Hello all and thanks for this great forum! I recently had a new pool installed. This is my first "real" pool. I had an Intex with a cartridge filter and saltwater generator for about 2 1/2 seasons so I have some experience with pools. When I purchased this pool I was told the Frog System was the easiest way to go so I went ahead and got it. Of course a month later I stumble on this site looking for more information about pool maintenance in general. It seems the way to go is to switch to the BBB method so that is what Im going to do!
When we purchased the pool, the Maintenance pack came with many of the chemicals suggested as part of the BBB system (albeit more expensive versions Im sure). Here is a list of what we have:
Poolife ph minus: Sodium Bisulfate 92%
Poolife ph plus: Sodium Carbonate 98%
Poolife Stabilizer and Conditioner: Cyanuric Acid 96%
Poolife Algaecheck Algaecide
Poolife Natural Clarifier
SpringPill
Today I took my water sample to The Biggest pool store in the area expecting an elaborate printout of the levels of my pool. The guy used a little 2 or 3 step test kit with drops and told me everything looked good except I needed to raise the TA. He said dump in about a half a box of "this". Gee thanks.
So then I took the sample over to the other local store and got a slightly better result. He used test strips and did give me a printout but I question the accuracy. The conclusion was the same. Everything looks good except the TA. Here is the readout:
TH 250ppm
CC 0ppm
FC 3ppm
pH 7.2
TA 40ppm
Cya 30ppm
So are here are my questions:
1) Is it likely my water is acceptable to be letting everyone swim in until I convert to BBB?
2) Where do I start and do I need to dump some of the water to get rid of the minerals that Poolfrog put in my pool? (I have 2 blondes in the family and dont want to see them one day get out of the pool with green tinged hair)
3) I thought about keeping the poolfrog for use when we are away on vacation(twice this year for a little over a week each) and taking out the mineral cartridge, but maybe floating chlorine tablets are easier?
4) Are the test strips sold at stores anywhere near accurate enough to properly convert to BBB or do I definitely get the kit?
5) What chemicals do I need in addition to the ones I have and which can I just get rid of (or try and return)
I read alot about BBB and the main article at least twice all the way through, so I have a relative grip on the concept. At this point, considering I have been running the pool for a month with Poolfrog, its not exactly a fresh start. So, where do i start??
Thanks so much in advance!!
Joe
When we purchased the pool, the Maintenance pack came with many of the chemicals suggested as part of the BBB system (albeit more expensive versions Im sure). Here is a list of what we have:
Poolife ph minus: Sodium Bisulfate 92%
Poolife ph plus: Sodium Carbonate 98%
Poolife Stabilizer and Conditioner: Cyanuric Acid 96%
Poolife Algaecheck Algaecide
Poolife Natural Clarifier
SpringPill
Today I took my water sample to The Biggest pool store in the area expecting an elaborate printout of the levels of my pool. The guy used a little 2 or 3 step test kit with drops and told me everything looked good except I needed to raise the TA. He said dump in about a half a box of "this". Gee thanks.
So then I took the sample over to the other local store and got a slightly better result. He used test strips and did give me a printout but I question the accuracy. The conclusion was the same. Everything looks good except the TA. Here is the readout:
TH 250ppm
CC 0ppm
FC 3ppm
pH 7.2
TA 40ppm
Cya 30ppm
So are here are my questions:
1) Is it likely my water is acceptable to be letting everyone swim in until I convert to BBB?
2) Where do I start and do I need to dump some of the water to get rid of the minerals that Poolfrog put in my pool? (I have 2 blondes in the family and dont want to see them one day get out of the pool with green tinged hair)
3) I thought about keeping the poolfrog for use when we are away on vacation(twice this year for a little over a week each) and taking out the mineral cartridge, but maybe floating chlorine tablets are easier?
4) Are the test strips sold at stores anywhere near accurate enough to properly convert to BBB or do I definitely get the kit?
5) What chemicals do I need in addition to the ones I have and which can I just get rid of (or try and return)
I read alot about BBB and the main article at least twice all the way through, so I have a relative grip on the concept. At this point, considering I have been running the pool for a month with Poolfrog, its not exactly a fresh start. So, where do i start??
Thanks so much in advance!!
Joe