. They get away from me sometimes. I caught one in a bag to bring to a few pool places, and nobody's ever heard of or seen these before, so they have no idea how to help.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

As for the boatmen, they seem to like under sanitized pools; really warm water pools; and they seem to don't like borates. So I would say keep your FC up to target as much as you can, keep it covered at night if you can, and consider adding Borates to your pool. quote]

what do you mean by "borates"? like "borax"? woudn't that then raise my p.h., which i'm trying to keep down?

Yes, there's a thread on how to increase your borates, and I believe it requires using Muratic Acid as part of the process....I believe the thread is called "So you wanna add Borates to your Pool?" or something like that.....

 

[delfargo]

thanx mom, yeah i found that thread. wow, sounds like alot of stuff to dump in the ol' pond. might give it a try next year though.

 

[Sundaye]

For anyone that has water boatman or back swimmers...I was totally infested last year with both of them. I read some where that Dawn dish liquid would kill them. I put some water in a bucket with a few drops of Dawn, caught a couple of the buggers and put them in the bucket...They died. So I put 1/4 cup of Dawn (classic) in my pool at the return jet. I did this every day for about a week. No bugs. Oh my pool is 20,000 gal. You may want to adjust the amount of Dawn... I had what looked like walking sticks and some kind of big scaley bug too. The only bug that was left was some kind of beetle...they swim in groups in a circle on top of the water and are extremely fast ...my husband was able to net them a few at a time...This year while cleaning I saw what looked like a backswimmer...grabbed my dawn and put in my 1/4 cup.. a 1/4 of prevention....I tried everything as pool company told me to OVER algecide that was a $70.00 waste. Dawn Dawn Dawn. No, it did not foam up..

 

[NWMNMom]

I have only seen the Boatmen and Backswimmers show up when my water reached the 80 degree mark and over AND the chlorine level dropped for some reason. They need algae of some sort to feed on. The Backswimmers DO bite - NASTY things.

Good to know about the Dawn!

 

[bigpool]

Re: bugs and Dawn DW Detergent

Just wanted to share since I've been helped so much by the passing of knowledge from others on this forum:

Another fantastic use for plain old Dawn. Those little bugs came yesterday. I read about the Dawn today and decided what the heck, why not. I took about 8 oz. and poured some of it in the corner where they'd gathered and followed it with a gallon of bleach. The scattered and I am already seeing some of them floating. We have this ledge about four feet down in the pool and it always gets funky. I poured the rest around the pool ledge. I may be crazy, but the sides of the pool look cleaner, too. There were a few bubbles generated, but not enough for me to worry about. My main gripe with Dawn is that the bubbles go away before you can get the dishes washed.

We'll see what happens!

Beth