Sue from FL in Baqua-heck

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MeSue

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LifeTime Supporter
Jul 29, 2007
354
Florida
Hi folks,

I just joined tonight after finding poolforum.com and then finding out they aren't taking new members. I have an 18' round AG pool and have been using Baquacil in it since I got it in 2001. Last August it started with the algae, and I have been battling it all season this year. Two weeks ago I started the new Baquacil CDX which is supposed to help maintain the oxidizer levels throughout the month and eliminate the need for algaecide. Well, six days after I started it my oxidizer was down to zero again. I dosed up and 5 days later I had new green algae and another surprise... a red slime all over my skimmer basket and the poolskim (leaf catcher) basket. Never seen anything like it... it was nasty!!! I tested again... no oxidizer, so I dosed up. Tested again today and it was already low again after only two days.

My search on red algae let me to poolforum.com and then here. I read that the red slime is not algae but a fungus, and I also read somewhere that once you get it in a Baquacil pool, you are pretty much doomed. So I am really tempted to convert but feel like I should give this new CDX a chance. However, if I see that red slime again, I will probably head straight to Walmart to stock up on bleach.

So what about test kits if I decide to go through with this? Pros/cons to the Taylor K2006 or the TF100?
 
HI MeSue,
Where in Fl?
As far as the testkits go the K-2006 includeds acid and base demand tests (which are not that useful, IMHO) and the TF100 doesint but it does include a Taylor k-1000 OTO/pH tester for daily chlorine and pH tests and includes more of some of the reagetns so it's a better value IMHO! (I have both kits, along with a few others).

As far as the pink slime, it's actually a bacteria and is just about impossible to get rid of. One possiblilty is to use sodium percarbonate instead of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizers. Proteam makes a product called System Support that is sodium percarbonate.

http://www.proteampoolcare.com/tr_system.htm

It is supposed to be effective against red slime. You can also use soidum percarbonate to convert a biguanide (Baqua) pool to chlorine.

Proteam also had a granular oxidizer for biguaninde pools ( It's also sodium percarbonate)
http://www.proteampoolcare.com/gnsw_oxplus.htm

It's part of their Gentle Swim biguanide system.
Hope this helps.
 
Welcome, MeSue!

If it were me, I would convert now, and enjoy the rest of the swimming season without having to be on the lookout for red slime... yuk!

With a little persistence, you may be swimming in a week!

I am moving this thread to the Baqua forum. Read other posts there to see just how simple conversion and BBB can be!
 
Hi, Sue,

Like Grace, I would encourage you to do the conversion. It's a few days of work and learning (you'll know more about your pool than you would have thought) but the rewards are huge.

Baquacil is a never-ending struggle. The success stories of conversion to chlorine are too consistent to ignore.

(I have an opinion on the kit choices but I'm pretty sure you can guess what it is. :lol: :lol: :lol: )
 
hi all,

Waterbear, Have you heard of Hog Valley? It is a little forest community NE of Fort McCoy. I came across some info on using the sodium percarbonate for converting but nothing I read was very specific. It also looks like the stuff is somewhat hard to come by.

That is another reason I am considering going off of Baqua. The only place I know of that sells it here is about a 40-45 minute drive for me each way in an area of town where I never go except for that. So every time I need supplies or a water test I have to make that drive.

My husband is a little concerned about the corrosiveness of chlorine on the pool parts. Does anyone have anything to say about that?
 
Corrosion from chlorine is usually only an issue when you are not using CYA, and even then only happens when you allow the chlorine level get too high. We recommend that all pools use CYA. CYA cuts down the effective strength of the chlorine enough that it is far far more difficult to get it high enough to cause corrosion.

The largest corrosion risk is from allowing the PH to get below 7.0, which would be the same with baquacil or chlorine.
 
MeSue said:
hi all,

Waterbear, Have you heard of Hog Valley? It is a little forest community NE of Fort McCoy.
No, and I lived in FL all my life. Grew up in Miami, moved to Ft. Lauderdale, and then moved up here to St. Augustine in 2004. What part of the state is it in?
I came across some info on using the sodium percarbonate for converting but nothing I read was very specific. It also looks like the stuff is somewhat hard to come by.
You can order sodium percarbonate from http://www.chemistrystore.com/sodium_percarbonate.htm for not too much money. This is also a good place to get ascorbic acid if you ever need it to remove metal stains in your pool.
My husband is a little concerned about the corrosiveness of chlorine on the pool parts. Does anyone have anything to say about that?
Click to expand...

Considering the number of pools on chlorine I think your worries are unfounded!
 
Hog Valley is northeast of Ocala, near the forest in Marion county--NE corner of the county. I'm also a FL native, but grew up in the Clearwater area.

Thanks for the link, but I'm still not sure how I'd use it for converting. It kind of doesn't make sense to me that it can be used both as an oxidizer in a Baqua pool and as a way to convert to chlorine???

Well, you know, the corrosiveness line is one of the things they use to sell you on the Baquacil. It's funny, at the beginning of this season when I was battling the algae, hubby kept saying, "You should switch to chlorine... chlorine kills everything." And now that I am almost ready, he's questioning it. Maybe he's playing devil's advocate to try to make sure I'm sure.
 

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MeSue said:
Thanks for the link, but I'm still not sure how I'd use it for converting. It kind of doesn't make sense to me that it can be used both as an oxidizer in a Baqua pool and as a way to convert to chlorine???
It is a strong oxidizer that releases hydrogen peroxide in water. In small quantities it oxidized organics. In larger quantities it oxidized the biguanide. Chlorine can also be used to oxidize the biguanide for conversion but it has been found that large doses of sodium percarbonae can do it much faster.Well, you know, the corrosiveness line is one of the things they use to sell you on the Baquacil. It's funny, at the beginning of this season when I was battling the algae, hubby kept saying, "You should switch to chlorine... chlorine kills everything." And now that I am almost ready, he's questioning it. Maybe he's playing devil's advocate to try to make sure I'm sure.
Click to expand...
And when they sold you the biguanide they also never told you about pink slime and white water mold either but almost all biguanide pools end up with them after a few years. If chlorine was as corrosive as they lead you to believe would it be so successfully used in so many pools for so many years? Just be thankful they didn't try and sell you a copper/silver system. THOSE are a true scam!
 
Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense.

So if sodium percarbonate can do it much faster, how come you don't see it discussed as much? Is it more expensive?

Where can I go to learn more about this method of conversion?
 
Sodium percarbonate is not commonly sold for use in pools, although it works well as a non-chlorine oxidizer. That makes it more difficult to purchase, pretty much Internet only, and there is far less experience with it in the pool industry. Aside for purchasing issues the only problem with it that I know of is that it causes problems for ORP controllers (which I am sure you don't have).
 
MeSue said:
Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense.

So if sodium percarbonate can do it much faster, how come you don't see it discussed as much? Is it more expensive?

Where can I go to learn more about this method of conversion?
Click to expand...

Sodium percarb is a little hard to find, but I just learned (Waterbear's post, I think) that Proteam's System Support is sodium percarb. There's also a guy on ebay that sells it as a lab chemical for a reasonable price.

In an outdoor pool, it is my understanding that bleach works well and quickly in doing a conversion from Baqua. I have an indoor pool, and my conversion was something of a nightmare. I still have a legacy of CC's from the experience. :?

I found out about sodium percarb after the fact. Richard Kersey of Orenda Technologies knows all about how to use it; he used to provide the instructions upon request at another forum. He's very helpful. His company used to sell the stuff but they discontinued it.

I did use some to help wrap up my conversion and I use it for shocking the pool sometimes. Non-chlorine shock is a useful option for indoor pools, and sodium percarb knocks out CC's while KPMS does not.

Hope this was helpful and not a source of more confusion. . . in summary, I'd say that the bleach method apparently works well and quickly for most people with outdoor pools. Sodium percarb is an option but is harder to obtain.
 
Sodium percarbonate is not used as an oxidizer in chlorine pools because it not only messes up orp readings, it also depletes chlorine! I can be effective at destroying chloramines in an indoor pool but at the expense of the chlorine in the water.
 
waterbear said:
Sodium percarbonate is not used as an oxidizer in chlorine pools because it not only messes up orp readings, it also depletes chlorine! I can be effective at destroying chloramines in an indoor pool but at the expense of the chlorine in the water.
Click to expand...

True, but bleach is cheap! I just add more once the sodium percarb has done its job. :)

It's probably not what one would want to use for shocking an outdoor pool, but the fortunate few with indoor pools 8) don't shun a treatment that takes out CC's. I use a small amount, about 1/2 cup, which is around 4 oz. That doesn't knock out my FC's completely.
 
It's been storming all week here so I have not been able to swim, but when I checked on things today there was more pink slime in the skimmer so I talked it over with hubby and we decided to start the conversion next week. I'm ordering the TF100 right now and I will buy bleach tomorrow.

I'm having a friend over this weekend and we were planning to use the pool, so I don't want to start before Sunday night.
 
You people are going to think I'm a flake, but I found more info on sodium percarbonate and now I am thinking of doing it that way.

What I read said 5 lbs per 10,000 gallons is what is needed to burn up the Baquacil. After thinking about transporting all the bleach I would need, the idea of the sodium percarbonate became more appealing, and apparently you can get it at Leslie's Pool Supply under the brand name "Fresh N' Clear." I am hoping that I can find some tomorrow when I am going to be in that area of town.

So after I add the 5 lb. SP and filter for 48 hours, would I then change the sand, or should I first get the chlorine to 15 ppm and make sure it holds overnight before changing sand?
 

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