- Sep 8, 2013
- 3
Hello Everyone. I am new to the forum and have spent hours over the last two days reading all of the pool school stuff and browsing posts. It's a bit hard to assimilate so much new info and usefully process it. So, I'd like to get some reassurance that I am doing the right thing.
I have ordered one of test kits recommended, and am waiting to get it in, so I realize I am at a great disadvantage and may not be able to accurately solve my problem until I have it in hand. But at the same time, I don't want the algae to get ahead of any progress I have made.
I got my pool this year (march) and the first few months...great. Was using LPS for advice/chemicals. About a month ago we started seeing a little bit of algae on the pool. I knew nothing about "shocking" the pool and at first the LPS guys just gave me algaecide/phos free to add. The algae kept getting worse (green patches mostly on the walls and curves). We were just happily brushing it off to see it again in 2 days.
9/7: Finally went to another LPS, learned about shocking the water and they gave me a huge slew of things to do. Shock with Powder Plus, Black Algae Killer, clean filter, Phos Free, Pool First Aid. I used probably 12 bags of powder plus in a 1.5 days because I would add 2-3 bags and a half hour later my reading would be a 0!
My pool is in full texas sun.
9/8: Continued to shock my pool a few times. After reading the site, I shocked it last night with the pool calculator's amount of bleach. Ran the pump on a low setting all night.
9/9: Chlorine was negligible this morning, so I got it sampled again at LPS.
LPS Readings: Before All the LPS Stuff to do/This morning's reading
FAC: 0 0
TAC: 0 0
CH: 200 350
CYA: 60 90 (seemed reasonable with all the powder packets I added?)
TA: 80 80
pH: 7.4 7.2
Phos: 200 100
I have been running my pump 24/7 and brushing my pool many times a day. The color/clarity of my water looks great. There never really was a ton of algae in the water (or so I thought).
Since my cya was so high, I stuck my hose in the pool today and ran it for about 6 hours letting my pool drain out some of the old water. Not sure how much old water got out, but when I use the strips it shows the stabilize in the 30-50 color range. I have a test kit that tests CYA, and I think it is around 60/70, but it's hard to know when to measure. Is it when you can't see the black dot at ALL?
I added a bit of soda Ash to get my PH and TA back up after running my hose and then I shocked the pool with 630 oz of bleach this evening. (from pool calculator with 70 CY to get to 30 FC).
In the morning I will test (the best that I can) to see if the FC has dropped below 10 again.
Whew, I think my brain just might explode from all this!
I really appreciate all the great advice I have learned already, thanks.
I have ordered one of test kits recommended, and am waiting to get it in, so I realize I am at a great disadvantage and may not be able to accurately solve my problem until I have it in hand. But at the same time, I don't want the algae to get ahead of any progress I have made.
I got my pool this year (march) and the first few months...great. Was using LPS for advice/chemicals. About a month ago we started seeing a little bit of algae on the pool. I knew nothing about "shocking" the pool and at first the LPS guys just gave me algaecide/phos free to add. The algae kept getting worse (green patches mostly on the walls and curves). We were just happily brushing it off to see it again in 2 days.
9/7: Finally went to another LPS, learned about shocking the water and they gave me a huge slew of things to do. Shock with Powder Plus, Black Algae Killer, clean filter, Phos Free, Pool First Aid. I used probably 12 bags of powder plus in a 1.5 days because I would add 2-3 bags and a half hour later my reading would be a 0!
My pool is in full texas sun.
9/8: Continued to shock my pool a few times. After reading the site, I shocked it last night with the pool calculator's amount of bleach. Ran the pump on a low setting all night.
9/9: Chlorine was negligible this morning, so I got it sampled again at LPS.
LPS Readings: Before All the LPS Stuff to do/This morning's reading
FAC: 0 0
TAC: 0 0
CH: 200 350
CYA: 60 90 (seemed reasonable with all the powder packets I added?)
TA: 80 80
pH: 7.4 7.2
Phos: 200 100
I have been running my pump 24/7 and brushing my pool many times a day. The color/clarity of my water looks great. There never really was a ton of algae in the water (or so I thought).
Since my cya was so high, I stuck my hose in the pool today and ran it for about 6 hours letting my pool drain out some of the old water. Not sure how much old water got out, but when I use the strips it shows the stabilize in the 30-50 color range. I have a test kit that tests CYA, and I think it is around 60/70, but it's hard to know when to measure. Is it when you can't see the black dot at ALL?
I added a bit of soda Ash to get my PH and TA back up after running my hose and then I shocked the pool with 630 oz of bleach this evening. (from pool calculator with 70 CY to get to 30 FC).
In the morning I will test (the best that I can) to see if the FC has dropped below 10 again.
Whew, I think my brain just might explode from all this!
I really appreciate all the great advice I have learned already, thanks.