Chemicals I need

[MonkeyGirl22]

I am going to start doing my own pool chemicals. I have a salt water pool that is plaster what do you recommend and where to buy them
From?

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
First thing you need is a proper test kit and salt test kit. Do you have those?
You should have no hand muriatic acid and possibly a gallon or two of liquid chlorine. Depending on test results, you might need stabilizer (CYA).
Once you test your pool water with a proper test kit, post up your data and we can provide you some guidance.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[HermanTX]

I am going to start doing my own pool chemicals. I have a salt water pool that is plaster what do you recommend and where to buy them
From?

Your location states Texas - it would be good to know which city you are closest to.
Pinch A Penny and Leslies are the 2 biggest pool stores that carry stabilizer and muriatic acid. As spring approaches the inventory levels at WalMart and Home Depot will also increase to supply those items. If you ever need to add a lot of chlorine then Home Depot, Pinch a Penny and Leslies carry liquid chlorine.
As Marty stated, purchase a good test kit - see Test Kits Compared and I suggest you order the TF-100 from www.tftestkits.net
It is good value for the amount of items you receive and need to do good quality testing
Also consider the app PoolMath to track everything and help with determining what volume of chemical to add when required.
There are lots of good info on the forum and from the TFP Experts and Guides

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

Welcome to the forum!
First thing you need is a proper test kit and salt test kit. Do you have those?
You should have no hand muriatic acid and possibly a gallon or two of liquid chlorine. Depending on test results, you might need stabilizer (CYA).
Once you test your pool water with a proper test kit, post up your data and we can provide you some guidance.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

I have a test kit will be here tomorrow and have salt test kit. Once I get I will post.

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

So salt is at 1974 do I need to add more salt
For my generator to keep up?

 

[mknauss]

How did you test your salt level at 1974?

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

How did you test your salt level at 1974?

I used a salt test strip from Leslie’s pools

 

[JJ_Tex]

Hi Monkey Girl, welcome. What test kit did you get?

Luckily for us, there are a ton of places to get the needed pool supplies. I usually get most of my stuff from Walmart, which is really only Liquid Chlorine and salt after the initial addition of CYA and Calcium.
Then I got to Lowes/Home Depot for Muratic Acid.
I still have never stepped foot in Leslies, and even Kroger has a small pool section with liquid Chlorine and other chemicals.

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

Hi Monkey Girl, welcome. What test kit did you get?

Luckily for us, there are a ton of places to get the needed pool supplies. I usually get most of my stuff from Walmart, which is really only Liquid Chlorine and salt after the initial addition of CYA and Calcium.
Then I got to Lowes/Home Depot for Muratic Acid.
I still have never stepped foot in Leslies, and even Kroger has a small pool section with liquid Chlorine and other chemicals.

I have a Lamotte ColorQ 2x Pro 7 Test and salt test strips. Some colors are hard for me to tell that is why I chose the digital to help.

 

[mknauss]

If you wish to believe the test strips then you need to add salt.

Is your Truclear SWCG reporting low salt?

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

If you wish to believe the test strips then you need to add salt.

Is your Truclear SWCG reporting low salt?

It says check salt. Is there a better salt test I should get?

 

[mknauss]

You should get a Taylor K1766 kit. You should also consider adding a FAS-DPD kit. The ColorQ is not good for any FC above 10 ppm. It also is not very accurate for CH testing. CYA testing is OK at less than 100 ppm. So just be ware that test kit has limitations.

Add 1000 ppm of salt. Brush, circulate, and then retest in a day or two.

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

So I got a Taylor kit but I can’t tell the difference in the colors so have to stick with the color q. I did get a salt test. When I was reading my owner manual for all my new equipment it recommends: Fc 1-3, combine 0, ph 7.4-7.6, stabilizer 30-50, Ta 80-120, hardness 200-400 should
I be using that or the one i found on here for salt water pools?

 

[mknauss]

You cannot tell when the FC test goes from pink to no color?

FAS-DPD Chlorine Test

The FAS-DPD chlorine test is used to find the level of Free Chlorine in the … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

You cannot tell when the FC test goes from pink to no color?

FAS-DPD Chlorine Test

The FAS-DPD chlorine test is used to find the level of Free Chlorine in the … Read more…

www.troublefreepool.com

I can tell red to clear not different color red or green and blue. I had the Taylor 2005C I will need to get the one you suggested.

 

[mknauss]

OK -- the FAS-DPD is the one for FC / CC testing.

The CYA test is a non color test. I suggest you use the drop test for it. The TA should be OK on ColorQ. The CH will not be correct with ColorQ but I assume you do not have a high CH issue.

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

OK -- the FAS-DPD is the one for FC / CC testing.

The CYA test is a non color test. I suggest you use the drop test for it. The TA should be OK on ColorQ. The CH will not be correct with ColorQ but I assume you do not have a high CH issue.

Thanks I will get the Fas-DPD kit I should use the recommended numbers from this site vs the user manuals for ranges on chemicals?

 

[mknauss]

Yes. The ranges the companies report are not based on real use and science.
Recommended Levels

 

[MonkeyGirl22]

FC=2.2
PH=7.9
TA=110
CH=365
CYA 18
Salt 2349
SO i added a cup of muratic acid, a cup of LC and a bag of salt. How often should i be testing I have my calendar set to test every friday .

 

[JJ_Tex]

Are those results from your tester? Those are certainly not results you would get from a drop test, but I'm not familiar with the Lamotte testing in your signature.

If, and I stress only if, you trust those results from your own testing, you should adjust your levels to the levels in the link Marty posted on Sunday.
The main things that look off are your CYA and Chlorine should be much higher. I would target a CYA of 80, and FC of 6. Your pH is fine now, but watch it closely as it will rise and need acid to bring it back down. The acid will also bring your TA into range over time as well.

I would test FC daily until you get everything dialed in and get a good feel for the pool. I do all of the other tests on a weekly basis.