algaecide needed?

[Nancyperkins]

Hello, I'm still trying to understand all this. We had the pool last year and had a serious algae bloom at the end of the season. I just left it until reopening about 2 weeks ago. I completely drained the entire pool, scrubbed the whole thing, put in a new cartridge filter and refilled. Looks good so far. I am interested in using the bleach/baking soda/borax method. I don't mind to shock it once a week. Is this a good plan? If I use the BBB method, will I still need an algaecide? I have a 3 way test kit and 3 way test strips. Do I need something better than that?

 

[Mr Bruce]

Welcome! Here's some reading for you

Pool School - Getting Started

Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry

e: one more Pool School - Read This BEFORE You Post

 

[triptyx]

Hello, I'm still trying to understand all this. We had the pool last year and had a serious algae bloom at the end of the season. I just left it until reopening about 2 weeks ago. I completely drained the entire pool, scrubbed the whole thing, put in a new cartridge filter and refilled. Looks good so far. I am interested in using the bleach/baking soda/borax method. I don't mind to shock it once a week. Is this a good plan? If I use the BBB method, will I still need an algaecide? I have a 3 way test kit and 3 way test strips. Do I need something better than that?

Generally, if you're following the links that Mr. Bruce posted, you don't need to shock every week. We usually don't use algaecides here - they're a waste of money if you're keeping your chlorine levels at the proper PPM for your CYA level. If you do have a breakout, good old fashioned bleach will take care of it - there's is almost never a need for expensive pool store elixers.