Hello all. Im about at my wits end with our pool. I've been adding bags of shock and granular chlorine to our pool for about a week now, and Im not getting anywhere. I have a greenish brown nasty looking pool. From what Im reading, maybe Im not adding enough chlorine? The ph is great, and I add chlorine nightly, but it still isnt registering on the test kit. Should i just start dumping gallons of bleach in? We have an inground 16x36. :grrrr:
Newbie switching from Baquacil to Chlorine
- Thread starter veronica1976
- Start date
Welcome to TFP Veronica!
Lots of folks come here to convert from Baq to a chlorine pool. You won't regret making the change.
There is a protocol of sorts that must be followed to make the conversion. It requires lots of bleach and work but the payoff is huge. Take a look at this sticky which lays it all out there for you. Good luck and post pictures!
pool-school/baqua_chlorine_conversion
Lots of folks come here to convert from Baq to a chlorine pool. You won't regret making the change.
There is a protocol of sorts that must be followed to make the conversion. It requires lots of bleach and work but the payoff is huge. Take a look at this sticky which lays it all out there for you. Good luck and post pictures!
pool-school/baqua_chlorine_conversion
Welcome to TFP!
Doing a baquacil conversion takes some time and lots and lots of chlorine. I can get a little frustrating sometimes, but when it is over the pool will sparkle like you have never seen before and ongoing costs will be much lower than they were before the conversion.
Take a look at the conversion instructions 257WbyMag linked to, and ask us any questions you have along the way.
Doing a baquacil conversion takes some time and lots and lots of chlorine. I can get a little frustrating sometimes, but when it is over the pool will sparkle like you have never seen before and ongoing costs will be much lower than they were before the conversion.
Take a look at the conversion instructions 257WbyMag linked to, and ask us any questions you have along the way.
Thanks guys...............Im probably one of the most impatient people around. Which doesn't make this easy at all! I probably should of opened our pool the beginning of April instead of two weeks ago, had I known it was going to take this long. Guess I'll be heading to the store tomorrow to buy tons of bleach!! Wish me luck!
You won't regret it Veronica. I started the conversion process last fall. Had a green swamp this spring. I now have a crystal clear pool...the info and help from everyone on this site is fantastic.
Our pool went from nasty brown to a cloudy teal color, I dont have the baqua-gunk on top of my pool anymore, and backwashing doesnt seem so "dirty". I had to stop putting bleach in the pool cause it didnt seem to be doing anything, plus I got asked at the store why I was buying so much bleach, if I was trying to cover something up!! Hahaha!!! Plus I have about 20 chlorox bottles to go to recycling. I hope the police dont start circling my house!! So were using granular chlorine and shock I just keep switching between the two. My question is I put chlorine or shock in the evenings, but by morning its all gone and not registering on test kit. Should I only put it in the pool in the evenings after sun is off of it, or do i want to continuously put it in to get the levels to stay up?
You don't want to be using granular chlorine. It contains other things, besides just chlorine, that you don't want in the pool, especially if it is actually dichlor. Dichlor contains CYA, which will significantly slow down the conversion.
I know it can be frustrating, but you need to keep at it. As long as the FC level is back to zero by morning it is fine to add chlorine as often as every hour, day or night. Once the FC level is above zero in the morning, it is more efficient to just add chlorine in the evenings.
Did you check the PH before starting? If not, you should double check what the PH is sometime when the FC level is near zero and adjust it to between 7.2 and 7.4.
I know it can be frustrating, but you need to keep at it. As long as the FC level is back to zero by morning it is fine to add chlorine as often as every hour, day or night. Once the FC level is above zero in the morning, it is more efficient to just add chlorine in the evenings.
Did you check the PH before starting? If not, you should double check what the PH is sometime when the FC level is near zero and adjust it to between 7.2 and 7.4.
I have checked the PH, its right on. The Alkalinity was high to begin with but we got that under control. So using bags of shock is ok too?
It depends what chemical is in your "shock". You want to avoid dichlor, but cal-hypo is alright. Do you know which you have? Or you can tell us what the brand is and we can figure it out for you.
Omni Breakout Extra is cal-hypo, so alright to use for a while. You should keep an eye on your CH level and make sure CH doesn't get too high, as you will be using a great deal. Using bleach is less expensive.
Note: Tomorrow I am going to move this topic to the Baquacil area of the site. That is a more appropriate place for it.
Note: Tomorrow I am going to move this topic to the Baquacil area of the site. That is a more appropriate place for it.