my 5th year on Baquacil - I converted

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sandysbiz

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Jul 17, 2007
18
I have read for hours on this forum and thepoolform gathering knowledge and information. I finally put it all to use and did the conversion. I started on Thursday evening around 6 pm and by Sunday morning, the pool was almost completely cleared! I tested and backwashed very often. Maybe overkill to some, but I wanted to git-her-done. LOL I added bleach as needed to stay right at 15 ppm. Vacuuming, frequently to help it clear.
A variety of colors, orange, green, and scum, oh yea did I mention Scum?? My baquacil was fairly low when I started the conversion., but still lots of it to turn into slime and such floating on top, and covering the bottom. I kept at it with the bleach additions, testing more times than I care to remember. lol
Now it is a week and 2 days later, Lovely Clear Sparkling water. Oh Yes!! I did it !!

Thanks to all who have posted and given me the confidence to do this.

I do need help with my FC disappearing during the day. I put my bleach in around sun down, to a level of 5 FC. Testing in the AM, and usually it is holding the same or maybe down to 3 or 4. I add bleach to bring back to 5.
By the afternoon, 3-4 pm, the FC is completely gone most days. Lots of sunshine and heat I know is part of the problem. I have added bleach again during this time of day, and all of it will be gone by sundown.

My question is : should I continue to add bleach during the afternoon, or just wait til sundown to add bleach so it can work.
I have added some CYA, but the FC still goes.

My stats as of this morning:

13,050 gallon above ground
TH 400
TC 4
FC 3
ph 7.3
TA 120
CYA 30


I will appreciate your input! Have a great day!
 
sandysbiz said:
I have read for hours on this forum and thepoolform gathering knowledge and information. I finally put it all to use and did the conversion. I started on Thursday evening around 6 pm and by Sunday morning, the pool was almost completely cleared! I tested and backwashed very often. Maybe overkill to some, but I wanted to git-her-done. LOL I added bleach as needed to stay right at 15 ppm. Vacuuming, frequently to help it clear.
A variety of colors, orange, green, and scum, oh yea did I mention Scum?? My baquacil was fairly low when I started the conversion., but still lots of it to turn into slime and such floating on top, and covering the bottom. I kept at it with the bleach additions, testing more times than I care to remember. lol
Now it is a week and 2 days later, Lovely Clear Sparkling water. Oh Yes!! I did it !! Thanks to all who have posted and given me the confidence to do this.
Click to expand...

Congrats!



I do need help with my FC disappearing during the day. I put my bleach in around sun down, to a level of 5 FC. Testing in the AM, and usually it is holding the same or maybe down to 3 or 4. I add bleach to bring back to 5.
By the afternoon, 3-4 pm, the FC is completely gone most days. Lots of sunshine and heat I know is part of the problem. I have added bleach again during this time of day, and all of it will be gone by sundown.
Click to expand...

When you test during the day, has your pool water been circulating for some time, or do you shut your pump off and let the pool sit?

My question is : should I continue to add bleach during the afternoon, or just wait til sundown to add bleach so it can work.
Click to expand...

Since you stated above that you sometimes lose 1-2 ppm FC overnight, something may still be in the pool consuming it. You may want to consider shocking until your shock level holds overnight.


I have added some CYA, but the FC still goes.

My stats as of this morning:

13,050 gallon above ground
TH 400
TC 4
FC 3
ph 7.3
TA 120
CYA 30


I will appreciate your input! Have a great day!
Click to expand...

With a CC of 1 ppm overnight (assuming the pump was circulating), I'd shock tonight and everynight until the shock level holds overnight.
 
Congratulations on your lovely water, and the wise choice to convert!

Did you change out your filter media after your conversion? Did your FC hold overnight at the end of your conversion?
I wonder if you have some residual baquagoo consuming your FC...
 
I personally found that for about 4 weeks after my conversion, i would constantly lose chlorine and be generating CC's. Bringing it up to shock level and holding it for 4 days completely cured it.

Even though I changed my sand, I have a suspicion that some Baqua-Crud was hiding somewhere in all of the plumping, pump, etc...

I had no signs of algae other than chlorine use, so I am pretty sure it was conversion related. My opinion is subject to change based on the knowledge of the smart people here :)
 
Tested this a.m. the FC level stayed at 15 ppm. Appears that is good. During the day with direct sun is when the FC drops rapidly sometimes to 0.
Should I add bleach during this time as it just evaporates anyway? Will it be alright to wait until the sun goes down and then add bleach so it can sanitize overnight?
Will it cause problems for the FC to be 0 for a few hours?
I do run the filter 24/7.
Thanks for your help and advise!! :)
 
You should not leave your pool with 0 FC, even for a little while. It only takes a short time for algae or other ickies to take hold! :shock:
If you cannot add bleach during the day to boost it up, you might consider raising your CYA level. There are some folks that run high CYA pools (and subsequently higher FC levels) as the hot sun always destroyed the FC during the day.
 
With a CYA of 30 you should only lose perhaps 2/3rds of your chlorine to sunlight each day. Though this varies somewhat depending on just how sunlight you get, I wouldn't expect 15 to go down to zero from just sunlight with that CYA level. That is suggestive that there is still something consuming the chlorine, or the CYA test is wrong and it is actually lower.
 
JasonLion said:
... I wouldn't expect 15 to go down to zero from just sunlight with that CYA level. T...
Click to expand...

Sandy's 'normal' FC level is 5...


sandysbiz said:
I do need help with my FC disappearing during the day. I put my bleach in around sun down, to a level of 5 FC. Testing in the AM, and usually it is holding the same or maybe down to 3 or 4. I add bleach to bring back to 5.
By the afternoon, 3-4 pm, the FC is completely gone most days. Lots of sunshine and heat I know is part of the problem. I have added bleach again during this time of day, and all of it will be gone by sundown.
Click to expand...

Sandy, let us know how fast your 15 drops down...
 

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Sorry to post so late. After shocking up to 15 ppm and held overnight, the level dropped during the afternoon to 4ppm. The sun was very hot and lots of swimming that day. I add bleach to 6 ppm and it stayed overnight.
I have also added more stablilizer, to 50 ppm. Hopefully this will help. :wink:
 
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