Totally new to pools, bought a house with one, and of course now green ...

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Thanks!

Not seeing the link though?

Is the Dry Acid better to use? basically when I read the bottle for what was left here it was dry acid stuff, so I added what was remaining and I think (the colors are just hard for me to see) its like 7.7 right now I also used the Taylor Test kit for Chlorine to get a general idea of where I am at, though to be honest I wish these colors were easier to see or heck, don't bother including that and just give me more of the other stuff that comes for testing chlorine in the TF Test kit. I really like drop counts versus the try and match the color system.

I do have two pucks floating right now. I think I am going to see if I can rig them up close to the return line to get some water going over them direct to speed up the "wear" on them.

I am also going to bring the pool I think to shock level to prep it if the kids want to go in when they get home for school.

now to get the ladder also fully back together, it was interesting to see the different areas that could get algae in it.
 
With your return being above water level, as I understand your description, you are constantly aerating the pool, which pushes pH up. Someone in an earlier post said aeration would raise TA, which is incorrect.

My point is, if you find yourself fighting rising pH, it would probably benefit you to get your return point submerged (i.e. fill up pool a bit more).
 
FC - 8.5
CC - 1.0
PH - 7.8
CYA - 15?
TA - 220

I see line tracks in the pool, so I am thinking I need to SLAM. The weather is going to be rainy it looks like. My plan is to:

- Added PH decreaser to drop the levels to 7.2 and confirm level drops that low
- Keep the Tablets in the pool to Raise CYA
- As the tablets take so long to raise CYA, I am going to pick up some stabilizer and add that
- Target CYA of 40
- SLAM the pool

With the weather as it is, I don't think I have to worry about people wanting in the pool for a few days here.

I was also thinking of picking up another vacuum head too, I saw one cheap that was clear and in a triangle shape versus mine which is in a rectangle.

This PH decreaser I picked up also mentioned it can decrease TA or I should say it is listed as a TA decreaser and also decreases PH. Lots of stuff on sale at menards, they had the 12.5% chlorine gallon bottles for $2.99 each, so 5 cent more here than the great value bleach. I think I'll grab the rest of them :)
 
Thanks!

I made a quick run to the pool store that I feel comfortable with and picked up stabilizer.

I went ahead and added the PH Decreaser and its currently running with a fresh filter inside.

I will then add the CYA per the instructions and do a SLAM tonight as well.

I did notice something I hadn't before as the return line was not in the water. When I went to take off the filter cover, the water really started pouring out. This was most likely because water was going into the return line now was backflowing into the filter. Looking around the pool I saw this weird looking "tube" that almost looked like something you would plug into a blow up mattress. I put it into the return line and it fit and stopped the flow since it was outside the waterline.

I noticed that there is these little black things floating on the top of the water, would that be dead algae? In addition, same question on stuff at the bottom of the pool, reason I ask that is on another thread someone mentioned that as being dead algae.
 
alright here is what I am seeing in the morning:

FC - 11.5
CC - 0.5 (may even be 0.0 as I can't see it, have trouble with reds, daughter told me)
Water - Clear

I also checked the PH for the heck of it and it was a solid 7.5 :)

Based on this, I think that stuff I am seeing at the bottom is silt or whatever its called. I think my Algae problem is taken care of now. I'll keep maintaining my pool assuming a CYA level of 40 right now for target FC (5).

Now on to proper ways to winterize the pool, and a few oddities I'll post in another forum like handling "drips" from a few areas I see to better seal stuff up.
 

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Okay right now. the weekend was one of being wet so the kids didn't get to go in.

And then I had a backswimmer situation that came up here which is still confusing me as I have been doing my measurements and I am not seeing issues with my CC levels, everything looks pretty good. Water clear, that silt I mentioned on the bottom but doesn't seem to be algae.

It got bad on Labor Day as I didn't run the filter overnight as I figured I can do 4 to 8 hours now of running based on things I have read after the levels look good. It looks like the bugs were having a party that i was hoping to have instead!

after trying to catch them for awhile which in and of itself was very interesting, I noticed that the amounts in the pool were dropping more than what I could tell I was catching. So it dawned on me to check the pump basket and they were having a grand ol time in there.

I dumped a whole bunch of them into a tub of soapy water based on what I was reading to kill them and it did just that. So I'll be checking it again today and going from there.

I have heard of some things you can add to the pool to keep them out ranging from something called Bug Off to even dawn soap.

Right now I am going to see how things go when I get home after checking levels, etc.

Next step will be to get all ready for winterization. I am still not following how the splash pool manual is wanting to have this done as the part with the Ball Valve is not making sense to me. They say open it to drain, but you are not to drain the whole pool, but they don't make mention of what to seal the opening with. I am assuming its just something that got left out but I want to be sure you know?

I did order a winter cover, that mesh Artic one I heard about so I am going to try that.

I am also going to be ordering a skimmer but probably wait till next year. Also need to get winterization chemicals, will look into what TFP recommends.
 
alright so I took a look yesterday afternoon at the pool and the backswimmers were all gone, some floating dead bugs on the top, a variety of bees mainly. my CC was zero.

I think with the time left for the season, not going to worry too much about the bugs, I'll get them out of there for sure and keep levels where they need to be or even at shock level.

Main thing now is just to get the winterization gear together. I did hear back from Splash and I just need to add in a winterization 1.5 inch plug before opening the ball valve.
 
to follow up on all this.

Winter went well. I had a good ol time with winterization initially as detailed here:

Ball Valve has slight , advise on addressing?

I ended up having to basically drain the pool so I am going to install some new parts and fill back up. Our water changed over to a new supplier, so it should be better (they say we won't need water softners anymore).

I am hopeful that we can have a great summer with the pool, and I am now in the market for an auto cleaner. I am thinking the wanda the whale one here?

Amazon.com : Hayward 900 Wanda the Whale Above-Ground Automatic Pool Cleaner : Swimming Pool Maintenance Kits : Patio, Lawn Garden

as I am assuming all the other models are basically the same just a different face?
 
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