Nature 2 system and chemicals

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M

msfitz62

0
Jul 23, 2009
14
chicago Ill
I have the nature 2 system. Is the BBB good for my pool? My FC almost always reads 0.5, the pool store where I take my water to be tested told me it will always read low because of the Nature 2.This is my first year with a pool, so I believed everything they told me. Not to use bleach etc..





FC 0.5
TA 120
PH 7.8
CYA 0

ps.. I can't use the chart for some reason, I really want to start using the BBB method.
 
you've come to the right place! the nature2 is bad bad bad and you should stop using it right now. the problem is the minerals it adds to the water (copper and silver) cause issues. the copper turns hair green and can stain. your pool is also not properly sanitized due to the low chlorine levels. Australia doesn't allow zodiac/nature2 to advertise such low fc levels because they know (as the good folks here at TFP also know) that it doesn't work. there is some more info on mineral systems in this link:
alternative-sanitizers-and-chemical-free-pools-the-truth-t3025.html

BBB is good for every pool. actually, it's great, wonderful, fantastic, awesome, etc. the only problem I've had with the method since I started a few months ago is that I'm scared to jump into the pool anymore. it's so clear that I can't be sure that there's actually water in there!

the primary things you need to do are:
1. stop using the nature2. take the mineral pack or whatever else out of it.
2. read pool-school/ especially the articles under pool chemistry.
3. get chlorine/bleach in your pool asap. you also need to get stabilizer/cya in there asap also. you can buy stabilizer/cya from pool stores or possibly some big box stores like walmart, home depot, lowes. I think you guys have something called "the great escape" up there that is a pool store? I think they sell liquid chlorine also, which is probably a better deal than bleach. one of the mods here (frustratedpoolmom) lives near chicago I believe, so she can advise you further on the best places to go.
4. get your own high quality test kit. the pool store has already screwed you over enough. this is the best way to take control of your own pool and ensure clear, algae free water

what chart are you talking about? if it's the chlorine/cya chart, you need to add cya to get to about 50ppm and base your bleach/chlorine additions on 50ppm. you can use http://www.thepoolcalculator.com to help you with how much to add.
 
Welcome to TFP!

You have come to the right place. As a former "mineral ionizer" user (Pool Frog) I ditched the system in 2007 and never looked back. I've saved a ton of money not using their products and switching to BBB.

Reebok gave you great advice, if you have any questions, just holler! :wave:
 
Should I just take the mineral pack out or disconnect the whole thing? BTW "The Great Escape" is where I bought the pool and have my water tested. Will add the chlorine ASAP.
Thank You so much for your advice. I'm sure I'll be back for more
 
You can take the mineral pac out and just discard it. When you winterize, you can remove the N2 from the plumbing system so that in the Spring when everything is reconnected it's just gone, poof - no worries.

Remember to protect the chlorine you add, you need 30-50 ppm of CYA in there ASAP or all the chlorine will be lost to sunlight.

Okay, important question now....North sider or South Sider :mrgreen:

Just kidding. My DH and my Dad are on opposing sides so to them it's important. :roll:

Great Escape has a great deal on liquid Chlorine, $9 for a case of 12.5%. Super cheap. :goodjob:

They should have the CYA too. You need to buy 4 lbs of CYA. If they are out, you may need to use Dichlor to build up the CYA level. What other stores are by you? Are you in the city limits? No Wal-mart's in the city, right....? Home Depot, Menards - they have pool departments. Ace hardware might have CYA. Look on the label for "stabilizer" or "conditioner" and active ingredients "94% Cyanuric Acid" - or at least 90% - some brands (Malibu from American Sales is 50%) are lesser strength than others.

Your best best in testing is the TF-100 test kit, followed by the Taylor K-2006. Your better off ordering online though - GE won't have the right kit so it's just easier to order online. I understand if you hesitate cause of the price - but the kit will last several seasons (store it in a cool dry place).

No more relying on pool store testing/advice on expensive chems - your own kit allows you to take total control of your pool. :wink:

K, that's it for now, holler if you need anything else. We'll have your pool all sparkly in no time.... :wave:
 
I told my husband about removing removing the min pac, but he's old school and believes the store wouldn't have put it in the package we bought if it wasn't necessary, so how do I convince him?
It is Saturday morning July 25 2009 9:37am. Which should I balance 1st? Now the important answer to your question... I am a south sider, grew up down the block from Comiskey. BUT "GO CUBS GO". Hawks family here too. Actually live in Beverly now. My boys and I are outcasts on this block.ha ha.

As you know the weather hasn't been too pool friendly here.(no heater, just solar cover). I would really like to have this ready for the hot weather that I hope we will be getting Monday.
I figured out how to use the pool calculator. Just need to know which to do in what order. So I don't mess up the readings.
I will order the test kit you recommend tho. I'm using the test strips that come with the pool.
Thank you so much for all the help.
ps.. how long before swimming after I get all the necessary chemicals in?
 
if nothing has changed I recommend what was said above.
you can browse through this forum and see hundreds of posts of people who have spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on bull honky pool chemicals and systems. the pool industry by and large would not exist except to sell floats if they preached the chlorine/cya chart. but because they don't, they make millions selling stupid mineral systems (and ozone, and algaecides and granular chlorine and trichlor tabs, the list goes on and on) that end up causing problems, then they sell other chemicals to handle those problems. it's a never ending cycle. the pool store is not your friend. that's not to say that some products, such as trichlor tabs, don't have their place, but they shouldn't be used 24/7/365 like the pool industry says.
 
msfitz62 said:
I told my husband about removing removing the min pac, but he's old school and believes the store wouldn't have put it in the package we bought if it wasn't necessary, so how do I convince him?

The link above is good reading, print it out for him. Here's another similar article from a different site:

http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=98

Besides the cost factor alone - the mineral carts are $$$ and entirely unneccessary.

It is Saturday morning July 25 2009 9:37am. Which should I balance 1st? Now the important answer to your question... I am a south sider, grew up down the block from Comiskey. BUT "GO CUBS GO". Hawks family here too. Actually live in Beverly now. My boys and I are outcasts on this block.ha ha.

LOL I grew up a Sox fan, thanks Dad, and married a cub fan. We're going to the game on Thursday - 4th row behind home plate! Look for me, I'll be holding up the TFP.com sign! LOL (rainout game against the Astros from May) :mrgreen: :goodjob: I know Beverly, my niece lives there. :-D Beautiful houses over there....

As you know the weather hasn't been too pool friendly here.(no heater, just solar cover). I would really like to have this ready for the hot weather that I hope we will be getting Monday.
I figured out how to use the pool calculator. Just need to know which to do in what order. So I don't mess up the readings.
I will order the test kit you recommend tho. I'm using the test strips that come with the pool.
Thank you so much for all the help.
ps.. how long before swimming after I get all the necessary chemicals in?
Click to expand...

Always have the pump running when adding chems. :wink:

Depending on what you add, you can swim very quickly despite the cold water. Where ya at 80ish?

I assume your water is clear, right?

If the water is clear, you can swim anytime, just use bleach to maintain at least 2ppm of chlorine in the pool - use the pool calc to determine that amount. Wait 30 minutes after adding bleach before swimming.

Try to get the CYA in there today - as all the FC will be lost to sunlight with 0 CYA. You add the CYA via "sock method", which we can explain later when you are ready to add it. You can swim anytime while the CYA is dissolving.

If the PH goes above 7.8 you will need to lower it the Muratic Acid, available from the hardware store or Home Depot - ask for it, it may be by the paint department. (The CYA addition will lower it a tad.) If you do end up adding Muratic Acid, wait an hour before swimming.

Anyway, your TA and PH are acceptable for now. :goodjob:

Hope this helps!
 
Oh boy, I'm back!
Just went out to take a reading--
FC 0.5
PH 7.8
TA 180
CYA 0

water temp-73 UUGGHH!!! TOO COLD 4 ME.
anyway, I have 1/2 gal. of muriatic acid 31.45 hydro chloric acid 20 baume and a 4lb. container of stabilizer granules. Won't be using pool until at least Monday. And bleach is on it's way. 3 gallons 6% clorox.
where do i begin???? I'm lost
 
do you have specific questions? I'm lost on where you're lost :\

reebok said:
1. stop using the nature2. take the mineral pack or whatever else out of it.
2. read pool-school/ especially the articles under pool chemistry.
3. get chlorine/bleach in your pool asap. you also need to get stabilizer/cya in there asap also. you can buy stabilizer/cya from pool stores or possibly some big box stores like walmart, home depot, lowes. I think you guys have something called "the great escape" up there that is a pool store? I think they sell liquid chlorine also, which is probably a better deal than bleach. one of the mods here (frustratedpoolmom) lives near chicago I believe, so she can advise you further on the best places to go.
4. get your own high quality test kit. the pool store has already screwed you over enough. this is the best way to take control of your own pool and ensure clear, algae free water

what chart are you talking about? if it's the chlorine/cya chart, you need to add cya to get to about 50ppm and base your bleach/chlorine additions on 50ppm. you can use http://www.thepoolcalculator.com to help you with how much to add.
Click to expand...
 

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you basically need chlorine and cya. you're going to add the bleach/chlorine by pouring it slowly in front of a return. add the cya by placing it in an old sock and hanging it in front of a jet. alternatively, you can place the sock in a skimmer basket. run the pump 24/7 until it's gone from the sock. the order basically doesn't matter, but it needs to be done yesterday. keep reading the chemistry section of pool-school/
 
here are just two recent examples of why the pool store is not your friend to try to convince your husband. there are hundreds more, including about those mineral systems.

pool-guys-say-i-should-be-shocking-with-bleach-as-well-t15751-20.html
4th post down: "I decided to go to leslies just so they could test the water, they tried to sell me 400 dollars worth of chemicals but I kindly declined."

can-t-get-a-free-chlorene-reading-t15838.html
12th post down: "last week the pool store did a 1 1/2 hour test on my pool water and the test wanted me to put 48 bags of shock ($240.00 worth) every 4 hours for 24 hours."
 
msfitz62 said:
what chemicals go in 1st? I don't want to upset the order of things. I know when you add certain chemicals it will change the numbers on certain readings. I know how much of each, I just don't know which one's to put in 1st. sorry
Click to expand...

6% bleach doesn't come in "gallons" it comes in 96 ounces or 182 ounces.

Add 2 jugs (96 ounces) of bleach, pour slowly into the return flow....leave the pump running.

Add 2 lbs of CYA to an old tube sock, tie it off in front of the return. Add 2 lbs to another tube sock, and set it to the side in the skimmer, so the water flow isn't blocked. leave the pump running until the CYA is fully dissolved. 24 hours after the CYA has dissolved, your new level is "40" and refer to the CYA chlorine chart for your recommended levels.

Each night you should be adding somewhere around 1.5-2 qts of bleach to maintain your FC levels. Learn how to use the Pool Calc to determine how much to add. If you get the LC from Great Escape it's less you'll need and less jugs to haul around...

Hope this helps. :)

Keep reading Pool School! :wink:
 
Hello again,
Sunday July 26th 2009 7:52pm.
Couldn't get to pool yesterday as mister wonderful decided to start a deck. Took solar cover off tonight, water crystal clear and warm. I am going out now to add bleach and acid. Only thing is I have liquid acid so I will use calculator. But from now on I will be using sock method. Now that you explained how to.. You guys have been great so far.
Before I put solar cover on later I will balance ph. I have ph up and ph down crystals would it be okay just to broadcast that? I hope so. Or is sock method good for that too?
Talk to you soon.
Oh by the way? My husband just took off the nature 2 system completely. He's starting to have faith in you guys and gals too!
Vicki
 
if you're asking for advice, current readings are needed. acid is generally known as muriatic acid, so if you could call cyanuric acid "cya" it would be a bit less confusing.
great news on the nature2 junk!
I would probably follow the directions on the bottles of ph stuff. once you run out of that stuff, borax is a cheaper way to raise the ph. and muriatic acid is cheaper to lower ph, but if you don't want to deal with it, then use the granules.
 
sorry!
my readings were
FC 0.5
PH 8
TA 120
CYA 0
So I added 2 bottles of clorox 96oz.each
and I added acid 72 oz. according to the calculator.
From now on I don't want to mess with cya. gonna go with powder.
Too many chemicals for a novice to mess with. I'd probably hurt myself.
 
oops!!! just tested after adding 2 bottles of clorox (96oz. each)
and the cya 22oz

fc 10
ph 7.8
ta 130
cya 0

what did I do wrong here?
Shoud I put stabalizer in a sock in front of return jet? can I keep my solar cover on while pump is running?
 
msfitz62 said:
sorry!
my readings were
FC 0.5
PH 8
TA 120
CYA 0
So I added 2 bottles of clorox 96oz.each
and I added acid 72 oz. according to the calculator.
From now on I don't want to mess with cya. gonna go with powder.
Too many chemicals for a novice to mess with. I'd probably hurt myself.
Click to expand...

72 oz of what kind of acid?

msfitz62 said:
oops!!! just tested after adding 2 bottles of clorox (96oz. each)
and the cya 22oz

fc 10
ph 7.8
ta 130
cya 0

what did I do wrong here?
Shoud I put stabalizer in a sock in front of return jet? can I keep my solar cover on while pump is running?
Click to expand...

I don't think you did anything wrong...why did you think you did something wrong?

Except maybe the amount of CYA? 22 oz isn't enough

Yes, you should put the CYA/stabilizer in a sock in front of the return jet, yes you can keep the solar cover on while pump is running. If you find the cover moves, you can simply point the return eyeball jet down a little.

Don't retest for CYA for 1 week after adding it. 24 hours after it's dissolved consider the amount that you targeted as your new level, and adjust your FC according to the CYA chart. So if you target 30ppm, then 30 is your new level and your FC levels are 2,4 and 12.
 

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