Too much CYA, do I have to drain the whole pool?

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You need to drain more like 75% of the water to get down to a reasonable level.

Are you planning on doing multiple drains and refills? Why are you starting with 30% as your draining amount?

Multiple small drains are less efficient than one or two large drains and refills.
 
Thanks, UNjoyfulnoise...just kidding of course. :) To be honest, we are just super busy with base ball games (fall-balll) all weekend and are trying to get as much out as possible without making a mess of our yard or our neighbors (we are on a septic, no city water=no drains.) We will try to go 50%. We plan to drain again in the spring. I'm still so mad I went into this trusting the "professionals." Thank you for the advice!
 
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Your priority is getting rid of algae first. Once that is resolved- I am no expert, but with swim season basically over I personally would go with your plan of 30% drain. Only because nature might possibly resolve a lot of the issue over the next 6 months. I lost about 50-60 CYA last off season.
FYI, I have a friend with a 1 year old fiberglass this past May that noticed her water looked different this year. I knew she was on pucks and she said her pool store had stabilizer at 140. She let me test the water and I estimated 160. I could not convince her to get a good test kit, but I did get her switch to liquid shock and cal-hypo - I guess some people just need a powder. I convinced her to try and keep her FC above 8 as much as possible (instead of 1-3 recommended by store) so she regularly took it to pool store to check. Sure seemed like a lot of work, but some people have a hard time letting go. Anyway, with many drains down to bottom of skimmer and a lot of rain, her CYA is now 30 - in about 5 months


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Jagger you do have a point BUT to get rid of the algae (SLAM) with that CYA so high will be VERY hard and takes LOTS of chlorine.

You did a good job with your friend. I wonder if you "gift" her a test kit if she would accept it AND use it? I did that with a friend of mine. I even went over and did the test and in front of her then had her do them.....she LOVES it and has not been back to the pool $tore! Just an idea.

Kim:kim:
 
We drained about 60% over night. This morning, I took a spray bottle of 1:1 bleach and water and sprayed down the sides, and really brushed every thing down. We cleaned the cartridges really well and are in the process of re-filling. I will post test results when it is full. I plan to SLAM when full to get rid of that light dusting of yellow algae. Fingers crossed the CYA is at a decent level.

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I just realiazed my signature was not showing up.
 
The pool is full! Tests are in! And they look much better--except for TA, I'm not sure why that went up but (correct me if I'm wrong) it looks like I need to add 19 oz of acid to get it back down. I'm about to add more than 3 gallons of bleach to the water per the pool calculator. Eek, that seems like a lot. But I trust you guys! I also plan on doing a over night chlorine test once I maintain the SLAM for a couple of days.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions! Thanks!


Current Tests...
CYA-60
CH-375
TA-160
PH-7.8


Tests before Draining about 60%...
CYA-180-200 I did two tests so it's definitely somewhere in between :mad:
Chlorine-2 ppm
PH-7.5
FC- 0...I think it did not turn pink
CC-0
CH-525 ppm :mad:
TA-100
 
Trust the powder based Fc test and you can skip the yellow Ito chlorine test.

Having a cya of 60 is still pretty high but doable.

Test Fc and add bleach every 30 minutes at first. As you hold Fc you can test and add bleach less frequently.

Brush as least once a day and keep the pump running 24/7.

You did the cya test in full sunlight with your back to the sun, vial at waist level? The cya test is light sensitive and very important that it is done correctly.


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JEC11718 said:
Stock up on bleach...that three gallons will be used up quick in killing algae. The "m" in SLAM is maintain... so keep your chlorine level up!

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Got it, thanks!

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kcindc said:
Trust the powder based Fc test and you can skip the yellow Ito chlorine test.

Having a cya of 60 is still pretty high but doable.

Test Fc and add bleach every 30 minutes at first. As you hold Fc you can test and add bleach less frequently.

Brush as least once a day and keep the pump running 24/7.

You did the cya test in full sunlight with your back to the sun, vial at waist level? The cya test is light sensitive and very important that it is done correctly.


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Yeah, I'm almost positive I did the test right. I did it several times.
 
Hey Guys! Things have been going well, the SLAM worked and I haven't seen any more signs of the slight mustard algae creeping back around the shadowy area. Thanks for everyone's help! Now I'm trying to get all my other numbers back in check, one thing that's giving me problems is my PH and TA. I cannot seem to get it down no matter how much muriatic acid (the liquid strong stuff) I use. In the last week and half I've probably added around 200 oz of acid, each time adding what the Pool Math Calculator tells me too. I have stopped running the waterfall and the fountain after reading that it has an affect on PH. Anyone have any ideas as to why it wont go down?


Here are my current numbers:

FC-4 (a little low considering my CYA) so I'll add some tonight
PH-7.8
TA-140
CH-375
CYA-Still at 60!


Thanks!
 
When you add the MA does the PH go down at all? It is a slow process to get the TA down............Push PH down to 7.2 using MA.....turn on all of the water movers to get the PH up to 7.8 as fast as possible and do it all over again LOL Each push down of PH may lower the TA anywhere from 2 to 5 ppm so slow going :(

Kim:kim:
 
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