algae

This was my first full summer thorough a tremendously hot Florida season with great success thanks to TFP. I recently added a couple of chairs to the tanning ledge / Baja shelf. It's obvious immediately that the return flow is deflected by the chairs - but it still circulates (as indicated by...

My Pool man said this is not black algae, but discoloration that occurs in old pebble tech finishes. Another pool man urges that is it black algae and can ruin my finish. My pool man is treating it in case it is black algae but it doesn’t seem to be getting better! What the heck do I do please?

I have a pool that was originally built with an in-floor cleaning system - it doesn't really work. I bought a pool vac that I use and like, but I have to run it through the skimmer which means that all of the surface debris goes straight to the pump strainer. I've been looking at...

Hi, A couple of years ago, TFP had articles promoting the use of borax to control algae. The content appears to be gone? What changed on this topic?

I've read through the SLAM method here and started it yesterday. Sounds great, added 4 lbs of CYA (level was zero before addition). Pool is 18,000 gallons, in ground, vinyl, sand filter 300 pounds, new pump is running 24/7. TC is 2, FC is 3 but should be increasing soon. I've been using...

Hello! This is our third summer with our above ground pool, we bought the house with the pool so had to learn as we went. We have a DE filter but this summer we have really been struggling. At first we thought it was a bad pollen issue, bottom Of the pool was always green. When I would take the...

Hi, we need help. We opened the pool and we had a hole in our cover, the pool was disgusting. We got all the debris we could see and shocked it. It turned blue but very cloudy. After a week or so it would green again . We used the green to blue shock treatment. It just seemed to bring algae to...

Good morning! Pool: 13,500 Fiberglass Chlorine pool with Hayward Chlorine Generator (more on this later) Specs from pool store test: FC: 6.5 TC: 6.5 CYA: 84 (more on this later) PH: 7.7 TA: 106 CH: 193 Phosphate: 0 TDS: 1,000 -We were dealing with what I thought was Mustard Algae early in the...

I SLAMed my pool in mid April after re-balancing pool chemistry after winter rains. Turned salt generator off, OCLT quickly stabilized, I let CL drift back to normal, and thought I was good. It's now mid-June and algae is back. Why is that? Not bad, but I see algae when I sweep the walls and...

Hi there. This is my 3rd summer with our plaster pool. 32700 gal. I didn't do as well keeping up with the pool year 2 as I did year 1 so I hired a pool guy over the winter. Now he is proving to be unreliable and I have to switch. In the meantime, the salt cell needs cleaned and the pool...

Our pool was in desperate need of a drain and clean. The CYA levels were beyond deluding, and we hadn't replaced our water in 7 years (thanks, California drought). Not to mention the algae was out of control and the pool became a breeding ground for mosquitos. My husband didn't want to pay a...

Hi, everybody! First post here, so I apologize if I miss anything. I have a 20k gallon in-ground plaster pool (in Sacramento, CA) that I am trying to revive myself after some renters mistreated it. I am (hopefully) nearing the end of a SLAM process that has been going on since April 21. My CYA...

Hi all, So I’ve taken over maintenance for my parents pool this season. Done some light stuff before, but as far anything pool goes now it’s under my watch. Used the SLAM guides to clear the soup early in the season, and other than waiting/light drain and fills to get CYA in check, it has...

My pool has probably pounds of dead algae on the bottom of it. I need to remove it but cant figure out how. It's in ground and doesn't have a drain. I attempted to vacuum out the algae and water through my backwasher but found there was air getting through so the pressure wasn't very high, and I...

My pool was acid washed about 2 months ago. Before acid wash SWG was at 35-40% with Cl 3-5. After acid wash, I noticed that I needed to increase SWG. Now I am at 80%. Pool conditions: FC 1.0-3.5, pH 7.6, TA 100, CH 305, CYA 100, Salt 3700, Phosphate 50. After dark, FC was 3.5 at end of 8 hour...

Hi all! First post here. So, we have a new plaster pool that I have been maintaining using the TFP method since about the middle of December 2022. Everything has gone fairly well so far. (Minus that I found out after the install was done that some of the equipment chosen by the PB was not the...

Hello! Tis the season to start thinking about opening my pool. I live in Illinois and I have a 15 x 40 inground swimming pool with a deep end and mesh cover. I had a very similar pool growing up, and I remember opening it to clear water. (We had a solid cover). Last year when I opened this pool...

Hi everyone! I live in Orlando and just bought my first home, which came with a pool! It was a nasty swampy green before, but I've been doing a crash course this week and the rehab is going well. I have a company coming Friday just for good measure. I am noticing these white spots on the...

Backstory, bought a house in Wisconsin, with an in-ground, 30,000 gallon (large deep end) vinyl (w/ aluminum walls) swimming pool approximately 4 years ago. We had a leak in the 20 year old liner (pool was installed around 1980) that we needed to replace in 2021. Last year everything was...

This is our 2nd summer with our pool & last year we had zero issues! This year we've been gone a lot, the weather has been crazy hot, then super rainy and we have an absolute mess! Our pool currently looks like a yucky green pond & I am ~this~ close to throwing in the towel & crying! I...

I am having extra trouble this year with all sorts of algae due to the Texas heat. Our pool is about 36,000 gallons (we think) and is about 20 feet from our lake. This means we end up with all sorts of critters in our water daily: frogs, snakes, turtles, mice, you name it. We have a tower for...

Hello Friends, I am so happy to have found this forum. Just a couple of months ago my wife and I bought a little soft sided pool for our little girl - a Bestway 12 x 22’ x 48” oval. On the cheap side, I know. Again, I can’t overstate how educational this forum has proved to be. I...

This will be my first year winterizing a pool. I have kept my pool crystal clear all year using liquid chlorine and the occasional muratic acid. My pool also has about 30 ppm of borates in it. My question is when closing for cold Ohio winters should I add anything to keep the algae away or will...

If I have green algae on the floor of my pool, is it better to vacuum the pool before treating it with CYA, shock, and algecide? Or can something like that only be treated with chemicals and I shouldn't bother vacuming until After the algae goes away with chemical treatment? Thanks!

Our new pool has turned green (sadly it was crystal clean when we purchased it a month ago) then went to Hawaii and came back to this. How do I save it before I fork over $800 to pool cleaning. FYI, I know a big rookie trying to understand my pool.

FC: 12 CC: 0 CYA: 45 PH: 7.8 TA: 100 Hardness: 125 Above ground pool, ~6900 gallons 14 inch Intex Sand Filter I used a TF-100 test kit My pool is green and has some sandy-like yellow debris at the bottom (I believe to be mustard algae). I have read the SLAM process and have been maintaining a...

Hello! This is my first post here ever! So.... My out-of-ground 15,000 gallon pool has been greenish and cloudy for two weeks. TWO /HOT/ WEEKS! I used a bunch of pool store :poop: on the pool to no avail. So, I found this place (thankfully). Here's where I am right now: I flocked the pool...

Hello All, New pool owner. Bought a house with a pool almost a year ago in Southern California. I hope that someone can give me more insight on what they think the staining could be in my pool? This isn't something new and has been there since we bought the house. The pool is roughly 26 years...

Hey TFP, Long time reader first time poster here. I'm hoping to try and get some help figuring out what the heck is in my skimmer. I've got Chlorine and PH in a good place and I recently shocked my salt water pool. I've attached a picture of what I'm seeing every morning I get out to check the...

Hi, everyone. I’m dealing with a small outbreak of algae. This is my first experience with it, so I have a couple of questions. We accidentally left the chlorine generator off on our SWG and, with weather too cool to swim, I didn’t pay much attention to the pool. That was a mistake...