Just a little history. When I did the AA treatment and the stain lifted, the water was beautifully blue and crystal clear - better than I'd ever seen it. Then, maybe the next day, it went cloudy. Because I read that this is expected, I didn't worry too much about it.
Help on Shock SWG as trying to balance
- Thread starter lews
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"floc" or "flocking" is a chemical which causes all of the stuff suspended in the water to fall to the bottom so you can vacuum it up. It can turn a murky pool clear overnight, but it doesn't always work, is a lot of effort, and is useless if you still have live algae.
It is normal for sequestrant to cloud up the water. Clouding caused by sequestrant normally clears up in two to four days. At the same time there is always a risk of getting algae while doing an AA treatment, which also clouds up the water. Not only is algae common, but it is extra difficult to fight algae without causing the stains to reappear. It can be a difficult situation.
I am not convinced that you have algae, though that is certainly a distinct possibility. I was hoping it was just calcium clouding, but that is ruled out now. The next step is to do an overnight FC loss test to find out if you have algae or not. If you don't have algae it might be time to try out either clarifier or floc.
It is normal for sequestrant to cloud up the water. Clouding caused by sequestrant normally clears up in two to four days. At the same time there is always a risk of getting algae while doing an AA treatment, which also clouds up the water. Not only is algae common, but it is extra difficult to fight algae without causing the stains to reappear. It can be a difficult situation.
I am not convinced that you have algae, though that is certainly a distinct possibility. I was hoping it was just calcium clouding, but that is ruled out now. The next step is to do an overnight FC loss test to find out if you have algae or not. If you don't have algae it might be time to try out either clarifier or floc.
You know I've been keeping poly60 in the pool and the cloudiness is white. Boy it would seem algae would be really unlikely but I'll go with whatever you say. How high FC should I go?
You only need FC at 2, or higher but 2 is fine, to do the overnight FC loss test. We are just trying to rule out algae, not to fight it just yet. That shouldn't require any PH adjustment.
I'm not saying you have algae, just that it is plausible that you could have algae and I want to make sure that you don't before trying out some other things to clear up the water.
I'm not saying you have algae, just that it is plausible that you could have algae and I want to make sure that you don't before trying out some other things to clear up the water.
Here's something. I check FC before adding bleach to get to 2.0 and found FC at .2ppm, which is fine, but CC at .6ppm. The last time I checked CC (after the shock treatment that began this thread), my CC was at 0ppm. Doesn't that mean there's something in there organic. Should I shock it?
No, don't shock just yet. There is CC because the FC level is getting too low. The chances are excellent that the CC will go away once you bring the FC up to normal levels. If you get to that point and CC is still elevated, then you need to shock (or if you are losing FC overnight).
I checked this morning and the FC was .8 and when I just got home, the pool was green.
No, I added last night. I just checked this morning. I added more bleach a hour ago to bring it to FC 2 but I just checked and now the water is bad looking grey/brown. FC is .4
The PH is 7.5. The FC today (a few minutes ago) is about 1.0. The color is brownish green. Help!!
With your reported CYA level, You need to get your FC up (way up ~15 to 24).... and hold at the level until the water clears.
That looks like algae. Ok, going back to read the thread from the beginning to refresh my memory.... 
Okay. Unfortunately I think we find ourselves on the Metals/Algae see-saw, cuz that sure looks like algae to me. IT's been about 2 weeks since you did the last AA treatment, so I'd go ahead and plan on raising it up to shock level. What is your current CYA level? Now, shocking may agrevate the metals situation. But if this were my pool, I'd want it algae free and swimable and I could live with the staining for awhile. Still you may want to keep the sequesterant on hand and keep it at the proper level to prevent the staining - but the color and the low chlorine SCREAMs algae.
Still you may want to keep the sequesterant on hand and keep it at the proper level to prevent the staining - but the color and the low chlorine SCREAMs algae.
I'm sorry this is happening. I'd go ahead and shock it - the water may turn funny colors because of metals but you'll need to get the algae under control.