Completely Frustrated ANd going broke!!!!

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Kids overwhelmed me last night (LOL) so I couldn't post but here it is.

Results

Well just as I expected. I tested the water as soon as I got home and my results were FC-0 / CYA 30?
CC - 0? is that correct

As for the CYA the water is clear no haze so I'm assuming there is no CYA in the pool.

We got in the pool and vacuumed everything manually. Especially under the stairs were it was evident that Algae was everywhere. Scrubbed the walls just in case and ran the bot one more time to clean the bottom. Although the water was clear when we brushed in some parts it had some algae growing.

Now my Question..

To stop the FC loss should I get the CYA to 40 or 50 First and balance it after it gets there then add the Chlorine to prevent loss or should I adjust everything one time using the Pool math requirement to bring levels up?
 
It sure doesnt act like there is hardly any CYA in there. Let's say there is maybe 20ppm, maybe.... Should he add what would equal 30ppm and then retest once it's dissolved and see if he can get a true reading?
 
dkimble said:
It sure doesnt act like there is hardly any CYA in there. Let's say there is maybe 20ppm, maybe.... Should he add what would equal 30ppm and then retest once it's dissolved and see if he can get a true reading?
Click to expand...
Yes I would say get some stabilizer. I know someone is saying don't buy Clorox products because they are adding copper. That person probably knows better than me. I used Clorox stabilizer from Walmart. I don't know if it was a bad idea. I poured the four pound bottle of powder into a skimmer sock and rigged it so it was next to the return water. I think some say to dissolve everything in water before adding. I just know don't add water to acid, add acid to water. So don't put cya in a dry bucket and then add water. Put cya in a bucket full of water then mix. Water mixed into acid can make a real issue with heat and fumes.
Let's guess you have zero cya in the pool. Use pool math and and whatever it suggests use half or less. Sneak up on the desired number. For me you can see it wanted me to add 81oz of dry cya. I knew I had some in the pool since I only drained down to maybe 10 inches of water. My Taylor cya test said less than 30 because I could still see the dot with the vial full. So I added just the four pounds which was a risk sort of. I tested last night and I'm at 40.
So I say add whatever amount of stabilizer you feel comfortable with based on what pool math says for you. Just know if you get more than you want, you have to drain lots of water to get rid of it.
I added bleach after I hung the sock. I'm holding steady now.
I just changed the sand this morning because even after dumping it all out into a kiddie pool and washing it, I felt there were too many contaminates still. I don't know what effect new sand could have on readings temporarily so I'll be keeping an eye on it.
 
If your not exactly sure on the CYA test and it is testing as clear then it must be fairly low. You can add say at 10- 20 CYA at a time then retest and add more if required (to get around 30-40 CYA) when you plug the numbers into Poolmath.

The recommended way to add CYA is to hang it in an old sock/skimmer sock and hang it in front of a return letting the flow of the return dissolve the CYA into the pool.

If you have visible algae you need to SLAM that pool even if it temporarily disappears with brushing and filtering. It will just come back if your don't.
 
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Jezza said:
If your not exactly sure on the CYA test and it is testing as clear then it must be fairy low. You can add say at 10- 20 CYA at a time then retest and add more if required (to get around 30-40 CYA) when you plug the numbers into Poolmath.

The recommended way to add CYA is to hang it in an old sock/skimmer sock and hang it in front of a return letting the flow of the return dissolve the CYA into the pool.

If you have visible algae you need to SLAM that pool even if it temporarily disappears with brushing and filtering. It will just come back if your don't.
Click to expand...
In your experience with cya in a sock, did you end up having to break up the clump that forms or do you leave it and it just takes more time to dissolve? I didn't know what was right, so I broke it up a couple times. Beginning to end it was probably two hours for four pounds to dissipate into the water.
 
DrHorshenschwartz said:
In your experience with cya in a sock, did you end up having to break up the clump that forms or do you leave it send it just takes more time to dissolve? I didn't know what was right, so I broke it up a couple times. Beginning to end it was probably two hours for four pounds to dissipate into the water.
Click to expand...
Mine usually just disolves, but my.pump is really strong. I also just give the sock a good squeeze every once in a while and a huge cloud will come out.
 
DrHorshenschwartz said:
Well to be clear, at no point did you add stabilizer (cya), correct? And without looking back I think you said this pool was previously filled?
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Its a new installed pool. 2 month old. My first Mistake was letting the install Company do their "Free Chemical Startup and Balance". I think they never added anything in there. I did ask about the additions before he left and they claimed they use all liquids for their additions.

Now what do you guys prefer I use. Liquid Stabilizer or Powder Stuff
 

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joseroman1014 said:
Its a new installed pool. 2 month old. My first Mistake was letting the install Company do their "Free Chemical Startup and Balance". I think they never added anything in there. I did ask about the additions before he left and they claimed they use all liquids for their additions.

Now what do you guys prefer I use. Liquid Stabilizer or Powder Stuff
Click to expand...
I don't have experience with both but dry stuff worked for me.
I meant to add this picture of my pool math before adding anything except maybe 2 gallons of bleach during the fill.
And a picture of the stabilizer I bought.
So I'd say tell pool math your cya is 15 and then add the amount it suggests. Then retest in a couple days.
46a2c6767a1f136717943d054835edd4.jpg
15ee2cc5de66d0cf6cc632cec164bb09.jpg
 
DrHorshenschwartz said:
Yes I would say get some stabilizer. I know someone is saying don't buy Clorox products because they are adding copper. That person probably knows better than me. I used Clorox stabilizer from Walmart. I don't know if it was a bad idea. I poured the four pound bottle of powder into a skimmer sock and rigged it so it was next to the return water. I think some say to dissolve everything in water before adding. I just know don't add water to acid, add acid to water. So don't put cya in a dry bucket and then add water. Put cya in a bucket full of water then mix. Water mixed into acid can make a real issue with heat and fumes.
Let's guess you have zero cya in the pool. Use pool math and and whatever it suggests use half or less. Sneak up on the desired number. For me you can see it wanted me to add 81oz of dry cya. I knew I had some in the pool since I only drained down to maybe 10 inches of water. My Taylor cya test said less than 30 because I could still see the dot with the vial full. So I added just the four pounds which was a risk sort of. I tested last night and I'm at 40.
So I say add whatever amount of stabilizer you feel comfortable with based on what pool math says for you. Just know if you get more than you want, you have to drain lots of water to get rid of it.
I added bleach after I hung the sock. I'm holding steady now.
I just changed the sand this morning because even after dumping it all out into a kiddie pool and washing it, I felt there were too many contaminates still. I don't know what effect new sand could have on readings temporarily so I'll be keeping an eye on it.
Click to expand...


I use the clorox stabilizer it is perfectly fine. There is no copper in it, not sure where you are seeing that. If you look at the bottle it says 100% CYA in the ingredients and nothing else
 
IIRC, one of the non-Xtrablue chlorine pool products also contained some copper. We here at TFP went through a whole long email investigation with the company about this and received conflicting answers to the questions on which pool products did and did not contain copper.

I personally don't think its worth my risk to take the chance (not that I use it any way).

The stabilizer is just CYA (nothing else included) so no worries there.

Maddie :flower:
 
I like to tie my sock to the bot. This helps keep the bot from climbing the walls too much, and the constant motion helps the dissolving process, plus the CYA is spread all over the pool.
 
dkimble said:
I have seen where the powder can go bad, but usually after either it got old, or wasn't stored properly. If you have always stored it properly, it should be okay. I have a feeling your algae you found is just eating all the FC. I didn't have any visible algae and was adding bleach 3-4 times a day during my SLAM.
Click to expand...

All reagents should be replaced every 12-18 months. TFTestKits has a sale every March for a complete refill set. OP has reagents with expirations in the 2018-2019 range, so he should be ok until the start of next swim season.

joseroman1014 said:
Kids overwhelmed me last night (LOL) so I couldn't post but here it is.

Results

Well just as I expected. I tested the water as soon as I got home and my results were FC-0 / CYA 30?
CC - 0? is that correct

As for the CYA the water is clear no haze so I'm assuming there is no CYA in the pool.

We got in the pool and vacuumed everything manually. Especially under the stairs were it was evident that Algae was everywhere. Scrubbed the walls just in case and ran the bot one more time to clean the bottom. Although the water was clear when we brushed in some parts it had some algae growing.

Now my Question..

To stop the FC loss should I get the CYA to 40 or 50 First and balance it after it gets there then add the Chlorine to prevent loss or should I adjust everything one time using the Pool math requirement to bring levels up?
Click to expand...

You have algae. Not just the visible algae, but there is also live algae in the water. It's time to SLAM: Pool School - SLAM - Shock Level And Maintain

Please read that article and get back to us if you're unsure about any of the steps.

jwhop3 said:
I like to tie my sock to the bot. This helps keep the bot from climbing the walls too much, and the constant motion helps the dissolving process, plus the CYA is spread all over the pool.
Click to expand...

Guys, let's slow down with all the cross talk please. This thread is full of posts that are making it extremely hard to follow the conversation and help the OP. The water circulation being effected by the pump "spreads" the CYA around. Please hang the sock in front of a water return (don't let it touch the side) or put it in a sock in the skimmer (leave the pump running until dissolved). These are the correct and very effective ways to raise CYA. That said, OP, DO NOT raise CYA if you're at 30. You're going to need to SLAM and you'll want a lower CYA to save money until you're finished.
 
As a note, here are a few observations:

1. Algae found - SLAM TIME
2. Buying "bleach" from Lowes or Home Depot, they store it outside. Here in Hou, the heat is 95% in the shade...if the product does not move quickly, OP is pouring water into his pool bc the h-acid is gone, case closed. It was also 6.25%
3. Does anyone know for sure the REAL CYA LEVEL ? I still feel this is very ambiguous and unclear.
4. What did the orig pool supply company dump in his water at fill-up ?? Any metals, borates, etc

STEPS:
1. get a definitive CYA test [for both SLAM and future stability of CL]
2. buy 8.25% from an air-regulated seller [ie, grocery store] or higher..
3. Once CYA is known, do SLAM and monitor
4. once stabilized, add quality bleach and take multiple tests daily till FC is in stable ranges for his location/external pool/water conditions...
 

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