FIGHTING ALGAE NEED SECOND OPINION

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aaronmara

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Jun 18, 2010
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Me and my family just moved to this house a month ago. When we first moved here the water was clear. Take in mind this is my first pool so my knowledge of pools is basic. Anyhow, after a week of living here our pool became green and it was obvious we were having a algae attack. i took a sample to local pool store and followed their directions. Two weeks later i am in the same situation. i took a sample down again. they had stated that they calculated wrong our size of our pool so they had us treating a much smaller pool. therefore we must do everything we had already done, just double. i am quite irate and irritated of this. our pool is green and getting greener as we speak. i have over 200 dollars invested into this and cant see myself spending 400 more at the same store. i am desperate of help and would like to do this as cheap as possible. keep in mind i do not know much about pools but i have learned alot from this site. but as everyone says every pool is different and i would like to get some help based on my test readings. it would be greatly appreciated, my levels are as follows

we have 15,000 gallon pool with a sand filter

FAC - 0
TAC - 0
CYA - 20
TA - 140
pH - 8.0
ACID - 5
COPPER - 0
IRON - 0
TDS - 1000
Pho - 300

The recommended levels the pool store game me are as follows, if these are incorrect please let me know

FAC 1-5ppm
TAC 0.2 DIFFERENCE
CYA 30-99
TA 80-140ppm
pH 7.2 - 7.8
COPPER SHOULD BE 0ppm
IRON SHOULD BE 0ppm
TDS LESS THAN 2500
Pho BELOW 300ppb

i am unsure of when to add chemicals, and the amounts. i need to know how long to wait til you add the next chemical etc..
and how long til the kids can swim again. the pool guys said we need green to clean, 12lbs of shock, water clarifier, and some chemical to eliminate food for algae, and new sand for the filter....... which i know is no more than 2 years old. they stated i need conditioner or stabilizer which in fact i know i need. i was wondering about the products ultra clarifier, green algicide, and muriatic acid. any and all help will be GREATLY appreciated. it is getting hot here in arizona and we really need our pool but we want to do it the right way thank you so much!!
 
Welcome to TFP.

Save yourself a lot of money and heartache. Read pool school about defeating algae and get a good test kit. You won't regret spending the money on it once you use it.

You need to shock you pool and not like the pool store tells you to do it. You need lots of liquid chlorine (aka bleach). Some pool stores sell it but the most popular place to get it is Walmart. Buy 10 large jugs to start with. Once you get that and read pool school come back and ask any questions and we'll help you with it.
 
ive read alot on this site, thats why i am convinced that the bbb method works, my questions are concerning such as how long do i wait after i add the stabilizer to add bleach? and ive read a few different methods of adding the stabilizer, and just wondering the best method of adding the liquid stabilizer, or is it recemmonded to use the dry stabilizer. or should i in fact add the bleach before the stabilizer. but i love this site and i have my wife convinced of this method. it was easier to convince her than i thought. but the money saving was the kicker for her........... thanks of the reply but still looking for answers... god bless
 
It really doesn't matter timing wise. Take part of the recommended amount of dry stabilizer and put it in an old sock in the skimmer. Get the bleach in there ASAP. The sooner you do that, the sooner it will clear. You'll need to test and add bleach hourly at first, so stay after it.
Turning Your Green Swamp Back into a Sparkling Oasis

Defeating Algae
 
Don't worry...you can get a handle on this. In order to maintain your pool you really need a good test kit. Relying on the pool store...well you see where that got you. The best deal going is the TF-100.

How are you chlorinating your pool? Right now your CYA is low so if you have pucks and granular shock you can use it for a while but eventually they overstabilize your water making chlorine less effective.

At TFP we recommend liquid chlorine (aka bleach) as the long term chlorination method for both regular maintenance and shock.

You should read through Pool School and get an understanding of what is involved:

  • What is BBB? [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • Recommended Pool Chemicals [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • How to Chlorinate Your Pool [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • Chlorine / CYA Chart [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • Recommended Levels [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • The Pool Calculator [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • Defeating Algae [/*:m:3f0si2y5]
  • Shock Your Pool[/*:m:3f0si2y5]
 
aaronmara said:
phoenix arizona, in the west valley.......... stop on by and give me a hand :p
Click to expand...

Sorry, I avoid Phoenix like the plague! :lol:

You can add stabilizer and bleach at the same time. At this point, I would stock up on bleach and worry about the stabilizer later. Do you have/have you ordered a good test kit?
 
At a high level, this is what I would do:

Add Muratic acid to bring your pH down to 7.2.
Add Stabalizer to bring your CYA up to 30
Add Bleach to bring your FC up to 12

For these chemicals, it doesn't make a huge difference as to the order you add them in. Maybe wait an hour in between each.

You will keep adding bleach to hold at 12ppm until you are no longer loosing FC over night.

Most important thing you can do, though is get yourself a good test kit.
 

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do i need the green algecide that the pool store says i cannot fight this battle without? adding all this bleach will it raise my pH? and if so do i need to get some murtic acid or is this something i worry about after i shock it via bleach?
 
Right now, before you start shocking, you should get some muriatic acid and lower your pH to about 7.2. Adding the bleach won't affect your pH enough to worry about, and when your FC is high you won't be able to accurately measure it.

Return the algicide, phosphate remover, clarifier, and any other junk they sold you. What you need now is bleach, acid, and CYA; everything else is unnecessary.
 
i believe i am on the right track

ive been testing it and the newest test was as follows:

total hardness - 350
tc 10
fc 5
ph 7.6
ta 120
ca 80

are these good shock numbers? i am hoping once i am done shocking the levels will level out and be normal...
 
Some clarification is needed...

Earlier you had:

CYA: 20

To which it was recomended that you bring your CYA up to about 30.

Now, we are seeing:

CA: 80

CYA takes around a week to register. So even if you made an addition: 1) You would have added too much and 2) It wouldn't be showing up in your testing.

Here's the difference. If your CYA was 20, the recomendation would be to increase your CYA by 10, and target a shock level of 12.

If your CYA is really 80, the recomendation would be to either do a partial refill, or to target a shock level of 31.

You can see the importance of having good test results.
 
i made a mistake in typing, my CYA is still around the 20-30 range, where i started i am waiting for it to register tomm. sometime ............ sorry for the typo. but i added 11 gal of bleach. so i should add more to get it to the level of 12? thank you!!
 
I got rid of the green and now it is a beautiful blue. i can see the bottom of the shallow end but cant yet see the bottom of the deep end. it seems a bit cloudy. all my levels are normal. do i still hit it hard with the bleach and continue the shock method or do i just keep running the filter. You guys have helped me this far and i am so appreciative i just need a lil more advise!! thank you so much!
 
Hi there,
yes, keep filtering 24/7, and also continue holding it at shock level until the water clears up completely and sparkles, and you hopefully will have your test kit by then to confirm thru the FAS-DPD test that you are 'done' shocking. :)
 
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