Oak pollen

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revitup said:
Can anyone explain to me how catkins, leaves, acorns, pine cones, grass clippings, mulch, or any other type of flora falling in your pool can cause algae or a ‘cloudy’ pool? I
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So with my sample size of exactly *1*, I found that anything fresh that fell in the pool was fine and did not affect the chemistry. Even the brown/dead leaves in the fall, had not started to decay yet, and as long as they came out within a day or two, the chemistry didn't care. Fresh green leaves/branches that fell in storms would have lasted much longer.

Now, if an already rotting branch fell, well that was full of organics already. Or any of the flowers that are brown, mushy and wilted. In the case of those, I had an IC60 and 35k gallons to absorb it nicely.

Pollen was of no chemistry harm but was so fine that it made the water lightly cloudy / milky. Not nearly as bad as the back half of a SLAM, but a medium haze.
 
I use paint strainers - Home Depot for 1g cans. Was using 5g ones for Poolskim but found something better at Amazon.

Now, after running pump overnight, I see I have an air leak somewhere (really big bubble in pump basket). High speed, no bubble, lower speed normally a small bubble, but overnight it became the whole top area. Not sure where to check, pretty sure I have the pump lid greased up well.
 
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I have an Oak like you right over my pool as well as lots of pine trees. It’s why I had to get a skimmer bot. I get tons of catkins pine straw leaves etc. When the pollen finally stops I usually bring the pool up to slam levels and add DE to my sand filter as that seems to get rid of any haze from the pollen.
 
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I've about decided the extra few weeks of swimming isn't worth removing the cover early. Think I'll leave it on until May 1st next year!
 
tcat said:
Now, after running pump overnight, I see I have an air leak somewhere (really big bubble in pump basket). High speed, no bubble, lower speed normally a small bubble, but overnight it became the whole top area. Not sure where to check, pretty sure I have the pump lid greased up well.
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That’s perfectly normal. I run my pump and salt water generator 24/7. At night I run it very low. My pump lets me select 3 different times to adjust speed with the lowest time interval being 15 minutes. I have mine set to run full speed for 15 minutes at around 7:00AM or so at full speed. That way it purges any bubbles in the pump lid.
 
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tcat said:
Pressure doesn't go up too much, but I like to keep algae from growing on the filter.
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Algae needs sunlight to grow. It doesn't grow inside of a pitch black filter. Dead algae, in my experience, will cause DE to clump together inside the filter. Algae free DE will 90% backwash out.

Make sure you're following the instructions in your manual for your filter.
 
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Getting frustrating. Passed overnight test 2 nights ago with zero CC. Cranked up SWG to 75%, and FC still dropping during day. Went from 4 to 1.5 last night. Slamming again. Thinking my CYA was 60, checked again, maybe 40-50. Just added 4# CYA, should be +25 in a day. Will keep FC at 10 all day and test overnight. Pool not green (but not super clear either). Still pulling buckets of catkin out and running Aquabot twice a day.
 

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Just went out to check Betta skimmer robot and it was making a thumping noise. Turns out the oak catkins formed a ball and were jamming the paddle. I thought maybe they were wrapped around something like a frog so I ripped it apart and it was just more catkins. Like those rubber band balls! Definitely an uptick in oak today and of course windy.
 
Bam Bam said:
Just went out to check Betta skimmer robot and it was making a thumping noise. Turns out the oak catkins formed a ball and were jamming the paddle. I thought maybe they were wrapped around something like a frog so I ripped it apart and it was just more catkins. Like those rubber band balls! Definitely an uptick in oak today and of course windy.
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Hoping today's wind knocks the rest of them out, while I'm slamming.
 
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walkinpool said:
Hey sorry to hear, you will square it away soon. I had to SLAM and just passed OCLT. Water clarity wasn’t bad but I could tell something off and higher FC usage. Crazy catkin and pollen season.
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Not last night, FC dropped 20 to 17. CC still not more than .5. Will keep it at 20 today. It's windy and not quite as much oak catkin falling. I really think it's the green layer of pollen on everything that's doing something to it. Backwashed filter, jumped from 13 to 17 the past couple days (@2750), Poolskim is now sucking better. Amazed at all the extra trapped air after installing SWG. Still believe there's a leak somewhere, but as long as pump isn't losing prime, not going to worry about it
 
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djw said:
I have never seen a load of catkins like this year. It's horrible.
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Think they're about done in Austin. Wind is blowing and only a few catkins and leaves. But yeah, the past 3 weeks I've dumped at least 4 50 gallon bags. Won't be anything left when my Betta arrives!
 
Newdude said:
Don't worry Tcat, Oaks are the gift that keeps giving all season long. There will be plenty for it to chase. (y)
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If it's not catkins, it's acorns. If it's not acorns, it's mower clippings. I know Betta will always find something (hopefully sun!)
 
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