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Thanks for the info on these two reagents. Very helpful! I know better now. ;)

I bought a bottle of R-0004 thinking it was just a larger version of R-0014. However, I noticed that R-0004 is much darker (showing higher pH) than R-0014. You can see the fluid is darker in the bottle. Did I get a bad bottle, or is there a difference in these products?

I guess that explains it. I was trying to do a Big Duck's job with a little circular floater. LOL If I ever need to use the Duck while on vacation, I just hope it doesn't attrack other ducks to make my pool their home. :D

I was just reading about CYA this morning. "With a SWG the odds of needing to shock the pool go down significantly, which is the main disadvantage of higher CYA levels. Meanwhile, the costs of adding chlorine go up a little (both as a capital investment in purchasing the SWG and in the cost of...

I'm not an expert, but I have to wonder about the quality of your chlorine. Bleach has a very limited shelf life, with the concentration of chlorine dropping by the day. It goes down even faster in hot temperatures. Las Vegas is hot this time of year. Where is the bleach being stored? I...

As someone who also has a jam packed life at times, and has tried the trichlor pucks. I honestly think you are better off just over-chlorinating the pool prior to times you know you won't get to it. I tried the pucks as a test, and they didn't add nearly enough chlorine or acid for my pool. You...

Maybe the experts can correct me, but if it were me, I would be adding bleach immediately to get your chlorine levels up before you get algae. Then I would add some CYA, so you are not consuming huge amounts of chlorine due to sun breakdown. No need to wait between these two. The pH is too...

Interesting reading. Thanks, rcmodelr.

I bought my house two years ago, and started with TFP right away, so I didn't have any experience with chlorine pucks. I needed to raise my CYA, so I thought it would be a good time to experiment with them, in case I went on an extended vacation. I researched pucks, and found that many of them...

I also has been a long time TFP person, and thought I would try out pucks in case I needed to go on vacation. I also needed to add CYA anyway. My experience was after three days, the chlorine was too low, and the pH too high. They didn't work at all. Plus the pucks are really irritating to...

L always wondered why this was in the instructions. Thank you for your insight!

I did some research on this, and ended up buying Chlorox Active 99 tabs at Lowes. They are 99% Trichlor. Others are not, including the Chlorox XtraBlue line of products, and all the Pool Time products I saw at Home Depot. I would think a Trouble Free Pool person would be interested in the...

Not so sure after reading this. "ARRGGHHH!!!! Reading the label today, I see they have other junk in them besides stabilizer. They are trichlor but seem to have 3.5% zinc sulfate monohydrate and 5.4% "other" plus the label says "ULTRA - contains built-in algae fighter, built-in resistance to...

My CYA started out at 150 when I got my house with the pool. With water changes, using the TFP methods here, and general degradation of CYA, it is now under 20. So I need to raise it a bit. I was thinking of using a floater with Trichlor to do this. I am going on vacation this summer, and...

JoyfulNoise, Thank you for the tips! I definitely want to do it right.

Swampwoman, I have been off the board for a few days. Thank you for your detailed response. I am on city water, so generally low in metals. I put some Vitamin C tablets on some stains, and with some of them large plumes of black emanated. The plaster around the tablet for about a foot was...

Can anyone recommend a test kit which will measure sequestered metals? I'm going to do an ascorbic acid treatment, and want to see what the results are, so I know what to do afterwards.

I would recommend a SLAM, as outlined in pool school. Until I did one, my skin itched like crazy! You have to get all the organic material out of the pool, so your combined chlorine is as close to zero as possible. Then be extra vigilant that your pH is at the right level, and chlorine levels...

I found this at http://www.culator.com/are-metal-stains-in-pools-preventable "Dissolved metals typically exist in two forms: the free form, and the complexed or sequestered form. It is absolutely essential that both forms are measured when determining the total metal concentration of pool...

I personally have not, but I recently bought the house, and the previous owner may have.

I took my water sample to the pool store, and to my surprise, they used test strips to test for copper and iron. The results came back with zero for both. Should the results be trusted?

I was just in your position. I'm starting to get a handle on this after several months. I think I am getting close to graduation, at least for the lower grades.:D Look like you are zeroing in on your levels pretty fast! Congrats!

Thanks to both of you! I appreciate the input.

I searched the forum for answers to this, and couldn't find one. At what FC level does the pH measurement become inaccurate? At high FC levels, does the pH read higher or lower than it really is? Can you have a CYA level that demands so much FC that you will never get an accurate pH...

I appreciate all the well wishes and tips. I just got back from the doctor. He said the acid vapors damaged the outer layer of cells of my eyes, but they should heal in about week. His words were, "You dodged a bullet." Just for clarification, I put the acid jug in an empty bucket just to...

I thought I was taking every precaution when adding acid to my pool. Safety Googles Charcoal Respirator Nitrile Gloves Hose to wash off acid splash Bucket to contain acid if leaked Last night, at about 9pm, I opened the 14.5% acid in a bucket. It had the seal on the opening. The seal didn't...

Great information, guys! It looks like it is another reason why it is hard to operate a pool with a high CYA. You need higher FC even without a SLAM, but then the pH reading becomes distorted. I'm learning so much here. Thank you very much!

pH was 7.8 before SLAM. Can an accurate reading be had if a chlorine neutralizer was used during the pH test?

I was surprised that my pH seem to rise dramatically over a couple weeks, after raising the chlorine due to high CYA. I was also trying to get rid of some algae. At the same time, I got the pool pump system working better with better flow, so the spillway for the spa started working. Now I am...