The way it was explained to me is: First and foremost, continue the SLAM until you pass all three, including crystal clear water. Progress slows for most people, especially sand filters, but as long as the is some kind of daily improvement going on, just stay the course. On the other hand, if there is no little hint at all of improvement for multiple days, then you should consider very carefully and strictly following the add a little de to sand filter or sand filter deep clean procedure. If you take daily pictures, share how your psi is going, what your back washes look like and how often they are, and maybe either test results or FC consumption, age of filter, how long it ran when it was a swamp, I believe the great people of this forum will suggest one or the other for you, if and when the time comes should progress completely stall.