Transforming the green swamp

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zman_99

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Jun 28, 2013
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Ok read lots of info here. after careful deliberation, I decided to do a major drain and refill. The cya was off the charts and algae ruled. The reason was the use of the pucks. I drained the pool down to 6 inches and vacuumed the major algae as waste. I refilled and now have the pump running. I purchased a leslies test kit, for now, because it has the CYA test included. I will order the taylor in a couple days. after the refill , the pump ran all night. This morning I took some tests and these were the results. PH-8.2 CYA-30-40 and no reading other than FC .5 or just clear, assuming zero. I read that the first thing is to get the PH to its proper balance, low side would be good. So my goal is to shoot for 7.2. After that gets down I plan to SLAM it !:eek: I used a small dose of muriatic acid from home depot, around 64 oz. An hour and a half later the level was at 7.8. A decent change from 8.2. should I try another means to lower PH ? Im out of acid and was on my way to store. My question is how often to administer, how far in between, and when to test after dosage? I plan on using bleach to SLAM.
 
zman_99 said:
Ok read lots of info here. after careful deliberation, I decided to do a major drain and refill. The cya was off the charts and algae ruled. The reason was the use of the pucks. I drained the pool down to 6 inches and vacuumed the major algae as waste. I refilled and now have the pump running. I purchased a leslies test kit, for now, because it has the CYA test included. I will order the taylor in a couple days. after the refill , the pump ran all night. This morning I took some tests and these were the results. PH-8.2 CYA-30-40 and no reading other than FC .5 or just clear, assuming zero. I read that the first thing is to get the PH to its proper balance, low side would be good. So my goal is to shoot for 7.2. After that gets down I plan to SLAM it !:eek: I used a small dose of muriatic acid from home depot, around 64 oz. An hour and a half later the level was at 7.8. A decent change from 8.2. should I try another means to lower PH ? Im out of acid and was on my way to store. My question is how often to administer, how far in between, and when to test after dosage? I plan on using bleach to SLAM.
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Welcome!

It would do your SLAM good to get the pH to 7.2-ish. Muriatic acid is the weapon of choice, but you could use dry acid (pH minus or pH down) as well.

Be sure to add all your pool details to your signature, it will help stop the barrage of questions about it.

Which Leslie's test kit is it exactly? Does it measure FC above 10ppm? With a CYA of 40ppm (always round to closest 10ppm) you will need to reach and maintain a FC of 16ppm for the duration of the SLAM (at 30ppm CYA your SLAM is at 12ppm).

Dom
 
zman_99 said:
Ok read lots of info here. after careful deliberation, I decided to do a major drain and refill. The cya was off the charts and algae ruled. The reason was the use of the pucks. I drained the pool down to 6 inches and vacuumed the major algae as waste. I refilled and now have the pump running. I purchased a leslies test kit, for now, because it has the CYA test included. I will order the taylor in a couple days. after the refill , the pump ran all night. This morning I took some tests and these were the results. PH-8.2 CYA-30-40 and no reading other than FC .5 or just clear, assuming zero. I read that the first thing is to get the PH to its proper balance, low side would be good. So my goal is to shoot for 7.2. After that gets down I plan to SLAM it !:eek: I used a small dose of muriatic acid from home depot, around 64 oz. An hour and a half later the level was at 7.8. A decent change from 8.2. should I try another means to lower PH ? Im out of acid and was on my way to store. My question is how often to administer, how far in between, and when to test after dosage? I plan on using bleach to SLAM.
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welcome to the forum! sounds like you have a good plan and understanding of the SLAM. as far as testing and adding goes, well the first couple of days will consume a lot of bleach. basically try to test every 2-3 hours the first day or two if you can, which can be hard to do I know. if not, just try and do as much as you can. the goal is to keep your FC at the SLAM level 100% of the time, which is hard when you are using up FC so quickly. you can overshoot the FC a few ppm for some buffer, just don't go overboard.

I would recommend you take a look at the link in my signature and compare the tests. you will see the TF-100 comes with more reagants and will last longer and is a better deal. since you are doing a SLAM, I would add the XL version since you will be testing FC so often and at high levels which will use up those reagants very quickly.

when you confirmed your CYA, was that with a drop test or strip? if its the strip, I wouldn't go off of that.
 
I have a leslies kit 18-576 total poolcare dpd test kit. Free and total chlorine or bromine,PH, acid & base demand, TA Calcium hardness and CYA. The inside directions and reagents are all Taylor. The downside is that it does not measure above 10 ppm. what now ? The CYA test was with the disappearing black bubble.
 
just ordered up tf100 and right now there is free shipping on orders over $80. yes when I said off the charts I didn't know what that reading was. the CYA test doesn't go above 100ppm. I left about a foot maybe of water. now I have to figure how to keep The SLAM levels at 16ppm with no way to measure? the initial pool calculator can only help with dosage from the get go. Then what?
 
zman_99 said:
just ordered up tf100 and right now there is free shipping on orders over $80. yes when I said off the charts I didn't know what that reading was. the CYA test doesn't go above 100ppm. I left about a foot maybe of water. now I have to figure how to keep The SLAM levels at 16ppm with no way to measure? the initial pool calculator can only help with dosage from the get go. Then what?
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well, I think you answered your own question :)

you cant measure the actual amount without the test kit. for now I guess you best bet is to test your FC and when it gets to within range (10ppm), then add enough to get back to 16ppm. it will slow you down a bit, but your test kit will probably be there in a couple of days. with a liner like you have, I wouldn't be overshooting FC too high.
 
DaninFLA said:
well, I think you answered your own question :)

you cant measure the actual amount without the test kit. for now I guess you best bet is to test your FC and when it gets to within range (10ppm), then add enough to get back to 16ppm. it will slow you down a bit, but your test kit will probably be there in a couple of days. with a liner like you have, I wouldn't be overshooting FC too high.
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does the tf100 have the ability to test above 10ppm FC? right now its a guessing game. I filled the test tube up with half pool water and half tap water. the result is double . that only puts me in the 10ppm range. how about if I used 1/3 pool water and 2/3 tap water. that should put me around 15ppm range, right? a little closer at least.
 

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zman_99 said:
does the tf100 have the ability to test above 10ppm FC? right now its a guessing game. I filled the test tube up with half pool water and half tap water. the result is double . that only puts me in the 10ppm range. how about if I used 1/3 pool water and 2/3 tap water. that should put me around 15ppm range, right? a little closer at least.
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yes, the TF100 is drop based and the FC goes to 50ppm I think. it goes as high as you are going to need for sure.
 
good when I followed the link you provided it only had that individual test. It said it didn't come in the cheaper kits. So I guess the tf100 is a higher end kit. cant wait for it to come in , I want to end this nightmare
 
sorry zman, I thought you were interested in just adding the chlorine test to your kit, but getting the full TF100 is the way to go. its really nice. congrats. run a full set of tests once it comes in. in the mean time, try and keep your chlorine levels up. sounds like the dilution method you are doing is your best bet for the time being.
 
A real quick update on SLAM. It's day 2 and seems to be doing fine. originally the initial dosage was at 3.5 bottles of bleach to reach 16ppm. Every hour or so I had to put in about a half bottle of bleach (121 oz. of 8.25%). I left it alone overnight. In the morning I was at 13ppm so I dosed with a full bottle. I then brushed the entire pool to loose the algae. This morning it looked green. Every couple hours I would test and it would be around 13ppm and I would readjust. Been doing that since this morning. Last I checked the pool looked a bit greyish, not green like before. I hope all is working fine. I need to head to work so I showed my son how to check it and add bleach as necessary. when I get home tonight I'll check and get up to SLAM level before bed
 
shifting from green to gray is a good thing. keep an eye on your sand filter, when you get a 25% increase in pressure rise, you need to backwash. once you get your TF100, you will be able to be more accurate on your FC levels.
 
image.jpgimage.jpgday three on the SLAM. Right now, I am highly encouraged. This morning the pool changed from a greenish color , To a bluish color. I did notice a bit of algae on walls and floor. I Brushed it into the main stream. You can see that the clarity is not quite there yet. Should I vacuum the pool or just continue this process? There is still a lot of pressure coming out of return. As it slow, I will backwash, rinse and filter again. All in all , it's going to happen!! I'm going to regain what the algae has stolen! Thanks to all your help , I couldn't of did this without this forum and the help of its members. I still have a ways to go, but am excited to report the progress. What should I expect? And what's next?
 
nice progress. you should keep brushing and vacuuming every day. try and brush twice a day if you can. all that algae is dying and you need to get it out via filtering/backwashing.

as far as what to expect. your FC consumption should start to slow down a bit, but its important to keep testing and keeping that FC at SLAM level. keep the petal to the metal as they say. you already removed the ladder, etc...correct?

once your pool starts to clear up a bit, it will probably remain a little hazy. at that point, adding DE to your sand filter will help filter out the very fine dust and get your crystal clear. one good way to track your progress is to start keeping track of your overnight chlorine loss (OCLT). when you do your last addition of bleach for the night (after sunset), wait 30 minutes and test your FC levels. Then test first thing in the morning and see the drop. this measures your chlorine loss due to algae and eliminates the losses from sunlight. one of the criteria for finishing the SLAM is that your OCLT FC loss is 1ppm or less.

the most important thing to remember is to FINISH the SLAM. a lot of people stop a day or two early because the pool looks so great and they cant wait. take the time to completely finish it. if not, algae can creep back
 
I did remove the ladder from inside the pool. I can vacuum the pool today and then backwash. from the get go I put about a half cup of DE in the filter. too much and it seems to clog up almost overnight. I work late tonight but will start to watch the OCLT. I have a 3 day weekend and the TF100 should be coming in. I definitely want to finish the SLAM. I think so far so good. The pool is definitely cloudy but was impressed to see the change in color! time to get busy !
 
its a bit premature for DE additions, because like you said its going to clog up the filter too fast. just use the sand for now, which will take out the bulk of dead algae. the sand filter will probably get 95% of your filtering done. when you need that last 5%, then you add the DE. do you have a working pressure gauge on your filter? you should be backwashing once you hit 25% increase from clean. so if your pressure after backwashing is 10 psi, you backwash when it hits 12.5 psi.
 
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