Towards the end of last pool season, our pool kept getting something reddish pink in certain areas.(ladder, light, return jets) The pool store said they had no idea what it was to begin with, but told us to shock and brush and it should disappear. It would but would reappear a few days later. They said our numbers were all in balance. Has anyone run across this?
Red Algae?
- Thread starter sdjcherring
- Start date
Yes, and it means that in all likelyhood you were not properly chlorinating the pool. Often the pool stores determination of "good" or "balanced" is not correct at all... some mean well but they just don't understand the pool chemistry side of things.
Your FC level is determined by your CYA level. Refer to the chart (link in my sig). If you maintain the proper FC levels according to the chart, your pool should be trouble free. Edit: Now that you are going to be using an SWG - see "Water Balance for SWGs" in Pool School.
Can I guess that you added a one time application of shock, brushed - and then allowed the FC to drop back down (to a range that's probably too low for your CYA level) which allowed the algae to return. (What level do you typically keep the CYA at?) How often do you run the pump? What was your typical daily FC level? When you shocked, what product did you use?
You have to use an FAS-DPD test to confirm that anything organic is fully dead (see How to do an Overnight FC loss Test in Pool School) and "How to Shock your Pool". Then you maintain the appropriate chlorine level to prevent anything from coming back.
Hope this helps.
Your FC level is determined by your CYA level. Refer to the chart (link in my sig). If you maintain the proper FC levels according to the chart, your pool should be trouble free. Edit: Now that you are going to be using an SWG - see "Water Balance for SWGs" in Pool School.
Can I guess that you added a one time application of shock, brushed - and then allowed the FC to drop back down (to a range that's probably too low for your CYA level) which allowed the algae to return. (What level do you typically keep the CYA at?) How often do you run the pump? What was your typical daily FC level? When you shocked, what product did you use?
You have to use an FAS-DPD test to confirm that anything organic is fully dead (see How to do an Overnight FC loss Test in Pool School) and "How to Shock your Pool". Then you maintain the appropriate chlorine level to prevent anything from coming back.
Hope this helps.
You won't believe how often we hear this, and it is almost never true. If you have a full set of water test results, either from last year or right now, we can give you much more specific advice.sdjcherring said:
Here are a set of numbers i found from last year.
FC- 1.0
TC-1.0
TA- 81
PH-7.2
CALCIUM- 70
CYA- 40
TDS-200
The only thing they recommended was to shock.
Thanks
FC- 1.0
TC-1.0
TA- 81
PH-7.2
CALCIUM- 70
CYA- 40
TDS-200
The only thing they recommended was to shock.
Thanks
Yeah, with a CYA level of 40, you should have been shooting for a FC level of around 5. You would have needed to shock to about 16, and I'm betting that you can't measure that, unless you have a FAS-DPD kit, and few pool stores will use or recommend that. No surprise that you had algae.
Yep, what Ohm_Boy said. With CYA at 40, FC should be between 3 and 7 when you don't have a problem. And to reliably get rid of a problem FC should be 15 to 17 for a day or two minimum, not just one application of chlorine.
Thanks,
Also, along with the reddish/ pink algae, occasionally when i would brush around the lights and jets, a dull, white slimy ? would brush off. Is this algae also?
Also, along with the reddish/ pink algae, occasionally when i would brush around the lights and jets, a dull, white slimy ? would brush off. Is this algae also?
Most "red algae" is actually a bacteria and the white stuff is probably a fungus, but the treatment is the same in any case: more chlorine and brushing.