Algae problem?

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JustinK

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Jun 27, 2010
16
Hello. I seem to be having a problem that i cannot figure out and was unsure which subforum this belonged to. Kinda two fold question i guess. I opened my pool and eventually got everything going crystal clear thanks to help from this forum. A few weeks into the summer we had a few days of continuous rain and i most likely did not check the pool everyday. It was then at this point i noticed the pool having dirt/debris in it and just assumed vacuuming would clean it up as we had a SWG producing the same daily numbers when checked before. Then the SWG apparently stopped producing chlorine at some point and was told its bad. I then shocked the pool which it passed the overnight loss test. That was a few days ago and yet it still has a green tint to it. Could this still be some kind of algae or metals? Though i am unsure how metals would be an issue. Shock it again even though it passed the loss test and run filter nonstop?

We have a slide and when i turned it on a foul smell was coming out from where the water comes down. Could this be due to the bad SWG no longer working the plates producing something , or what else would produce this smell? Im not exact sure how to describe it other then you could noticeably smell it when turned on. I turned it off right away so i do not know if it is a permanent thing or just right when its opened but it was not there when it was opened with everything running clear before this problem.

Numbers:
FC-5
CC-0
ph-7.6
CYA-70
TA-70
 
Its hard to tell imo. Because after i vacuumed a day later it looks like dirt again on the floor when it was just cloudy. So the areas of the return jets its blue just cloudy, and where its not hitting the floor/section of the pool it looks cloudy greenish with dirt i guess or debris of some sort.

I did not turn on the slide when i have shocked it, and i do not believe i have done so in the past, which if your asking i guess needs to be done every time?
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes i have done this the past few nights and it stayed the same number overnight which is why i didnt think it was algae but seems like i cannot get rid of it. Have been running the filter for 24 hours now to see if there would be any change from that.

Only second year with the pool and i havent added any sequesterants in the past
 
The smell from the slide water is probably organics growing in that stagnant water because you didn't circulate chlorine in there. Shock the pool and run the slide water to introduce chlorine into it.

Shocking the pool is a process wherein you need to meet three things before you are done....
1. Your water is crystal clear.
2. You lose less than 1.0 FC during the FC overnight loss test
3. Your CC's test is .5 or less

Your water was never clear (if I'm reading your post correctly) so your shock process was never complete.
 
Will keep on doing. I guess since i passed numbers 2 and 3 i figured something was different. This time ill make sure to have the slide value open through out. Thanks for the replies and help.
 
Update

Can see improvement. Apparently the first time i did the Overnight loss test, i guess i didnt have the filter on for 24 hours so i got an incorrect reading. The shallow end is clear, however the deep is blue cloudy just at the very bottom. I am assuming it is taking awhile as we have a sand filter. I have done the overnight loss test for 3 nights in a row and it has been holding steady without losing more then 1ppm overnight.

However i have two new questions/issues i have noticed. Even with all of this, for some reason in the cracks of my pool steps it seems like i continually get yellowish dirt i guess. Ill vaccum it up and then within a day or two it is back in the same spot. Could this be yellow algae or just dirt/pollen reforming as no one has been going in the pool? If i have read correctly yellow algae does not grow in sunlight, which these steps/area it is found, is in the sun pretty much all day.

Second question is, i was cleaning out the filter baskets as we have two. Im not exactly sure how to word this but I generally only keep the deep end fully open or this has the most pull/suction. So the shallow end doesnt get used as much and doesnt fill up as much as the deep end with leaves and such. Because of this i maybe only check it every few days to a week, compared to all the time with the deep end. When i went to empty it today, i noticed green algae underneath the basket, a small layer at the bottom around the inside. Does this mean i have to continue shocking the pool again and scrub/brush this area every time until clear? Or can it just be dead algae that accumulated and i can vaccum to waste?
 

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So the shallow end doesnt get used as much and doesnt fill up as much as the deep end with leaves and such.
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Well, the correct solution to that is to balance the two skimmers so they draw equally. Anything less than that is unsatisfactory. There is a clever device that will fit in the bottom of your strong skimmer and will fix that. If no one else provides the part number in the next hour or so, I will google it and try to post you a picture. YOU NEED THAT ITEM.
 
With visible algae and cloudy, shock. Now that you know where the algae is, brushing it and getting it exposed to the high FC should not be a problem. Don't forget to turn on the slide!

If it's not too late, you could shock it tonight. Since you are just coming off a shock,
it might not take much to get rid of this green kid. :hammer:

Let us know how it goes :wink:
 
Duraleigh,

Thanks. Did not know both sides should be pulling in the same volume at same time. The connection near the filter is just so you can switch to which skimmer you favor i believe, and just thought that was how it goes.


Butterfly,
Ok. Will continue shocking. Just figured since other then being unsure if the steps and near some creases in the liner was dirt/pollen or maybe even yellow algae that it was just cloudy in the deep end due to reading that a sand filter can take up to a week to clear the algae. Then again that was until i guess i saw what could be green algae in the bottom of the skimmer, and like mentioned above not done shocking until clear.

Any guess on those spots/creases or hard to say without being able to see? Only asking as it seems like yellow algae you need to shock at the higher FC and can be hard to get rid of. Thanks again.
 
JustinK said:
Any guess on those spots/creases or hard to say without being able to see? Only asking as it seems like yellow algae you need to shock at the higher FC and can be hard to get rid of. Thanks again.
Click to expand...
Well, it doesn't sound like mustard algae. As you said, it is on the steps which are in the sun.

Pollen is often mistaken for mustard algae. Mustard algae tends to grow on the walls and floor of the pool on the shaded side.
Also, when you go up to shock level and brush the pool, mustard algae won't come back as long as you stay at shock level.
Pollen continues to accumulate, even at shock level.

Keep an eye on it when you shock and see what happens.
I suggest normal shock levels for now.
If it sticks around during shock level, you'll know it's pollen. :wink:
 
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