Borax & Bugs

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jck

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May 23, 2010
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Will adding Borax to your pool get rid of the backswimmer bugs. I've read on it but not seen any confirmed post that it will. Thanks in advance.

Not sure where to ask this so put it here. Please move it if its in the wrong place.

Just so we are clear here is the numbers this am.. Over night lose.. 0 FC 6 PH 7.5 CYA 35-40 Pool is as clear as it can it..
 
There have been some posts indicating borax will help with bugs. I find that adequate chlorine in the pool is the best preventer.

Your test results are in the wrong place and apparently belong with another thread. You need to find that thread and post your results there.....they are meaningless here.
 
Increasing Chlorine worked for us last year. My guess is there's still some residual algae that hasn't been killed. That or you have a mosquito problem and the backswimmers are eating the larvae. Have you tried shocking?
 
jblizzle said:
Pretty sure putting soap in your pool is not a very good idea. Just bump the chlorine up ... maybe even shock it.

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I found out about the soap from another pool forum and was a little unsure of it myself at first. I experimented first using a five gallon bucket of water straight out of the pool with about 25 of the little back swimmers, and some diving beetles. Raising to shock level and then some had little affect. Next...borax, with normal chlorine levels, not much affect again. Dump the bucket, smash the bugs with my foot, fill the bucket up with more pool water and bugs, add about five or six big drops of good old dawn dish soap, stir, and an hour later we had floating-dead bugs! Poured a 1/4 cup of soap in front of the return and waited an hour. Nothing happened. Added another 1/4 cup and and hour later bugs were dying. Checked ph and other levels and to my surprise all were good! I really expected to see bubbles somewhere, but a 1/2 cup of soap to 11,000+ gallons isn't much.
 
I agree about the dawn soap. I think it has to be original, not foam or power scrubber. I have not added it to the pool yet, but we had a problem on top of the winter cover. Literally a few drops of dish soap and the giant water bugs and boatmen/back swimmers were dead within a minute. Something about it starving the oxygen out of the water is why it works....

Shocking my pool did. Oohing for these guys last summer. I dumped straight bleach on the water bugs, nothing. Got angry, bought lithium shock and dumped it directly on them...nothing. We had borates in our pool and algaecide, never let fc drop below ideal levels and never had cc over .5. We still had bugs. So maybe there is resistant algae that they are eating.

I find if I keep the pool covered and only open immediately before swimming, we don't get the bugs.

We already had the giant water bugs this year and the water is only 45 degrees, holding fc for days on end with no cc. They were in the skimmer basket so I was able to get rid of them by emptying the basket in the field behind our pool...didn't have the dawn on hand and was too grossed out to run in and get it. They haven't been back yet.

Like I said, I'm hesitant to add the dawn to the pool, but bugs are not welcome in my pool. If they show up again, then I'm going for it.
 

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MNPoolDreamer said:
I agree about the dawn soap. I think it has to be original, not foam or power scrubber. I have not added it to the pool yet, but we had a problem on top of the winter cover. Literally a few drops of dish soap and the giant water bugs and boatmen/back swimmers were dead within a minute. Something about it starving the oxygen out of the water is why it works....

Shocking my pool did. Oohing for these guys last summer. I dumped straight bleach on the water bugs, nothing. Got angry, bought lithium shock and dumped it directly on them...nothing. We had borates in our pool and algaecide, never let fc drop below ideal levels and never had cc over .5. We still had bugs. So maybe there is resistant algae that they are eating.

I find if I keep the pool covered and only open immediately before swimming, we don't get the bugs.

We already had the giant water bugs this year and the water is only 45 degrees, holding fc for days on end with no cc. They were in the skimmer basket so I was able to get rid of them by emptying the basket in the field behind our pool...didn't have the dawn on hand and was too grossed out to run in and get it. They haven't been back yet.

Like I said, I'm hesitant to add the dawn to the pool, but bugs are not welcome in my pool. If they show up again, then I'm going for it.
Click to expand...

It seems to only work with the original blue dawn dish soap, I tried the foam and it did nothing. I don't think the foam is concentrated enough.

I also forgot to mention that iv only had to do this at the start of the season, just after filling and adjusting levels. we do not cover our pool at all for the winter so it usually is a swamp to begin with. After it is up and running i have never had the bugs come back. I don't think they will come into a well sanitized pool but they Dang sure wont leave!
 
MNPoolDreamer said:
I agree about the dawn soap. I think it has to be original, not foam or power scrubber. I have not added it to the pool yet, but we had a problem on top of the winter cover. Literally a few drops of dish soap and the giant water bugs and boatmen/back swimmers were dead within a minute. Something about it starving the oxygen out of the water is why it works....

Shocking my pool did. Oohing for these guys last summer. I dumped straight bleach on the water bugs, nothing. Got angry, bought lithium shock and dumped it directly on them...nothing. We had borates in our pool and algaecide, never let fc drop below ideal levels and never had cc over .5. We still had bugs. So maybe there is resistant algae that they are eating.

I find if I keep the pool covered and only open immediately before swimming, we don't get the bugs.

We already had the giant water bugs this year and the water is only 45 degrees, holding fc for days on end with no cc. They were in the skimmer basket so I was able to get rid of them by emptying the basket in the field behind our pool...didn't have the dawn on hand and was too grossed out to run in and get it. They haven't been back yet.

Like I said, I'm hesitant to add the dawn to the pool, but bugs are not welcome in my pool. If they show up again, then I'm going for it.
Click to expand...

Dawn breaks the surface tension of the water and drowns the bugs, ants, wasps, etc.
 
Welcome to tfp, cardssfan :wave:

cardssfan said:
Dawn breaks the surface tension of the water and drowns the bugs, ants, wasps, etc.
Click to expand...
It does, but we do not recommend using it in the pool. Usually proper chlorine levels work, and some people have reported success by using borates. The problem with adding dish soap is that you will need a fairly large amount of chlorine to break it down.
 
What is a back swimmer? I mean, I know it's a bug but what does it look like? I ask because right after I set up my pool, I was snorkeling around and vacuuming and this little "thing" went swimming by! Strangest thing I've ever seen! Only that one and I've wondered ever since about what it was.
 
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