New Guy Here

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Ls1CowboyZ

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Aug 22, 2015
20
Arlington/TX
My wife and I bought a home with a pool back in June, and have had a pool company taking care of it since we were living out of town at the time. I'm going to dump them at the end of September since it is our free month with them, but for what they charge, it is kind of a joke. Any way, here is a link to my initial thread: New to this pool thing I have some spotting that responded well to the Vitamin C test. The guys at the pool store suggested going with straight ascorbic acid, but I would have to drop my FC down below 1 first. It was also suggested that I try a black algae killer, so now I don't know which route I should take. :confused:


I brought a sample of my water out of the fill to have it tested like some suggested. I am going back tomorrow to get a Polaris (stay tuned for that thread) so I will also have them test my water in the pool. Here is what comes out of the hose and goes into the pool:

Free Available Chlorine: 3ppm "OK"
Total Available Chlorine: 3ppm "OK"
Calcium Hardness: 70ppm "Low"
Cyanuric Acid: 20ppm "Low"
Total Alkalinity: 140ppm "High"
pH: 8 "High"
Acid Demand: 2
Copper: 0
Iron: 0
Total Dissolved Solids: 250 "OK"
Phosphates: 500ppb "High"

He highlighted the Calcium, CYA, Total Alkalinity, pH, and Phosphates as troublesome areas. Like I said, this is virgin water, and I will bring pool water in tomorrow.

If you clicked into my previous thread, you see the test kit the previous owners left. It didn't have CYA or Calcium, so today I grabbed those two reagents not thinking. Once I got home I realized I have no idea what to do with them, and what scale to compare the colors against. Any ideas on that?

Thanks in advance.
 
Perhaps before performing an AA treatment, you should see how your pool water tests for metals tomorrow. Treating for algae, even black algae, is one thing (primarily with bleach), but treating for metals is a whole other ballgame. The best thing we can take away from the pool store test above is that they showed no metals in your water "source". That's a good thing. Perhaps when you have your pool water tested and compared, that may change if the previous owners (or pool guy) added any algaecides or something containing metal. That would account for metal staining, if that is indeed what those spots are from. For the remainder of your tested items, we can't place a lot of value on those readings since many times they are inconsistent when performed in the pool store. We also don't treat for phosphates since a properly sanitized pool will have no algae that requires phosphates for food anyways. It's always best if you can post your own tests readings for the following:
FC
CC
pH
TA
CYA
CH
A few head-start notes to focus on based off of YOUR own testing:
- In sunny TX, you probably need at least a CYA of 40
- pH needs to come down to the mid-7s
- FC should be maintained around 5-6 based on a CYA of 40
All of these and other levels are noted in the link below in my sig titled "Recommended Levels". Hopefully your kit can test all of these for you. If not, you really should consider buying a TF-100 or Taylor K-2006 test kit. You can't go wrong with either of those.
Until you can have your pool water tested for metals, you may wish to read these pages:
Ascorbic Treatment to rid Pool of metal stains
Pool School - Metals in the Water and Metal Stains
The good thing is that your water looks great (from the previous post), and we don't want to do anything to effect that. With a little more info (pool water testing for metals and your own set of test results), we should be able to give you a good path forward to help resolve the spots without compromising your clear water.
 
I have some spotting that responded well to the Vitamin C test. The guys at the pool store suggested going with straight ascorbic acid, but I would have to drop my FC down below 1 first. It was also suggested that I try a black algae killer, so now I don't know which route I should take.

Stains which respond to ascorbic acid are metal.

Black algae is organic and will not respond to ascorbic acid at all. It will only respond to high levels of chlorine.
To check if its black alage, scrape it vigorously with a brush to get rid of the protective crusty surface. Then rub it vigorously with a chlorine puck for several minutes. If it lightens or goes away, it's algae. If not, then it is something else.
 
Hello Cowboy, and welcome to TFP :wave:,

I read on your other thread where your Polaris disappeared, that's horrible and I'm so sorry. Some people will snatch anything anymore. I'd definitely keep the new one locked up tightly, to keep sticky fingers away from it.

You mentioned above that you are going to do another thread on the Polaris when you get it too. I just wanted to mention, in case you aren't aware, that it's not necessary to start a whole New Thread with each different topic. Actually, they suggest we try to keep all the information together on one thread if possible because it's easier to follow along with. Plus it saves you from unnecessarily having to do a lot of extra work starting, and monitoring several of your threads at once when you really don't have to. I'm all for less Work, lol always.:).

Again, welcome to TFP, we are very glad you're here. Have a fun, and safe Labor Day weekend. :)
 
Crackerjack4u said:
Hello Cowboy, and welcome to TFP :wave:,

I read on your other thread where your Polaris disappeared, that's horrible and I'm so sorry. Some people will snatch anything anymore. I'd definitely keep the new one locked up tightly, to keep sticky fingers away from it.

You mentioned above that you are going to do another thread on the Polaris when you get it too. I just wanted to mention, in case you aren't aware, that it's not necessary to start a whole New Thread with each different topic. Actually, they suggest we try to keep all the information together on one thread if possible because it's easier to follow along with. Plus it saves you from unnecessarily having to do a lot of extra work starting, and monitoring several of your threads at once when you really don't have to. I'm all for less Work, lol always.:).

Again, welcome to TFP, we are very glad you're here. Have a fun, and safe Labor Day weekend. :)
Click to expand...

:wave: I started the Polaris thread, then had the mods delete it because I just went and got a P39. I also didn't want to get wrist slapped for putting things in wrong sub forums. I will research and research and then just one day up and go get it. I often dwell on a decision for a while until I have to say "just do it."

Anyway, got the P39, little guy is awesome. It really motors around the bottom, and scooped up all of the dirt that was down there. Where does the dirt go? There isn't a suction line, just a pressure line and net. Hmm.

Had them test my pool water as well.

FAC 1.5ppm
TAC 1.5ppm
Calcium 1.5 "low"
CYA 30ppm
Alkalinity 80
pH 7.8
Copper/iron 0
Dissolved solids 650
Phosphates 200 "high"

The spots are from the trees on my fence line. They must have caught some metals in the air and dropped them. Good news is that it hasn't gotten any worse, so it might be a once in a while thing. I think the P39 will help scoop it up before it stains in the future. Also, my skimmer works now, so that is great as well. Hopefully I have many clear pool days ahead :)
 
Hello,

Your Polaris sounds awesome. The people that use them say they work great. I'm so jealous though because I can't afford one right now.

But I got a heck of a deal on my cleaners. I was able to get not 1, but 2, Ladybugs and both sets of hoses at a Yard sale for $5.00. Oh yeah!!! Go me! I'm the big bargain shopper.

But after your Polaris snatching though, I hope someone didn't snatch the 2 Ladybugs from someone's yard, and sell them at a bargain price to me cause that would not be good. :|

LOL on the wrist slapping comment. Nope, no wrist slapping around here. Someone may accidentally trip you with a leaf rake or something, but otherwise, I think you're safe around all these fun folks. Have a wonderful night, and post us some pics of your new Polaris if you get a chance.

Someone who has a Polaris will have to tell you were the dirt goes cause I don't have one LOL :(.

EDIT: Also As far as the readings it looks as though your Chlorine level is still really low. So, if you haven't already, go ahead and add enough chlorine to bring your level up to 5-6ppm as suggest by Texas in comment #2 because anytime it gets lower than 3ppm it will allow algae to grow. You can use the PoolMath link at the top of the page, or there is a link in my Signature as well.

I also agree with Texas that if you don't have one of the recommended test kits where you can check your own levels that you really should get one if you can because IMO that will be one of the Best investments you can make.
 
I might mention that you want to not rely too much on pool store advice. You can do your own testing and probably avoid adding alot of stuff that the pool store would tell you to based on the results of their testing. I do believe that pool store test results are skewed towards whatever levels lend themselves to the store telling you that you need this or that. As I look back over 25 years of religiously following pool store suggestions, I see now that I added untold pounds of chemicals that I really would not have needed to. My fault for not doing more research and understanding what the SI index is all about.
 
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