Hello, we bought a house last month with a 22k gal inground pool. Vinyl lining, sand filter, everything relatively (within last 5 years) new. The pool was not professionally closed.
We opened the pool Thursday 5/26 and the water was clear but bottom was green. We shocked the pool as directed by family friend and waited. Green got worse.
We took a water sample to a Pool Store (not sure if we can name them) and bought $165 worth of chemicals (i know..) and a detailed instruction sheet on what to do when. FC and CYA are both at 0. We got to the shock part (2 small bags) which was supposed to magically clear the algae. That obviously did not happen, or I wouldn't be here!
Prior to finding this site, we bought a 6-pack of shock from Walmart and added 4 bags yesterday morning. At this point the pool is green and cloudy. I have the cheap test strips (I am learning I need an actual test kit, which I will be purchasing) and was still reading FC at 0 2 hours later. I started Googling, and found this wonderful site.
I had not found the Pool Math calculator as of last night, but by reading other threads I went out and bought two gals of Clorox 6% and added them to the pool around 4pm (we had a cloudy, overcast day yesterday). Retested an hour later, FC still at 0. I added the last 2 bags of shock at 6pm, retested at about 8-9pm and FC was still at 0.
I did the Pool Math calc and it says I need about 4 gals to get my FC from 0 - 10 (shock level for 0 CYA), but shouldn't the 2 gal have done something?
I'm thinking that I either need to raise the CYA a bit first or add a lot more chlorine. I know I need a good test kit. Can I purchase one at a place like Leslie's, or online only? I had read that the algae should be gone before adding the stabilizer, but I can't get my FC levels to rise with 0 CYA. Can I add some stabilizer (we have the kind that needs to be dissolved in water first before adding to the skimmer) now or do I have to wait until the algae is gone?
I'm at work for the day so I cannot test current levels. pH is in the normal range as is the alkaline. CYA and FC are 0. That's all my test strips test for.
Thanks!
We opened the pool Thursday 5/26 and the water was clear but bottom was green. We shocked the pool as directed by family friend and waited. Green got worse.
We took a water sample to a Pool Store (not sure if we can name them) and bought $165 worth of chemicals (i know..) and a detailed instruction sheet on what to do when. FC and CYA are both at 0. We got to the shock part (2 small bags) which was supposed to magically clear the algae. That obviously did not happen, or I wouldn't be here!
Prior to finding this site, we bought a 6-pack of shock from Walmart and added 4 bags yesterday morning. At this point the pool is green and cloudy. I have the cheap test strips (I am learning I need an actual test kit, which I will be purchasing) and was still reading FC at 0 2 hours later. I started Googling, and found this wonderful site.
I had not found the Pool Math calculator as of last night, but by reading other threads I went out and bought two gals of Clorox 6% and added them to the pool around 4pm (we had a cloudy, overcast day yesterday). Retested an hour later, FC still at 0. I added the last 2 bags of shock at 6pm, retested at about 8-9pm and FC was still at 0.
I did the Pool Math calc and it says I need about 4 gals to get my FC from 0 - 10 (shock level for 0 CYA), but shouldn't the 2 gal have done something?
I'm thinking that I either need to raise the CYA a bit first or add a lot more chlorine. I know I need a good test kit. Can I purchase one at a place like Leslie's, or online only? I had read that the algae should be gone before adding the stabilizer, but I can't get my FC levels to rise with 0 CYA. Can I add some stabilizer (we have the kind that needs to be dissolved in water first before adding to the skimmer) now or do I have to wait until the algae is gone?
I'm at work for the day so I cannot test current levels. pH is in the normal range as is the alkaline. CYA and FC are 0. That's all my test strips test for.
Thanks!