my husband ordered one and it has been shipped so it is possible it will arrive sooner. he has had surgery and is pretty drugged up to remember the exact name, nor can i find the info at this time. he did say it was one that was recommended from this wedsite. i am confused as to why i would let my chlorine go down, if i bleach it like you suggested, wont that raise the chlorine levels? and knowing that my cya was high before we started and with the strip test at the pool place, can i assume that the chlorine will not be used up as fast? should i just let everything go until i get the kit? but continue to monitor the ph? It is not too hot here, so i would think that the chlorine will be locked with the cya being high. although i guess none of my readings are correct though. if i still have algae now is it still ok to add the bleach? thanks again. just trying to figure out if i should continue to add bleach if i still have algae and my chlorine is still high. if i find out more about the kit i will post back.
Please Help Me
- Thread starter dbabz31
- Start date
ok i have found the kit. he ordered Taylor Complete FAS DPD from Amazon.com. It was shipped friday the 3rd. with the holiday weekend it is expected to arrive the 9th-14th. just dont know if i should leave it alone until then. thanks.
The problem is your testing ability (the kit not you). Since you can't tell how high the chlorine is once you get it above 3ppm. So you want to let the chlorine to come down to where you can read it so you'll know how much you need to add to get back to shock level. It's always safe to add bleach as long as you know how much you need to add and that's the problem. Only add when you can measure and know how much to add.
Just keep a watch on the pH and test and adjust whenever the TC is below 10.
This is not an ideal way to do it but you can't just add bleach without knowing how much to add. The only way to do that, is to let the chlorine come down to where you can measure it then add enough to get back up to shock level.
Once you get the Taylor kit we'll start you shocking correctly and get down with this once and for all.
Just keep a watch on the pH and test and adjust whenever the TC is below 10.
This is not an ideal way to do it but you can't just add bleach without knowing how much to add. The only way to do that, is to let the chlorine come down to where you can measure it then add enough to get back up to shock level.
Once you get the Taylor kit we'll start you shocking correctly and get down with this once and for all.
ok thanks. i will just have to wait till i get the kit then, since i have no way of knowing exactly what my readings are. i will continue to watch the ph, i would expect that it will not decrease anymore if i do not add muriatic acid. it may increase though due to algae and high ta, right? hopefully my kit will arrive on tuesday. is it ok to continue to brush the algae that is still present? once i get my kit, i will post the results. thanks again for all of the support, everybody.
If your FC is above 10 then your pH reading is useless so it is really NOT a good idea to add more acid until you know what your FC level is with some accuracy.
TA does not change overnight (believe me I know) without extreme measures - that is to say starting over with all new water. And that assumes that your trucked in water has a low TA - which you don't know until you test it right?
I suggest you read through Jason's instructions for using the extended test kit that are at this link:
extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html
Depending on the test kit you have now (I'm not clear if you only have strips or ??) you may be able to estimate your FC level by using the procedure to dilute your water sample - he describes this in the notes about using the DPD Chlorine test.
While I am no expert, I really agree with the more experienced folks who have told you to just sit tight until you get your test kit.
Doing it right following a couple days delay is much better than doing it really wrong now due to lack of information. And doing it wrong now is probably going to be really expensive in the short and possibly long run.
People with pools much much worse than yours have been able to solve their pool problems with advice from TFP mods - but it always took accurate information, attention to detail, patience and a complete unwillingness to believe anything the pool store people tell you that you didn't first hear from a mod at TFP.
If you can do it, just take everything those poor pool store clerks told you and pretend you didn't hear any of it. See how all that worry drains away
once you forget you ever heard that stuff about TA and Chlorine (which was so completely wrong as to be idiotic 
)?
Enjoy your holiday and let the pool rest, knowing you will be spending a lot of time and energy on it in the coming weeks.
TA does not change overnight (believe me I know) without extreme measures - that is to say starting over with all new water. And that assumes that your trucked in water has a low TA - which you don't know until you test it right?
I suggest you read through Jason's instructions for using the extended test kit that are at this link:
extended-test-kit-directions-t25081.html
Depending on the test kit you have now (I'm not clear if you only have strips or ??) you may be able to estimate your FC level by using the procedure to dilute your water sample - he describes this in the notes about using the DPD Chlorine test.
While I am no expert, I really agree with the more experienced folks who have told you to just sit tight until you get your test kit.
Doing it right following a couple days delay is much better than doing it really wrong now due to lack of information. And doing it wrong now is probably going to be really expensive in the short and possibly long run.
People with pools much much worse than yours have been able to solve their pool problems with advice from TFP mods - but it always took accurate information, attention to detail, patience and a complete unwillingness to believe anything the pool store people tell you that you didn't first hear from a mod at TFP.
If you can do it, just take everything those poor pool store clerks told you and pretend you didn't hear any of it. See how all that worry drains away
once you forget you ever heard that stuff about TA and Chlorine (which was so completely wrong as to be idiotic )? Enjoy your holiday and let the pool rest, knowing you will be spending a lot of time and energy on it in the coming weeks.
thanks...that is exactly what i decided to do last night. just forget about it til my kit comes. it does good knowing that as soon as it gets here i can posts some numbers and before long.....with the help of everyone here...it will be a beautiful pool once again.
need some advice as soon as possible. my pool is getting more full of algae by the minute. at one point, there was a mustard yellow cloud of water coming out of the return jets. should i be backwashing? should i add some bleach? what is this doing to the equipment of the pool? also my ph is slightyly under 7.2. should i aerate it or add increaser? i know the increaser will add to the increase of cya. or do i just watch it get worse and worse? not quite sure what i should add if the ph goes any lower. have not tested the TA because i was told to not worry about it. TC with drop test is still off the charts. i dont think that it is hot enough here to ever get it lower. no humidity, cloudy the last couple of days. any suggestions for me? i greatly appreciate it. thanks.
Ok - it can be fixed if it gets worse. But you can go ahead and add more liquid chlorine now to help keep it from getting a lot worse.
You can always add a certain amount of liquid chlorine safely when you have an algae bloom because the algae "eats" it. The largest danger is usually having your pH too high so you might want to recheck your pH to make sure it's still low.
So I think it would be safe for you to add liquid chlorine. I'm going to assume you have little or no chlorine in the pool since your algae is blooming so strongly.
I don't know what strength you have but if you have 6% bleach then you could start by adding 10 gallons and see if there's any response. It's hard to know how much to add without knowing what your CYA level is right now.
If you're using stronger bleach - 10% or 12% then you would use less.
For 10% use 8 gallons
for 12% use 7 gallons
Hopefully one of the mods will chime in here soon but that's what I would suggest for now.
You can always add a certain amount of liquid chlorine safely when you have an algae bloom because the algae "eats" it. The largest danger is usually having your pH too high so you might want to recheck your pH to make sure it's still low.
So I think it would be safe for you to add liquid chlorine. I'm going to assume you have little or no chlorine in the pool since your algae is blooming so strongly.
I don't know what strength you have but if you have 6% bleach then you could start by adding 10 gallons and see if there's any response. It's hard to know how much to add without knowing what your CYA level is right now.
If you're using stronger bleach - 10% or 12% then you would use less.
For 10% use 8 gallons
for 12% use 7 gallons
Hopefully one of the mods will chime in here soon but that's what I would suggest for now.
it is ok to add the bleach knowing that my chlorine level is off the charts (orange with 3 drops on standard test)? i assume that even though it is off the charts, it is obvious that my FC is low due to the algae...or my FC could be high if my cya is high right? man, this stuff is confusing right now because i dont have a good kit. i cannot wait to get it. i have been reading and reading on this site, i do feel i understand some stuff, but really just unsure if it is ok to add the bleach with my chlorine off the charts. other posts have said to not add any due to not really having any concrete numbers. another question..what is this doing to my sand filter? should i replace the sand before i start doing everything once my kit arrives? the stuff that came out of the jets was nasty...even my kids were "WHAT IS THAT?" 
When did you last test your chlorine? Test it now. You can dilute the pool water to see if you can get a more accurate reading by cutting the pool water in half with distilled water. Then you count the drops and double the amount. So if your chart says you have a TC of 5 then you would have 10. You can even quarter it - 3/4 distilled water to 1/4 pool water. But the more you dilute the wider the standard deviation of the results. In other words, the less accurate the results become. But they're better than no results at all.
"off the charts" is not necessarily beyond 3 drops on a standard test. Remember you are supposed to ignore the pool store people as they have no idea what they are doing as a general rule. What they know they were told by the previous staff who were told by the previous staff etc. Chances are good that either the first source back in the stone ages was completely wrong or the version became so garbled that it no longer applies to reality.
I have had the chlorine in my pool as high as TC 50 in order to kill off black algae. It's not good to keep it that high for any longer than necessary but it isn't going to destroy anything to have it high for a short time. As I said, it is my understanding that a high pH is much worse for your system.
If the CYA is high, yes the TC could already be high. However, it is a relative relationship. You still need to exceed the "normal" level of TC in order to kill the algae bloom. Since you said that before, when you put in chlorine, you saw improvement then I am guessing that your CYA is not really all that high.
If you want to start with just adding a couple gallons of chlorine that is fine. If you see improvement then add 2 more. An incremental approach for now is OK since your test kit should be here before the end of the week.
Earlier posts told you to add 1 gallon chlorine a day despite the lack of hard numbers. It sounds like you haven't done that. If you have then I think it is clear that 2 gallons is not going to make a big difference in which case I would go to at least 3 gallons.
I would also suggest cleaning your filter but you will need to clean it probably every day until you get rid of the algae.
"off the charts" is not necessarily beyond 3 drops on a standard test. Remember you are supposed to ignore the pool store people as they have no idea what they are doing as a general rule. What they know they were told by the previous staff who were told by the previous staff etc. Chances are good that either the first source back in the stone ages was completely wrong or the version became so garbled that it no longer applies to reality.
I have had the chlorine in my pool as high as TC 50 in order to kill off black algae. It's not good to keep it that high for any longer than necessary but it isn't going to destroy anything to have it high for a short time. As I said, it is my understanding that a high pH is much worse for your system.
If the CYA is high, yes the TC could already be high. However, it is a relative relationship. You still need to exceed the "normal" level of TC in order to kill the algae bloom. Since you said that before, when you put in chlorine, you saw improvement then I am guessing that your CYA is not really all that high.
If you want to start with just adding a couple gallons of chlorine that is fine. If you see improvement then add 2 more. An incremental approach for now is OK since your test kit should be here before the end of the week.
Earlier posts told you to add 1 gallon chlorine a day despite the lack of hard numbers. It sounds like you haven't done that. If you have then I think it is clear that 2 gallons is not going to make a big difference in which case I would go to at least 3 gallons.
I would also suggest cleaning your filter but you will need to clean it probably every day until you get rid of the algae.
thanks for your info. i was getting confused because i read on other posts to add the bleach, then dont add the bleach. i kept thinking, if there is algae, i dont have enough FC. yes my TC may be high, but that could be from a high cya. not knowing what my cya is now is the big thing right? but am i right in thinking that if the algae is getting worse, then there is not enough FC in the pool? my TC could be high becuase my CC may be high right? I am going to add bleach tonight. I bought 5 bottles last night. I will add 3 since i think that it is that bad. at what point to i deal with my filter? my water level was low tonight. just at the arrow by the skimmer, so i added some water. we are on a well, so i made sure that it was not softened. but i cant really backwash my filter if i dont have enough water. or can i backwash it just using the main ones at the deep end since that is where it is the worst? should i brush the algae before backwashing? When i did back wash it earlier tonight, the water that was in the glass was just cloudy, i never saw any algae (green, mustard, nothing). does that mean anything? if i should be backwashing, when should i do it? before or after i add bleach? is there a reason for me to change the sand before i go any further? thank you again for all the help. i greatly appreciate it.
Did you use whatever you have (strips or OTO test kit) to test your chlorine level BEFORE you added more chlorine?
What was it?
I have a smaller pool than you do and I have added as much as 8 bottles of 12% chlorine in a single day to kill algae. So don't sweat adding 2 or 3 bottles of regular bleach. It's very unlikely to be enough to kill the algae but it may keep it in check for a day.
I would find it helpful if you would space out your replies and questions instead of running everything together. It makes it much easier for me to read and understand it.
Thanks
What was it?
I have a smaller pool than you do and I have added as much as 8 bottles of 12% chlorine in a single day to kill algae. So don't sweat adding 2 or 3 bottles of regular bleach. It's very unlikely to be enough to kill the algae but it may keep it in check for a day.
I would find it helpful if you would space out your replies and questions instead of running everything together. It makes it much easier for me to read and understand it.
Thanks
sorry, i will post my questions differently.
all i know is that my chlorine level has been above 3 for a long time. i dont know what the name of the kit is, but it only shows 3 and below, by adding 5 drops. as soon as i add 2-3 drops, it is not yellow, but orange. meaning my chlorine is really high. there is no way for me to test FC vs TC vs CC. but i assume that my FC is low because i have so much algae.
I really wish i had a good kit, and wonder why since we got our pool 3 yrs ago, that no one ever told us about all the other tests. up until this point, we tested chlorine and ph. and that was it. I believe now that our whole problem started at the end of last summer. i think that our overuse of chlorine sticks increased our cya and thus made our chlorine ineffective. us not knowing about cya in sticks made us think to crank up the dial on our sticks...which we now know only made things worse.
reading through the info on the website, is it right in saying that it can take a week for our cya to go down after emptying and refilling out pool like we did? we had algae before we emptied it. after we emptied and refilled it, we added 4 gallons of liquid chlorine. you would think that that would have done something to the algae.
well i guess all i can do is wait til my kit arrives. i could continue to add bleach, but is there a possibility of having high TC to ruin your equipment? and would it be a worthless battle to do so? thanks again.
all i know is that my chlorine level has been above 3 for a long time. i dont know what the name of the kit is, but it only shows 3 and below, by adding 5 drops. as soon as i add 2-3 drops, it is not yellow, but orange. meaning my chlorine is really high. there is no way for me to test FC vs TC vs CC. but i assume that my FC is low because i have so much algae.
I really wish i had a good kit, and wonder why since we got our pool 3 yrs ago, that no one ever told us about all the other tests. up until this point, we tested chlorine and ph. and that was it. I believe now that our whole problem started at the end of last summer. i think that our overuse of chlorine sticks increased our cya and thus made our chlorine ineffective. us not knowing about cya in sticks made us think to crank up the dial on our sticks...which we now know only made things worse.
reading through the info on the website, is it right in saying that it can take a week for our cya to go down after emptying and refilling out pool like we did? we had algae before we emptied it. after we emptied and refilled it, we added 4 gallons of liquid chlorine. you would think that that would have done something to the algae.
well i guess all i can do is wait til my kit arrives. i could continue to add bleach, but is there a possibility of having high TC to ruin your equipment? and would it be a worthless battle to do so? thanks again.
No - the cya is in the water. When you drain the water and refill with new water it reduces the cya by the amount of water that was replaced. So if you replace 50% of the water generally you would see a 50% reduction in your cya level.
If your cya is 200 and you replace 1/2 your water then your cya would still be too high at 100.
If your cya is 200 and you replace 1/2 your water then your cya would still be too high at 100.
there is no way of me knowing just how high my TC is. It has been high for days. I dont think that it is being used up at all. with the algae, and possibly high cya, and it not being very sunny or humid, it dont think that the chlorine is being used. any suggestions in getting that down?
if my chlorine is higher than 3 doesnt that make my ph inaccurate? my ph is a little higher today so i added more muriatic acid. hopefully i will get my kit soon.
if my chlorine is higher than 3 doesnt that make my ph inaccurate? my ph is a little higher today so i added more muriatic acid. hopefully i will get my kit soon.
Trust me, the chlorine is getting used up. It may take a while but you HAVE to wait till it comes down to where you can read it or you get a kit that can read that high. DO NOT add any more chlorine until you can measure what you have in the pool!
Your pH gets inaccurate at FC levels above 10ppm. The problem is that you don't know how high the FC is so you don't know if your pH result is accurate or not. Unless it gets over 8 don't adjust it at all.
Once you get your new kit and perform the tests with it, things will become much clearer for you and us. Then our advice will match the results and you'll start making progress.
Up till we get good test results we're just giving you advice that will not harm anything while doing the best at keeping you from slipping further behind.
How does your pool look? Is it cloudy green, clear green or some other description?
Your pH gets inaccurate at FC levels above 10ppm. The problem is that you don't know how high the FC is so you don't know if your pH result is accurate or not. Unless it gets over 8 don't adjust it at all.
Once you get your new kit and perform the tests with it, things will become much clearer for you and us. Then our advice will match the results and you'll start making progress.
Up till we get good test results we're just giving you advice that will not harm anything while doing the best at keeping you from slipping further behind.
How does your pool look? Is it cloudy green, clear green or some other description?
My pool is a very cloudy green. More green noticed in the deep end. I cannot see the bottom at all and can barely see the bottom in the shallow end. When I brushed the algae last night it was a mustard yellow. But the water is a milky green.
I just wanted to make sure it wasn't metals we were dealing with. Sometimes I need to back up and ask the basic questions.
Let us know when your kit arrives and we'll help you get rid of whatever it is.
Let us know when your kit arrives and we'll help you get rid of whatever it is.
ok i will posts numbers as soon as i can. but that is funny you asked about metals. how can i tell the difference?
itsn't kind of weird that when i backwashed last night that there was no color change in the water in the glass bottle that is on the filter?
should i or should i not be worried about my filter...ex. backwashing etc.?
i will tell you, i feel so much better knowing that as soon as i get numbers you guys will all help me. it is a great feeling.
itsn't kind of weird that when i backwashed last night that there was no color change in the water in the glass bottle that is on the filter?
should i or should i not be worried about my filter...ex. backwashing etc.?
i will tell you, i feel so much better knowing that as soon as i get numbers you guys will all help me. it is a great feeling.