Algae - High chlorine - high TA - high PH - Need help
- Thread starter TNBandmom
- Start date
Well my pool was blue and pretty for a short time. Last night I added enough chlorine to do the min as suggested. I used 20 as my CYA level as the stablizer is still dissolving in the sock in the skimmer. After an hour, it was still blue so I added the additional chlorine to bring it to the target. This morning it was green again. I wasn't completely surprised this morning. From reading on here I thought it might happen. So this morning I added 12oz of the Proteam. I expected when I got home this evening it would be blue again. But it wasn't. Checked the chlorine and it was 0 again. cc's are 0 too. So since I have a very early morning in the morning I went ahead and added the full dose of chlorine to bring it back to target (1 gal 3 cups) and I added the rest(20oz) of the bottle of Proteam. Last night while it was blue I shined the flashlight into the water and there were white particles floating in the water. I guess I'm just going to need to follow this process for a few days? Surely the stablizer will start kicking in here soon and I can quit adding the chlorine every day. I'm still wondering if I need to add the full initial dose of the polyquat 60 especially since the sun keeps taking all my chlorine right now.
TNBandmom said:
Chlorine is a consumable item and you have to put it in your pool every day. Either manually through daily bleach additions, tablets, etc. or thru the use of a "Liquidator" or an SWG.
Even with CYA you will still lose on average 2ppm of chlorine in your pool daily and you have to put it back to keep your FC above the "min" or you risk algae taking hold.
I agree at this point it wouldn't hurt to add the PQ 60. This too will create a small chlorine demand but at least you have it as insurance. Then just keep adding the "min" amount of chlorine and alternating with the Metal Magic - you'll find the right amount it will just take time.
It's not a great idea to raise it more than your "min" level at time - it will probably just turn green again. Find the right level of sequesterant and get the FC holding and then slowly increase it up to the target.
Well my pool is still green. I've been working to get the stablizer up. Finally this weekend I was able to get readings this morning:
FC .5
CC .5
TC 0
PH 7.2
CH 50
CYA 40
TA 60
Yesterday I vacuuming in between the storms that were tearing the Memphis TN area up. In the morning when I was vacuuming, some of it was sticking to the floor. So I added a gallon of bleach and the other quart of Polyquat 60 I had. We had massive rain and flooding. So this morning when I got those readings I vacuumed again to waste, added water, cleaned the filter and it did come up easy but since we had soo much rain and there was some 'stickiness' going on I went ahead and brought it up to shock level today. It's been very bright and sunny today. So after the sun went off the water I tested and it was at FC 11.5 cc .5 Put some more metal remover in there. Also added 2 lbs of stablizer to try to get that up to 50. It's supposed to get close to 90 this week. So hopefully this will clear it up.
FC .5
CC .5
TC 0
PH 7.2
CH 50
CYA 40
TA 60
Yesterday I vacuuming in between the storms that were tearing the Memphis TN area up. In the morning when I was vacuuming, some of it was sticking to the floor. So I added a gallon of bleach and the other quart of Polyquat 60 I had. We had massive rain and flooding. So this morning when I got those readings I vacuumed again to waste, added water, cleaned the filter and it did come up easy but since we had soo much rain and there was some 'stickiness' going on I went ahead and brought it up to shock level today. It's been very bright and sunny today. So after the sun went off the water I tested and it was at FC 11.5 cc .5 Put some more metal remover in there. Also added 2 lbs of stablizer to try to get that up to 50. It's supposed to get close to 90 this week. So hopefully this will clear it up.
You need to get the FC up to the shock level of 16 ppm as indicated in the Chlorine / CYA Chart for your CYA level and you need to keep adding chlorine to maintain that level, even if that means checking every hour and adding more chlorine as needed. At first, when there is visible algae or even heavy cloudiness, the chlorine consumption rate will be high so you need to stay on top of this and add chlorine frequently as needed. Eventually, the rate of chlorine loss will slow down, but even then you still keep the FC at 16 ppm until 1) the pool is crystal clear, 2) you measure 0.5 ppm CC or less and 3) you measure 1 ppm FC or less overnight chlorine loss.
By not consistently keeping your chlorine level at shock level, you are allowing the algae to grow faster than chlorine can kill it. You need to keep your FC at shock level to have the opposite occur -- to have chlorine kill algae much faster than it can grow (when in full bloom).
By not consistently keeping your chlorine level at shock level, you are allowing the algae to grow faster than chlorine can kill it. You need to keep your FC at shock level to have the opposite occur -- to have chlorine kill algae much faster than it can grow (when in full bloom).
Now that the CYA level is finally up to 40, chlorine loss during the day of full sun has lessoned. This morning I put 2 more quarts of Metal Free in after doing overnight FC loss tests for two nights in a row and not loosing and FC overnight. This evening when I came home, I have blue cloudy water. Now that it is blue again and there's been no change in the overnight tests, I'm going to add Walmart Great value bleach tonight to bring the chlorine level up to target chlorine level. I was using bleach from Sam's club. And when the Proteam turned the water blue, I added the bleach and it was green the next morning so it's got to be that. Mayber the Walmart brand won't do that since others of you seem to have had good luck with that.
This morning @6:30am
FC 6.5
cc .5
ph 7.2
this evening at 6pm
FC 1
cc .5
ph 7.2
cya 40
Pump is still running 24x7 and I've repointed the return this morning to the break the top of the water. There was white fluff stuff on the top of the water that just wasn't filtering.
This morning @6:30am
FC 6.5
cc .5
ph 7.2
this evening at 6pm
FC 1
cc .5
ph 7.2
cya 40
Pump is still running 24x7 and I've repointed the return this morning to the break the top of the water. There was white fluff stuff on the top of the water that just wasn't filtering.
It's STILL BLUE this morning! It's still cloudy but I'm not stopping that pump until Thursday night for stuff to settle since my daughter will be able to vacuum on Friday. Maybe we'll be able to get in this weekend!
So it must be something extra in the Sam's Club brand of bleach that I was using. To test it I'm going to take a gallon of pool water and add some of that bleach to it. I think I read some where here where you guys recommended the amout of bleach to 'shock' that 1 gallon.
So it must be something extra in the Sam's Club brand of bleach that I was using. To test it I'm going to take a gallon of pool water and add some of that bleach to it. I think I read some where here where you guys recommended the amout of bleach to 'shock' that 1 gallon.
One teaspoon of 6% bleach will raise the FC level of 5 gallons of water by about 16.
I doubt that any particular brand of bleach is causing a problem. Most likely the different brands are different strengths, despite the labeling, and it is the stronger dose that is causing problems.
I would try adding more metal sequestrant.
I doubt that any particular brand of bleach is causing a problem. Most likely the different brands are different strengths, despite the labeling, and it is the stronger dose that is causing problems.
I would try adding more metal sequestrant.
Jason,
You were right. The test water didn't turn. So it only took a total of 4 quarts of Proteam metal magic and 3 quarts of Dupont Metal remover in the pool to stop it turning green every time I added any bleach. geez. At least it is still blue. The last 2 quarts of Proteam Metal Magic was on Monday. Any one with any guess as to when I'll need to start doing weekly maintenance doses of the Proteam metal magic?
got my new test kit in today so I had to use it for testing. Boy I love the little battery operated mixer!
My test this morning before sun:
FC 7.0
cc 0
PH 7.2
(Last night I messed up and put a weee bit more chlorine than I meant to. I was aiming to raise it to FC of 5 and over shot just a tad. Was basing on CYA of 40. Test tube in that Leslie kit not near as good and the TF100. Glad I ordered the other kit. )
Tonight after sun was off the pool my test results:
FC 1
cc 0
TC 1
Ph 7.2
TA 80
CYA 30
CH 50
water temp 76
The temperature today made it to 88. The pool is in full sun from about 9 or 10 am until 430 or 5. Is it normal to consume this much chlorine in a day's time from the sun? No one has been in the pool yet.
You were right. The test water didn't turn. So it only took a total of 4 quarts of Proteam metal magic and 3 quarts of Dupont Metal remover in the pool to stop it turning green every time I added any bleach. geez. At least it is still blue. The last 2 quarts of Proteam Metal Magic was on Monday. Any one with any guess as to when I'll need to start doing weekly maintenance doses of the Proteam metal magic?
got my new test kit in today so I had to use it for testing. Boy I love the little battery operated mixer!
My test this morning before sun:
FC 7.0
cc 0
PH 7.2
(Last night I messed up and put a weee bit more chlorine than I meant to. I was aiming to raise it to FC of 5 and over shot just a tad. Was basing on CYA of 40. Test tube in that Leslie kit not near as good and the TF100. Glad I ordered the other kit. )
Tonight after sun was off the pool my test results:
FC 1
cc 0
TC 1
Ph 7.2
TA 80
CYA 30
CH 50
water temp 76
The temperature today made it to 88. The pool is in full sun from about 9 or 10 am until 430 or 5. Is it normal to consume this much chlorine in a day's time from the sun? No one has been in the pool yet.
THANK YOU to ALL who have helped me. 
My pool has remained blue all week however today it has some spark to it.
I did add another quart of Proteam Metal Magic yesterday. Yesterday rover ate up all the junk on the floor twice and this morning has already consumed a huge amount of settled yuckiness. This weekend I'm babysitting the pump and keeping a watch on the skimmer sock cleaning it every 1-2 hours as it works to clean this fine stuff out. I'm hopeful that by tomorrow afternoon it will be perfectly balanced. there will be no more non-bbb approved chemicals in my pool anymore. :-D
Now I might have to quit reading tips on this forum --- I keep finding really cool useful tools to make my life easier managing this pool
:lol: :-D - at least hubby likes the poolskim that I just showed him.
My pool has remained blue all week however today it has some spark to it.
I did add another quart of Proteam Metal Magic yesterday. Yesterday rover ate up all the junk on the floor twice and this morning has already consumed a huge amount of settled yuckiness. This weekend I'm babysitting the pump and keeping a watch on the skimmer sock cleaning it every 1-2 hours as it works to clean this fine stuff out. I'm hopeful that by tomorrow afternoon it will be perfectly balanced. there will be no more non-bbb approved chemicals in my pool anymore. :-D
Now I might have to quit reading tips on this forum --- I keep finding really cool useful tools to make my life easier managing this pool
:lol: :-D - at least hubby likes the poolskim that I just showed him. 
Here's the pic today after vacuuming to waste. I let the water sit all night last night with the pump not running as I figured there would be more of that fine stuff to settle. It does look pretty good now I think. Hubby was shocked this morning when he came out and saw all the fine tan like stuff in the floor. He was like where did this all come from. I was like this is what was causing the cloudiness. He was like oh I thought it looked good yesterday. He was like now it really is looking better.
Here's some pics. Still filling the water level back up. Then tomorrow night I'll have to put more stablizer in I'm sure. But I wanted the fine stuff out.
Here's some pics. Still filling the water level back up. Then tomorrow night I'll have to put more stablizer in I'm sure. But I wanted the fine stuff out.
Attachments
So excited for the first time in the evening I had a FC of >1. Last night my reading was:
fc 3.5
cc .5
tc 4
ph 7.2
Water looks WONDERFUL. Just turned cold again. Water is back down to 68 degrees. But today and the rest of the week it's supposed to be in the high 80's. Sad thing is this weekend they are calling for rain on both weekend days. Hope they are wrong! It looks soooooo inviting.
fc 3.5
cc .5
tc 4
ph 7.2
Water looks WONDERFUL. Just turned cold again. Water is back down to 68 degrees. But today and the rest of the week it's supposed to be in the high 80's. Sad thing is this weekend they are calling for rain on both weekend days. Hope they are wrong! It looks soooooo inviting.