Recommendations on type/brand of conditioner/stabilizer for the pool?

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mskillens

mskillens

Member
Jun 26, 2019
17
Los Angeles, CA
Hey everyone! I'm getting my pool ready as it's getting warmer now in southern California and I ran a CYA dot test this afternoon from my test kit. The dot never faded away so I assume my conditioner/stabilizer levels are below 30PPM. I intend to take care of this conditioner deficiency before balancing and managing Chlorine and pH and TA.

I was wondering if ordering this liquid conditioner/stabilizer from Amazon under the brand name Natural Chemistry: https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Chem...tioner&qid=1649553985&sprefix=,aps,492&sr=8-6 is an okay brand to use to up my CYA level to 50-60 PPM. I have a fairly smallish pool of around 22,500 gallons so I'd imagine I would need more than one gallon of this solution to make it to 50-60PPM. Anyway, I also have some pucks in storage along with a floater if that's better but I'm always nervous about putting too much stabilizer in the pool. I used to maintain a pool with just mainly pucks and I had to go on Trouble Free Pool to learn about how that caused an over saturation of stabilizer in my water over time. If you guys recommended the puck route, how many would you reckon I would need for a 22,500 gallon pool to get a perfect level of stabilizer?

There's also the powder in the bags route which I did a few years back but I did it all wrong without the sock method and I had clumps of powder on the bottom of the pool that I had to brush and stir until it dissolved. So i definitely don't want to do that again if it can be avoided.

let me know what you guys think. Maybe there's some main brand everyone recommends for a quick add that I could order. Thanks
 
Don't waste your money on the liquid conditioner. It's at least 2x the price of the granular stuff.
You may hear it called "liquid gold" around here.

As @Sunnydaze mentioned, be sure it's 100% cyanuric acid. Walmart usually carries it - it's about $20 for 4 pounds. Others have had success finding it at Amazon. Just figure out the price per pound to find the best deal.
Again 100% cyanuric acid.

Add it using the sock method. Once you hang the sock in the pool water, dose chlorine like the CYA is already in the water.

Being in Socal, you have hard water. What is your CH presently?

Only add stabilizer to attain a CYA of 30. Then follow the SLAM Process to the letter. After the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is complete, you can raise theCYA to your desired level - probably 40-50 would work good for starters.
 
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proavia said:
Don't waste your money on the liquid conditioner. It's at least 2x the price of the granular stuff.
You may hear it called "liquid gold" around here.

As @Sunnydaze mentioned, be sure it's 100% cyanuric acid. Walmart usually carries it - it's about $20 for 4 pounds. Others have had success finding it at Amazon. Just figure out the price per pound to find the best deal.
Again 100% cyanuric acid.

Add it using the sock method. Once you hang the sock in the pool water, dose chlorine like the CYA is already in the water.

Being in Socal, you have hard water. What is your CH presently?

Only add stabilizer to attain a CYA of 30. Then follow the SLAM Process to the letter. After the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is complete, you can raise theCYA to your desired level - probably 40-50 would work good for starters.
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Okay gotcha. I didn't test Calcium but when I did several months ago, it was high. I mean, from my understanding, there's not much I can do about that since our water is always going to be too hard. If there's something out there for managing hard water, let me know hahah If anything, I'm always cautious when people recommend me products because I know some products raise Calcium even more and I definitely don't want that.

I'll do the granular packages and use the sock method. I'll calculate the amount to make sure I'm only getting up to 30PPM and do SLAM. Then, I'll raise it to where I want it which is around 50. Thank you for the tips and advice!
 
Test the CH first. And also test the CH of your tap water. Then let us know what both are.

If it's high, it may be best to drain and start fresh. With evaporation, your pool CH may rise by your tap water CH at least yearly. Here in AZ, I evaporate 1 to 1.5 of my pool volume yearly. Socal will most likely be less.

As for keeping calcium under control, using softened water for your make up or autofill water will allow your CH level to remain relatively constant. Not sure what the California take is on water softeners.
 
I use this Robelle Stabilizer from Home Depot. I leave in the middle of nowhere, so getting stuff delivered makes my life easier. If you buy in a the 14 lbs or larger, you start to get under $4./00 a pound, especially with free shipping.
 
proavia said:
Don't waste your money on the liquid conditioner. It's at least 2x the price of the granular stuff.
You may hear it called "liquid gold" around here.

As @Sunnydaze mentioned, be sure it's 100% cyanuric acid. Walmart usually carries it - it's about $20 for 4 pounds. Others have had success finding it at Amazon. Just figure out the price per pound to find the best deal.
Again 100% cyanuric acid.

Add it using the sock method. Once you hang the sock in the pool water, dose chlorine like the CYA is already in the water.

Being in Socal, you have hard water. What is your CH presently?

Only add stabilizer to attain a CYA of 30. Then follow the SLAM Process to the letter. After the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test is complete, you can raise theCYA to your desired level - probably 40-50 would work good for starters.
Click to expand...
I had a quick question about SLAM as I start it this week, when I do the loss tests every evening and morning to see if my pool passes, do I need to spend extra money on muriatic acid to keep the pH down for the tests to read accurately? Especially since I’m using liquid chlorine for shocking? Does that make a case for using granular shock as it doesn’t raise pH? What do you guys usually do regarding pH levels during SLAM?
 
Liquid chlorine does not raise the pH of the pool water. It is a net neutral reaction.

You do not adjust pH during a SLAM as typically your FC is above 10 ppm making the pH test inaccurate. Focus on FC only.
 
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dooger54 said:
Wondering why you recommended doing a SLAM? If the water is clear and no signs of algae why would you SLAM?
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Because you stated you were going to address the CYA level before balancing and managing chlorine, TA and pH.
If you don't maintain FC at the proper level for your CYA, you will get algae - FC/CYA Levels.
At a minimum, do an Overnight Chlorine Loss Test - it's cheap insurance.
 
dooger54 said:
Ok, stupid question
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No stupid questions. Ever.

dooger54 said:
but if the water is clear can algae still be present?
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Algae grows exponentially. The last couple growth cycles is the difference between clear water (with red flags from regular testing), and a swamp. Regaining the upper hand with a swamp is like stopping a runaway train. You can. But you'd rather have to stop it at 3mph before it gets up to speed.
 
The only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

Yes, water can be clear and algae can still be present - a nascent algae bloom.
 
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