Thought I was home free after my SLAM...

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G

gonzodog

0
Apr 11, 2016
37
Dallas, TX
I just started the TFP method a week ago. First order of business was doing a SLAM as I had a small algae problem (water cloudy/teal greenish). Got through the SLAM, or so I thought. My OCT showed same FC in the morning as the previous night, CC was 0 and water was clear. I did a backwash yesterday and cleaned the filters and put in new DE.

I was doing my weekly test today and my CC was 1.0. I went looking around the pool and sure enough, 2 small spots of what looks like algae. I scrubbed the pool and started another SLAM.

I did notice that the bag on the Polaris had some green on it, so I pulled the Polaris out and am going to replace the bag. Would something like that be enough to keep algae in the pool?

Any other thoughts? I made sure I scrubbed around the steps and the lights real good.
 
Absolutely Gonzo. Algae will try to survive on bags, , nets, pool toys, anything left around with the slightest bit of moisture. Good thing is you caught it early and hopefully will resolve it quickly. Can you imagine if you didn't have that test kit, what you'd be going through right now? Driving to the store for tests that wouldn't work anyways, etc, etc? While you're at it, look around closely at any other potential hiding spots. I don't recall form your old post if you looked behind the light in the niche, but don't leave anything for granted. Oh, and finally .... double check your water circulation. If you have any dead spots where water doesn't really travel well, that could be an issue as well. Drop a few ping pong balls in the water to evaluate their movement.

Good luck!
 
I pulled the light out, and YIKES!!, it looked nasty behind the fixture.

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w501/gonzodog_74/20160426_231944315_iOS_zpsh5mhbtwv.jpg

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w501/gonzodog_74/20160426_232253776_iOS_zpsbzqtwnqw.jpg

That's what remained on the light and in the niche that didn't fall out when I pulled the fixture out. I did some serious scrubbing, and did my best to clean the fixture and the niche, then vacuumed. I think I should probably change that fixture, as it looks pretty old, but that's a different project. I'm hoping that that was the crux of my problem.

I haven't had issue keeping my FC at Shock level (20), and it didn't drop last night. Yesterday evening my CC was 2 (I measured it at the opposite end of the pool from the light fixture, after I had cleaned out the niche), and this morning it was .5. It seems that my CC varies frequently, often being higher in the evening (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday night being 1+) and low in the morning (.5 or less Tues & Wed morning).

The pool guy I had before would always use a ton of chlorine tabs and would drop shock packets in every week. Makes we think that by putting so much chemicals in there, it countered the algae in the niche, and since I brought it down to an appropriate level of FC, that the algae was then able to grow more extensively, as it wasn't constantly being beaten back by the chlorine. That's the only reason I can think of as to why the pool hasn't been green recently. When we bought the house in Aug 2015, it was green, and that's when we hired the pool guy. He was able to get it cleared up within a couple days, but I'm guessing he didn't clean out behind the niche. Over the winter, the pool wasn't chlorinated very much, so I'm curious as to why the algae didn't make itself apparent then. Would it not grow during the winter? I don't know that we got below freezing this winter, it was a pretty mild winter.

If there is no FC loss tonight and the CC remains at .5 or below tonight and tomorrow, I think I'll let the FC drop to normal level (the pool never got cloudy or green, I had just noticed a couple green spots on the wall).

I'm hoping that this solves my issue, but if not, then I don't know what to do next.
 
More likely that the tabs were keeping the pool insufficiently chlorinated and the algae was back there for a while."shocking" and cool temps inhibited it, but never got rid of it. Also check skimmer doors, under the skimmer basket, underneath ladder rungs...
 
I first noticed the algae around a couple of the returns. I've scrubbed the walls and floor and particularly around the returns. I did an overnight test and the FC didn't drop and CC was 0.5 this morning. I'm hoping it holds. Going to keep and eye on it and hope that my cc doesn't increase again. The water has stayed clear.

My pool plaster is a mix of green, blue, and there are some black spots. I don't know if that is supposed to look like that it if it is indicative of a problem. The pool looked like that when we bought the house last August, so it isn't 'different' in our eyes. It does make it a bit difficult to spot algae or other problems. I think my wife would like it a different color, so maybe once that is done I could better spot problems. I have scrubbed the walls with both nylon and an aluminum brush, and the black spots don't go away. Any thoughts on if the black spots/stains may be indicative of a problem?
 
The spots could simply be a stain that got embedded in the plaster from the previous owners. Now that you are maintaining the water properly, you might see some fading over time. But if they don't change with scraping with your finger nails or brushing, it might just be something you have to love with for a while.
 
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