New pool parent, help!

[Kristin Gatlin]

Ok, first pool ever. 16k gal agp. Tested the fresh fill water and followed advice to start up with shock and cya. Levels Took about 3 days to even out enough to swim. That was 8/20. Shocked as advised from the local pool guy and added muriatic acid 8/25, dropped a tablet in the skimmer whenever it disappeared. Water has always been super clear and sparkly. Took a sample to the local ace yesterday.
Fc 2.8
Tc 6.2
Cc 3.5
Ph 7.6
Hardness 230
Alk 201
Cya 30
Added 1 gal muriatic acid (in 3 doses)
1lb calcium hypo shock 68%
2lbs 73%
Retested this morning with this
Fc 2.7
Tc 7.8
Cc 5.1
Ph 7.5
Hardness 240
Alk 157
Cya 10
And now nitrate reading popped up 4ppm.
I'm totally new to having a pool. The place i bought from said all i would need is 2-3self stabilizing tabs in the skimmer and 1lb of shock a week. I'm realizing its much more complicated than that lol. What should i do? Is this reading just telling me the chlorine is killing bacteria? Or have i got a major problem? Driving myself nuts over here!

 

[jeffchap]

Step #1 is to get one of our recommended test kits so you can perform your own *accurate* testing. The results you posted above show your CYA dropping from 30 to 10 overnight. This would only be possible if you had drained 2/3 of your pool and refilled with fresh water. I'm guessing you did not do this, so one or both of these readings are incorrect.



CYA is the cornerstone to the TFP method. Without an accurate reading, we are just guessing at everything else. Here are the test kits we recommend: Pool School - Test Kits Compared



While waiting for your kit, remove the tabs from your pool and dump a gallon of plain, unscented bleach in your pool each day. Do not add any more shock either. This will keep algae at bay for now.



Then read our Pool School to learn how and why we so what we do: Pool School - Pool School



Stay out of pool stores and don't add anything else to your pool but bleach unless someone here advises it. And relax, we've got ya'!

 

[Kristin Gatlin]

Thank you �� going to the store for bleach now!
Living in Florida i should be able to swim year round, with our winter of all 5 weeks lol.
I was hoping to swim today after adding what i thought would correct the imbalance. My son is definitely disappointed!

 

[jeffchap]

As long as your pH is in the range of 7.2-7.8, your FC is at shock level or below, and you can see the bottom of the pool, it is safe to swim in. Many of us continue to swim while SLAMming our pools.