What am I dealing with here?

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SaltyNole

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Aug 22, 2016
6
Coral Springs
Need some guidance - to fight or to fill it in with dirt!

Long story short - took over from the pool guy a year ago, bad idea. I wasn't educated enough and was fully reliant on pool store guys, top that off with pump failure and untimely illness and the pool went uber green (quick).

Still needing to get educated to do this myself on a regular basis, but got the pump replaced and the water blue again, now am stuck with people telling me the stains on the wall are black algae and no sense in balancing the pool as I should drain and have someone acid wash.

Do these pics give any clue as to what I am facing (these are post scrubbing with steel brush):
Pool Wall2.jpg Pool Wall.jpg

Looking to see if me reading up here and staying out of pool store could get this done or am I better off as said above, drain it and pay someone to come out and acid wash it?
 
SaltyNole said:
Need some guidance - to fight or to fill it in with dirt!

Long story short - took over from the pool guy a year ago, bad idea. I wasn't educated enough and was fully reliant on pool store guys, top that off with pump failure and untimely illness and the pool went uber green (quick).

Still needing to get educated to do this myself on a regular basis, but got the pump replaced and the water blue again, now am stuck with people telling me the stains on the wall are black algae and no sense in balancing the pool as I should drain and have someone acid wash.

Do these pics give any clue as to what I am facing (these are post scrubbing with steel brush):
View attachment 53698 View attachment 53699

Looking to see if me reading up here and staying out of pool store could get this done or am I better off as said above, drain it and pay someone to come out and acid wash it?
Click to expand...
Welcome to the forum!

I lived in Coral Springs for two years, awesome community. I was in a Condo on West Sample Road, a few blocks down from Alligator Alley.

Can you post a complete set of test results? Also, what has your chlorine demand been lately (how many ppm do you lose daily)?

Once we have some reliable test results and a little FC history we can devise a plan of attack.
 
I would be posting pool store results of which I can see from this site don't mean much. Besides I don't write them down or take the print outs, meant nothing to me.

I am on another page reading about the various test kits now, so while I don't have that info now I can definitely tell you I am chasing my tail on adding chlorine (powdered) to keep it blue.

Am so ready to fill this thing with dirt I have spent so much money at the pool store. This is my last attempt, will get a quality test kit and pending any recommendations here run at high levels to see if that and some more brushing with get rid of this.

I scrubbed so hard and so much on Saturday I ended up with claw hand (see Deadliest Catch) all evening.
 
I can't help you with the stains, but I can guarantee you that our method will definitely save you a ton of money. Order a test kit (I recommend the TF-100) and stay out of the pool store. You can get everything you need for a TFP at the supermarket or hardware store for much less.
 
Also, don't use powdered shock to raise your chlorine. All powder shock also contain either CYA or calcium and we don't know your levels yet and whether or not it's OK to be adding more.

Use liquid chlorine, AKA bleach, only. If you use bleach, make sure it's just plain bleach, not splashless, not scented, just bleach.
 

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It wouldn't hurt to run to the "non-pool" store and stock up on bleach now and start putting some in while you wait for you kit to arrive. You can use PoolMath link at the top of the page to calculate how much each gallon will give you but you need to know your pool's volume. There is a calculator for that at the bottom of the PoolMath page as well.
 
First off, thanks all for the early replies and thanks to site owner\admins, glad I found this place!

Well here we go, test kit arrived today. Definitely chasing my tail on adding chlorine, zero stabilizer in there and as I haven't added anything since the weekend, am down to next to nothing on FC. Think I have only be just barely keeping up with the rain and fact the sun is eating away at FC. I am guessing I am just one weekend away from it turning green if I were to go out of town or something and not be here to add anything.

Below are the results, fire away, any and all guidance is appreciated.

FC = .2
CC = .2
PH = 7.6
CYA = 0
TA = 70-80
CH = 550

Where to start, primary goal is addressing the stains on the walls, if that means SLAM and no kids in pool for a bit, I am ok with that. If just getting to right FC level is recommendation then where to go next, am still reading up on all the interactions of adjustments, what will happen to PH and should I add stabilizer first and give that the week it needs to fully dissolve \ register on a test?
 
Which testkit did you get?

Did you ever do the fingernail test to confirm black algae? The link to directions are in post #7 above.

Was the CYA solution cloudy at all? Since the testkits only start registering at 20 or 30, if it was cloudy, you may have SOME.

You can use a 10ml sample for your FC/CC tests in the future. Just multiply the drops by 0.5 or divide by 2.

Adding CYA will lower your pH a bit but really not a huge factor in your case. New TFP protocol says can retest CYA within 24-48 hours after it is all dissolved and don't have to wait that whole week.

Sorry to ask so many questions before answering all of yours!
 
MarianParoo said:
Which testkit did you get? - Taylor K-2006 (FAS-DPD), kids quite enjoyed the science lesson last night.

Did you ever do the fingernail test to confirm black algae? The link to directions are in post #7 above. I have already brushed the holy heck out of the pool with steel brush, nothing left to fingernail scrape off just the impossible to brush away stain. I literally can't feel my hands and shoulders.

Was the CYA solution cloudy at all? Since the testkits only start registering at 20 or 30, if it was cloudy, you may have SOME. - No not cloudy at all.

You can use a 10ml sample for your FC/CC tests in the future. Just multiply the drops by 0.5 or divide by 2. - Saw that note, was expecting to be low so went with the double sample size.

Adding CYA will lower your pH a bit but really not a huge factor in your case. New TFP protocol says can retest CYA within 24-48 hours after it is all dissolved and don't have to wait that whole week.

Sorry to ask so many questions before answering all of yours!
Click to expand...
- No problem, want to do this right, and be in control based on my own knowledge and testing!
 
Try adding chlorine to 3ppm. Then retest FC in 10 minutes. If your FC is less than 1.5, you may have an ammonia issue. Let us know if so.

If it's 1.5 or higher, go ahead and add CYA to get to 40 and add FC to target 10ppm. When the CYA is dissolved, bump FC up to 16. You could aim for a CYA of 30 and an FC of 12, but I imagine that it's pretty sunny in Coral Springs.
 
SaltyNole said:
Below are the results, fire away, any and all guidance is appreciated.

FC = .2
CC = .2
PH = 7.6
CYA = 0
TA = 70-80
CH = 550
Click to expand...

A quick heads up - when you're doing the FAS/DPD chlorine test, use a 10ml water sample and multiply the drops by .5 to get the chlorine level you're testing. The 25ml sample is far more accurate than we need, and will waste a lot of reagents unnecessarily. :)
 
Also, the CYA test needs to be done in full sunshine (no clouds and not when the sun is first rising or setting) as it is a light sensitive turbidity test. Hold the vial at waste level with two fingers and your back to the sun.
 
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