Test kit in ... let the SLAMing begin!

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OHHH Caco - youve got me hooked...Cant stop thing about this pool :eek:
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Oh no, the beginning stages of sparklipoolitis. I'm so sorry you caught it ;)
Welcome to the club :handshake:

One of your comments above re salt and american SWG versus Aussie ones, is there any other levels that I should not necessarily rely on here?
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Needs is right. Generally the US SWG have a lower salt recommendation. Thats about the only difference you will find, apart from their cheap bleach prices and accents, lol

Im setting looking forward to the days I have no algae :-( and reviewing the forums for daily, bi weekly, weekly, fortnightly testing regimes and trying to set myself up to a maintenance schedule.
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Oh you will feel so bored and empty when you get to that stage. I spend 5 mins every second day checking my FC and ph is in line, about 10-15 minutes on the weekend to vacuum and check other levels and that is it. Of course that does leave more time for swimming

Kimkats can really help out with this, she has some neat links that will give you starting guides for maintenance schedules

Another thing with the pool math calculator. At the bottom of the calculator it has suggested FC levels for shocking. It says based on my "now" column that normal shock have FC at 12 but for mustard algae shock at 19. Should I be shocking at 19 as my algae is mustard algae?
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No, keep on as your are. Mustard algae (if that is the type of algae it is, its pretty rare tbh) is one of those pesky ones that will let you pass an OCLT, whilst it is still hanging around. So the way to treat it is pass your slam and then raise to mustard levels for 24 hours.
 
You may or may not have mustard algae, but to get rid of it, there's a procedure followed at the end of the SLAM, more here: Pool School - Mustard Algae

At TFPC levels, your CSI is very likely to fall into place. Beyond that, it's great to get to know CSI and it's importance. (I did the same thing with trying various numbers and tweaking). Ideal levels will extend the life of your plaster, avoid calcium scale forming, protect your heater, and for many people prevent the SWC from developing scale, so that it doesn't need cleaning. Every time you clean an SWC, you lose some of the plate surface, so avoiding cleaning is not only convenient, but also saves money on cell replacement. A range of -0.2 to 0.0 allows for normal fluctuation in pH between chem additions, and keeps everything happy.

It's a bit confusing, but I learned that -0.3 and +0.3 is the safest range for CSI. I know it says -0.6 to +0.6 is in the text in PoolMath, but you'll also notice that if you hover the cursor over the CSI result, you get a message popping up beside temperature, which will warn you when outside -0.3 to +0.3
 
The other thing is I am entering these optimal settings into the pool math calc to try to get the CSI to work within parameters with minor tweak to my optimal settings for each pool parameter if you know what I mean?
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I love what you have done with your table, but you haven't quite got it right
Once you have passed your slam and go into normal operating mode you will increase your CYA to SWG levels
I am sure Needsajet can help with the CYA level for your situation
You will also want to keep your calcium lower to start off with. Its another of those ones that will rise over time and can only be removed with water exchange. It will rise a little with each water topup you do.
However since you have a rain water tank, you could do a decent water change each winter with rain water and get levels like calcium down. However that is way off in the future

It is great to see you playing and learning with the CSI though. Well impressed :goodjob:
 
Regarding your chemistry table, I would use more CYA, probably 50 ppm to 70 ppm and FC at 5 to 10. The FC is going to need to find it's way into the cover vault and guides, so I wouldn't go below 10% of CYA. That's just an opinion with no experience to base it on, but I can't imagine that circulation will be great in there. It might be worthwhile to figure out a way to force pool water exchange into there, and I thought of you when I fished a mega-monster-pump-action-ninja-diehard-rambo watergun out of the pool this morning. :) I guess the more often it deploys/retracts will be the best help.

With respect to water balance, I would not add additional CH to go any higher than 250 until you've had time to observe how your chemistry fluctuates. Replacement water will always be carrying a bit in, and it will only exit via overflow. I raised mine to 325 ppm and I regret it, but it's certainly manageable.
 
Gday,
Will read through the above a bit later, just test FF and I am at 11.5 which is pretty close to what it was this morning. Pool math calculator was to take it to 12 so pretty close.

The amount of sediment/algae in the cover definitely improved but still there. Will trial my contraption soon..fingers crossed. Im about to stir some things up so I will add 100mL of chlorine and start back washing and scrubbing etc.

Also just through in my robot cleaner for good measure.
 
Mate, how many direct sun hours does the pool get?

I'm thinking you could do your mustard algae 24 hr treatment pretty soon, maybe while the cover vault is still open.

You've definitely caught the sparkle bug! I know for me, I'm going to love a nice picture in a few days. :)
 
Ours is shadowed in afternoon which is great!!! Last night the grandies were allowed to go in without the fresh coat of sun cream :)

That's great, so you'll get good heating and sanitation help from the sun :)
 

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Just tried spraying the pool cover the amount of yellow coming from the underside is surprising. Is it safe for me to get under the cover and spray (water quality wise) the cover is flexible enough for me to breath under it and I can stand in all areas of my pool.

And yes, by 3 or 4pm its perfect to get in without sunscreen or having to worry about sunburn.
 
You know, when the FC is below your slam level they can swim
I would have them wear older suits and rinse in the shower after, really just a precaution

You can always boost up the chlorine level after easy enough

No need to 'double the dose' or anything like that
Too much over your slam level on FC gets harsh on equipment and pool surfaces or the FC gets burned off by the sun before it can be used against the algae
 
Team...I had a war on my hands. I entered the pool gallantly and got my backside handed back to me in no uncertain terms. There was a resounding scream of "YOU SHALL NOT PASS." and the appearance of Gandalf under water.

I managed to scrub the under side of 1/2 of the cover I managed to jet spray gaps for the first 10 slats then it got to dangerous.

Its time to bring in the big guns. Thinking of getting an extension on my pressure washer and see if I can reach a lot of the cover from safety but still clean the underside. Will need to get a right angle attachment to the Karcher. I am more convinced now that this cover is and will be an ongoing problem so will need to learn to manage it somehow.

Ran the heater for a good 30mins and will do so again tomorrow. Will leave the robot in for the day tomorrow and take out.

Added the salt and 100mL of chlorine. Still need to read through the above posts when I have some time later. Thanks again for your support today.
 

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