I have a 24-foot above-ground swimming pool I had a huge algae problem at the beginning of the season and I have been putting lots of shock in it to get the algae to die I have used all different kinds of things in the pool like yellow gone and a non copper algaecide the pool is now stuck on bright green and it has been that way for a few days I have added lots of shock in the pool granulated and liquid and the pool is just stuck on bright green I have also removed my pucks that have the stabilizer in them. I also removed as much debris as I could feel while walking around in the pool. Last night I added 4 and a half gallons of liquid chlorine and 2 lbs of granular shock. This morning pool is still light green. No change in color from yesterday. Is it possible I need to change my sand even though its only almost 2 years old?
Pool stuck on bright green
- Thread starter Rettmomof4sg
- Start date
Hey there, welcome to TFP 
I have to ask this- did a pool store tell you to add all that stuff in to your pool??
How are you testing the water? You need to test accurately to know what to add to treat a problem. We need to know:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Do you need a recommendation for a good test kit? Check out : TFTestkits.net for our approved kits.
Many of the products you added conflict with others you added. For example, that Yellow Out/Yellow Gone product is a type of ammonia which we *never* advocate pool owners use. It will chew up all your chlorine for a while to come.
Against all logic- Algaecides *do not* kill algae. They help prevent it as long as the pool doesn't have it already. If you add it to a pool that is already green you've just wasted x amount of dollars down the drain.
Any granular "shock" product you added also contains either calcium or CYA stabilizer as another ingredient- neither of which you needed. In fact, the more CYA stabllizer you add, the more difficult it is to get rid of the algae.
Sand rarely ever needs changing. Ignore any suggestions of that.
Are you able to drain and refill this pool? Don't drain it below a foot or two to the bottom so that the liner won't shift, but your water is in pretty bad shape I suspect due to all those extraneous chemicals. Are you on city water or a well??
Can you take the time to read our Pool School articles? Look at the top... lots of good information there.
Maddie
I have to ask this- did a pool store tell you to add all that stuff in to your pool??
How are you testing the water? You need to test accurately to know what to add to treat a problem. We need to know:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CH
CYA
Do you need a recommendation for a good test kit? Check out : TFTestkits.net for our approved kits.
Many of the products you added conflict with others you added. For example, that Yellow Out/Yellow Gone product is a type of ammonia which we *never* advocate pool owners use. It will chew up all your chlorine for a while to come.
Against all logic- Algaecides *do not* kill algae. They help prevent it as long as the pool doesn't have it already. If you add it to a pool that is already green you've just wasted x amount of dollars down the drain.
Any granular "shock" product you added also contains either calcium or CYA stabilizer as another ingredient- neither of which you needed. In fact, the more CYA stabllizer you add, the more difficult it is to get rid of the algae.
Sand rarely ever needs changing. Ignore any suggestions of that.
Are you able to drain and refill this pool? Don't drain it below a foot or two to the bottom so that the liner won't shift, but your water is in pretty bad shape I suspect due to all those extraneous chemicals. Are you on city water or a well??
Can you take the time to read our Pool School articles? Look at the top... lots of good information there.
Maddie
No I never go to the pool store for my chemical issues. I did use granular shock but made sure it didnt have stabilizers in it. I knew that would be a problen. I used these things because they have worked in the past. I started with the yellow gone but its been a while since I put it in. Its still too cold to drain the pool. At this point im just shocking it. No one told me to do any of these things nit even change the sand which i know should only need smchanging every 5 years or so. I've just always done the same thing for algae and this time it didn't work.
Oh yeah we r on city water. I will test the chemicals in a bit and post I just don't have anything to test the FC and CC separately yet. I will also post pics of the progress as well. Should I just keep using liquid chlorine?
Ok, here is my suggestion: First always is having your own test kit. There are *only two* that we endorse because they contain reagents to do every test you need for your basic pool care. The Taylor K-2006C or the TF-100, both found at TFtestkits.net or Amazon. Do not mistakenly buy any other as they are *not* the same.
Are you able to drain and refill? That would be the fastest solution to start with.
Otherwise, While you wait for your test kit to arrive, add a gallon of plain, unscented bleach in to the pool daily and brush.
Do not use any of the products you've used before- no granular "shock" products, no pucks, no potions in a jug. They do more to mess you up than fix your water.
Take a picture of the pool water in the same place daily. It really makes monitoring changes easier.
Keep us posted how things are going and when you get your test kit.
Maddie
Are you able to drain and refill? That would be the fastest solution to start with.
Otherwise, While you wait for your test kit to arrive, add a gallon of plain, unscented bleach in to the pool daily and brush.
Do not use any of the products you've used before- no granular "shock" products, no pucks, no potions in a jug. They do more to mess you up than fix your water.
Take a picture of the pool water in the same place daily. It really makes monitoring changes easier.
Keep us posted how things are going and when you get your test kit.
Maddie
Hi Maddie My uncle builds pools for a living. He has been doing it over 40 years. I never like to bother him because well hes always busy and we arent close but i asked him if by some chance he had a test kit that u recomend and he did. I had to go get it from him and thats what taken me so long but i have numbers now.
FC. 5
CC 10
pH6.2
TA 40
CH 250
CYA 50
Does this help?
FC. 5
CC 10
pH6.2
TA 40
CH 250
CYA 50
Does this help?
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Was this kit the *Taylor K-2006C* (not another number or letter)?
That pH is seriously low. That low pH is not good for your liner- it causes brittleness in the liner which can shorten its life.
The CCs make no sense to me... did you use any MPS (non-chlorine shock) treatment in the pool? Sometimes that can cause a falsely elevated CC count.
Did you see my question before about draining and refilling? This might be the fastest and cheapest cure for your pool woes.
Maddie
That pH is seriously low. That low pH is not good for your liner- it causes brittleness in the liner which can shorten its life.
The CCs make no sense to me... did you use any MPS (non-chlorine shock) treatment in the pool? Sometimes that can cause a falsely elevated CC count.
Did you see my question before about draining and refilling? This might be the fastest and cheapest cure for your pool woes.
Maddie
Ok I will get my ph up. That's the easy part lol. I have not used any non chlorine shock at all. I wondered about that cc reading too. I did read about draining and refilling but I've been told that it needs to be at least 80 degrees out for that or my liner will shrink before I can fill it back up. Its still in the 40s at night. So at this point I'm just trying to keep the algae from getting worse till we can drain an refi
You're right about the temp for the liner. This crazy warm one day, cold the next weather is mind numbing.
Take a water sample to a pool store and ask them to test for metals please. That's about the only test we ask them to do because buying a test kit for various metals is kinda pricey. Something seems seriously off that I can't put my finger on.
Maddie
Addendum: To be clear, knowing that you're also in Georgia like I am, it would definitely be an advantage to wait for warmer weather then the stuff we're having now. It doesn't have to be 80, but warmer weather improves the chance of a good liner install or to avoid shrinking during refilling.
Take a water sample to a pool store and ask them to test for metals please. That's about the only test we ask them to do because buying a test kit for various metals is kinda pricey. Something seems seriously off that I can't put my finger on.
Maddie
Addendum: To be clear, knowing that you're also in Georgia like I am, it would definitely be an advantage to wait for warmer weather then the stuff we're having now. It doesn't have to be 80, but warmer weather improves the chance of a good liner install or to avoid shrinking during refilling.
Where could I have gotten metals from without using copper algecide. Yeah I think at the end of this week I'll drain n fill. I just love the bi polar weather here lol
If you've ever used pucks that contained the word "blu/blue" in them- those little devils have copper in 'em but they don't make that obvious.
I see Costco selling buckets of them and I cringe. CloroxBlue to be specific.
Any chance that was the type of puck you used?
Maddie
I see Costco selling buckets of them and I cringe. CloroxBlue to be specific.
Any chance that was the type of puck you used?
Maddie
Oh my well I have used those so grrrr. That would be the "algae killing" or whatever they call it stuff in there. Lovely. If there's metals in the pool I'll have to drain and refill that too then huh?
I guess it depends on how much you've used the pucks. Just as we've advised the OP in this thread, I'd suggest taking a sample to a pool store or two and asking them to test for metals.
Maddie
GREAT!!! Fun stuff. Let me see then what I can find out from the pool place. I will let you know what they said. I have not used them a whole lot but i think i jinxed myself because at the beginning of this whole fiasco I was using the pucks and the "Blue" shock. UGH ok I'll go check and let you know thanks a bunch
Hey Maddie. I just went to the pool store to check my water for metals and got a 0 reading. while i was there just for the heck of it i got the other readings too. Their test only goes up to 10 and she said the chlorine levels were above that but of course she can't tell how much above because her test only goes up to 10. I have some other results too if you want them even though they werent done with TFP recomended tests they were done with Taylor supplies. They say my CYA is 60.
See, if they're not able to test FC over 10 that shows they're using some basic inadequate test kits. The kits we recommend go up to 50ppm FC, and while no one needs 50ppm, some folks do need to SLAM with numbers around 30 at times.
What did they say for your pH ?
I want to see a picture of this bright green pool. Grab your phone and take one for me please?
Maddie
Maddie
What did they say for your pH ?
I want to see a picture of this bright green pool. Grab your phone and take one for me please?
Maddie
Maddie
Hey Maddie this is Rettmomof4sg. I had to register another name because i forgot my PW then couldn't fix it (computer issues). anyway i have them both back now. I'm going ot rid myself of one soon. Anyway i can't take a pic of my pool right now because i lost my phone yeah i'm good at losing stuff. it's not bright green anymore and I (shame on me) flocced my pool some went to the bottom and some floated on top working on that mess now. I will use my dad's or my husband's phone tomorrow and send you a pic of what it looks like. you think i may have dodged the drain and refill bullet?
can u delete it?
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Keep the SLAM going and it will be clear and clean, blue and sparkly before it warms up here in Georgia!
Maddie <whose fingers are so cold in this weather!>
Maddie
<whose fingers are so cold in this weather!>