Recurring Metal Stains... worse than ever...

[JulieMorris316]

Doing Ascorbic Acid treatments in the middle of the hot summer here in the south (Georgia) is a risky endeavor since the AA depletes all the chlorine and puts a really high chlorine demand on the pool immediately following the treatment. AA also seems to cause water cloudiness problems in my pool. For my pool, AA treatments would be a 3-4 day ordeal of frequent chlorine testing/dosing as well as 24-hour pool filter runs (for the cloudiness).

With Metal Magic, I only experienced cloudiness on my very first treatment. In hindsight, I think I just over-dosed my pool as I added 4 quarts of Metal Magic on that first treatment. I think 2 quarts would have probably done the trick

Quick question on this.. I also did my initial dose of MM at 4 quarts last week and like you, in hindsight I probably could have used less. It's been several days now of the pump running 24/7 and the water is still fairly cloudy (as in you can barely see the end of the brush pole at the bottom of the deep end). I'm wondering if turning the pump OFF would maybe let the particulates settle to the bottom a little so they can be vacuumed up directly?

On a related note, I'm debating the borates addition also to try and keep the pH more stable and maybe get more life out of the MM doses. How is this done? I've never bothered with them before now but I'm debating starting.

ETA: I just did some more research on borates/TA/and pH, and maybe borates aren't the best option since all the neighborhood dogs swim in my pool more than I do myself lol. In any case, I've also learned just now that my TA is high for the pH I'm trying to maintain (TA is 125), and I've had a problem with pH creeping up (which was another thought for using the borates, to keep it more stable) so I'm going to shoot for lowering the TA with a combination of MA and aerating from my waterfall instead and then I'll have to see where the MM dose requirements fall and just go with it (I think?).

 

[carlos31820]

Turning off the pump may let the particulate settle. Worth a shot. On my setup, the cloudiness was so fine I don’t think it would work.

After my initial treatment of 4 bottles of MM, it took over a week for my cartridge filter to finally get the water clear.

Good luck!

 

[klb]

Like most of you, I too have problems with staining. I went all in with TFP last year and my pool looked better than ever. I had a few stains last year but never had to treat. When opening this year, I noticed a few stains. I tried AA but forgot the sesquestrant (my bad). The stains came back. I now have my pool crystal clear and passed slam. I have purchased the Metal Magic and will try this. I am getting my free chlorine down to about 3-4, Adding some polyquat 60 and then the metal magic. My pH is 7.6. Is there anything else I need to know? I hope this works and maybe I can just use a maintenance dose throughout the summer. I use the Taylor test kit. CYA 50 and TA 70.