Neglected IG Turtle Pond - need help

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zimmech

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Jul 7, 2011
32
Buffalo, NY
Hi there! We are new to owning a pool, having just purchased a house with an IG that hasn't been used since 2006. It was winterized and covered then, but the cover had fallen into the pool. The pool is home to bullfrogs, snails, and 3 snapping turtles who seemed to have moved out over the weekend (hopefully for good). We have shocked, shocked and shocked, tried clarifier to help solidify the gunk, and used fishing nets to remove the leaves and debris. We didn't get the pump working til yesterday, and ran it last night and all morning, but not overnight (sometimes the pressure rises to 30 and we have to rinse the filter so we don't feel comfortable just letting it run without supervision right now). My husband also rigged a sewage waste pump onto a dolly with rubber wheels, and was running that along the bottom in the deep end to try to get the gunk out. The water level is down to half now, and I estimate the pool volume to be about 28000 gallons. It's a 17x35x9 vinyl lined. The liner was installed in 2001 but seems ok - its definitely holding water! Although when vacuuming, I have hit some big creases in the bottom (or a body - not sure which yet!).

My levels last night (we only have a 5 way test kit, but I ordered the Taylor 2006 last night on-line)
Cl - under .5
pH - 7.2
TA - over 300
CH - over 1000
cya - under 30

this morning I checked the Cl and pH after adding 1 16 oz powdered shock and about 60 0z of 6% bleach over the course of a few hours. the pH remained unchanged, but the CL moved to 2. I have started refilling the pool. The water is still a murky green, can't see more than an inch in. I also started cleaning the walls and steps with a scrub brush and a mixture of 1 to 4, bleach to water. I bought more sand as a pool store recommended we change it now to help us clean the pool, but my husband wants to wait til the pool is clean to change the sand.

I welcome your suggestions! Thank you in advance - we would be lost without this site!

-Cheryl
 
Listen to what Zea says. :)

You'll need more bleach than you can imagine. I'd recommend starting with about 20 large jugs. Don't worry about the sand. It's most likely fine.

You'll need the Pool Calc to figure out how much bleach to add each time.

Also don't add any more powdered shock, use only bleach or liquid chlorine.
 
Thank you so much, Zea and Bama. I took water over to Leslie's to be tested. The cya level is 0, but they didn't feel I should try to fix that until I kill the algae. Also they recommended green to clean and a ton of shock for the next three days. What are your thoughts on that?

Thanks!
-Cheryl
 
Ignore them, listen to Bama and Zea. Read pool school. Then read again. Also, read the swamp to oasis information.

If CYA is 0 (or close) you could use powdered shock product for now and it will increase CYA, but it's actually easier to just add CYA in known quantities so that you won't have to guess or calculate approximate CYA levels till you can do your own CYA test.

I'd start with 20ppm CYA (stabilizer/conditioner - walmart has it) put it in an old sock, tie a rubber band around the top and tie off to the ladder. Then squish it every hour or so to help it disperse. Once you put 20ppm in there you'll know you have at least 20ppm CYA and can use that to determine your shock level with the calculator. It will/can take up to a week to register on the test but you should count on and use the number (ppm cya) that you added in the calculator from the time you hang/squish out the sock.

In your location, you're probably going to want to bump CYA to something like 50 or 60ppm eventually. But for shocking a green pool, starting with 20 could save you some $ because it'll take less bleach to reach shock level.

If I'm wrong, I hope someone will pipe in. Maybe in your location you should start with 30ppm instead?
 
Use bleach only. No green to clean, no powdered shock. I'd recommend you add enough CYA to get you to about 30 ppm. That puts enough in the pool to protect the FC from UV a little and keeps your shocking requirements from being so high.

Now, having said that, You could use enough Dichlor granules to add about 30 ppm CYA to the pool then switch to bleach or liquid chlorine. That's about 13 lbs.
 
I definitely should have asked here first before purchasing anything at Leslie's....but unfortunately, I had already purchased the Green to Clean and a case of shock. We dumped the Green to Clean in last night, followed by 4 lbs powdered shock, and ran the filter all night. I figured we would try it this weekend, since I already bought it - shocking the heck out of the pool can't hurt at this point, right? Later last night, we bought four gallons of 12.5 chlorine to start using after the weekend. We added solid cya in a sock as suggested, and will retest that in a week.

I have been reading up on the BBB method which seems to work so well for you all, and have a question. Will Borax lower the phosphate levels in my pool? The level is 300 (tested by Leslie's), I'm sure caused by my turtle and bullfrog tenants.

Thanks so much again for all your help - I promise to ask you first in the future before listening to the advice of a pool store employee!

-Cheryl
 
Will Borax lower the phosphate levels in my pool?
Click to expand...
No, but phosphates are completely irrelevant to clearing your pool and don't let any one tell you otherwise.

You can search countless OP's here who get "pool stored" buying phosphate removers that simply don't matter.
 
Hi and welcome to TFP!
As what has been said, no more stuff in the water except Liquid chlorine or bleach! :whip:
When you get your Taylor K-2006 test kit or TF-100 kit, STAY out of the pool store for chemicals except to buy only LC, tools, fittings and parts.
Test your water with kit, then post all of your test results here and we can help more than the pool store can. :eek:
We can help, BUT, follow the pool school directions and WHEN you have a question, ask here BEFORE dumping anything in the water that you have no idea what it does or what chemicals are in the package.

Chuck
 

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zimmech said:
Thanks Duraleigh. So it sounds like all I need to worry about right now, is keeping the chlorine level high and the filter running until the pool water is clear. (And vacuuming, of course!). Is that correct?
Click to expand...
Use The Pool Calculator to find your shock level and keep the pool at shock level until you pass the the overnight test. Run the pump and filter 24/7, cleaning the filter as needed.
 
You've only been at it a little while! Keep testing and adding bleach to keep it at shock levels. The more you test and keep it there, the faster it will go. Might help to get your water level up to where its supposed to be so the skimmers can keep the surface clear of debris. Also scoop out as much solids as possible, that will make it go as fast as possible. Just use a leaf rake and blind-rake the bottom of the deep end if you cant see it. You might come up with your turtles!
 
Keep a record of all the powdered/granulated "shock product" that you have put into the pool. The CYA amount you've added should be known as well. You'll need to assume an "adjusted" CYA level now after adding all that, use the pool calculator (at the bottom) to determine what your adjusted level is by entering all the powdered product amounts into it.

I would not, at this point use any more powdered shock. Assuming you added enough CYA to get to 30ppm, you've still got all that shock product to consider and it will only get harder and harder to reach shock level (more chlorine will be needed) if you continue to raise CYA by using powders/tablets.

You have a big swamp, and it will take a while to clear it. It will take longer however if you miss the shock level required to effectively kill all the algae and biological stuff in there, missing it by even 1ppm causes delays.

BUT... once you know your real levels, and are able to test hourly for a day or so, and you maintain shock level... this is when your break will come and there will be a visual change.
 
Thanks frogabog. We put enought cya in to reach 20 ppm, and are basing all our chemicals on a filled pool (as we are filling it now). The shock we are using is calcium hypo, so is not adidng any cya to the water. We plan to occasionally use the skimmer tablets in the future so we did not want to add too much cya. We bought more bleach today, and plan to continue solely with bleach to continue shocking once we are out of the powder shock (after tomorrow morning). I probably sound impatient to you all - we have been working on the pool for a month, but had to take a break last week to get married :) and just finally got the pump operational. To me it feels like we have been working on it forever!

Thanks again for your suggestions and assistance! We would be lost without this site!

-Cheryl
 
Congratulations on your marriage! :) Now that your equipment is working and you've embraced BBB, it shouldn't be long at all for vast improvement. Just remember... shocking must be a sustained effort and you'll be good to go.
 
POP - what store do I buy that at? :lol:

Shocked to 18 last night before bed - this morning's reading was 10, so I shocked to 18 again and will watch the levels every hour today. Does this look like progress (I hope)?
 

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