Unknown organism in pool.

[Calhounski]

Hey guys and gals. I have a mystery guest that shows up in the corners of my pool every morning. Has anyone had this in their pool? I have stumped everyone showing this to them. I live on the outer banks of NC 2 miles off the coast. I have mostly pine tree on property but not a bunch directly over pool. I have contacted water dept, many local pool maintenance workers/owners as well. All have never seen it before. They did show up in abundance after a north east blow-and no trees to the northeast of property. Many deep dives into Google but nothing. The only other correlation other then the NE wind is spiders. Large spiders and those 1” brown gelatinous things hang out in corners. They appear to be inanimate as well. Here are a few pics. One is also in a net. They appear to have a clear tail.

 

[bmoreswim]

So, a) that's gross! b) when I looked at the close up picture, which looks like they are in a measuring cup, I see many small things floating in there in addition to the gelatinous masses. I'm wondering if the tiny seeds, which I suspect the small oblong shapes are, have attached to the more or less clear gelatinous masses and the way the surface tension makes them stick to the mass, they get arranged in what looks like some sort of skeletal organization. If so, then what you would be looking for are just the more or less clear gelatinous masses in your search. At that point, it seems like it may be some sort of egg mass for who knows what kind of animal. It could have easily become airborne in the wind and came from a direction where this bug was located. I've seen such egg mat on plants with a bug infestation. Or it could be from some small reptilian that visited your water and expelled such a thing.

Just theories since you haven't seen much action here, nor in your other inquiries.

Or, is it some type of mat algae? Do you have test results from a good test kit Test Kits Compared that you can share?

 

[Calhounski]

So, a) that's gross! b) when I looked at the close up picture, which looks like they are in a measuring cup, I see many small things floating in there in addition to the gelatinous masses. I'm wondering if the tiny seeds, which I suspect the small oblong shapes are, have attached to the more or less clear gelatinous masses and the way the surface tension makes them stick to the mass, they get arranged in what looks like some sort of skeletal organization. If so, then what you would be looking for are just the more or less clear gelatinous masses in your search. At that point, it seems like it may be some sort of egg mass for who knows what kind of animal. It could have easily become airborne in the wind and came from a direction where this bug was located. I've seen such egg mat on plants with a bug infestation. Or it could be from some small reptilian that visited your water and expelled such a thing.

Just theories since you haven't seen much action here, nor in your other inquiries.

Or, is it some type of mat algae? Do you have test results from a good test kit Test Kits Compared that you can share?

Thanks for replying Bmoreswim. I just found out they are an egg mass from an invertebrate, mainly a non-biting midge. Why they are choosing my pool and not my neighbors is a mystery as they are 75 feet away from each other. Water chemistry appears to be good. FC3, TC3, CC0, PH 7.6, Alk 100 CYA 50. I witnessed the midges doing their thing on the edges of the pool and that's where I find the egg masses. Anyways, gonna do a deeper dive into the subject.

 

[Bperry]

Thanks for replying Bmoreswim. I just found out they are an egg mass from an invertebrate, mainly a non-biting midge. Why they are choosing my pool and not my neighbors is a mystery as they are 75 feet away from each other. Water chemistry appears to be good. FC3, TC3, CC0, PH 7.6, Alk 100 CYA 50. I witnessed the midges doing their thing on the edges of the pool and that's where I find the egg masses. Anyways, gonna do a deeper dive into the subject.

You likely need more chlorine.

 

[bmoreswim]

Sweet! Glad you identified the masses. Always some oddball thing hanging out there. Some increased circulation to get them to the skimmer faster if possible.

Good point noted on the FC level. Should be 6-8 if non-SWG. Very minimal/too low if you have a SWG, though your CYA is really too low.