Greetings fellow TFP'ers, hope everyone is doing well and apologies ahead of time for the long novel below but I know it helps here with too much detail vs. not enough
Well I've been going good, just maybe one or two days where I let the FC go .50 below the minimum but today I noticed some small quarter size spots on the sides and bottom that looked like green algae so the panic button went off and I began the shock process.
My initials readings before the shock were:
5:00 p.m. central
FC: 3.5
CC: 0.0
TC: 3.5
pH: 7.5
ALK: 90 (on 5/20)
CH: 120 (on 5/8)
CYA: 50 (on 5/20)
I went by the pool store (now hear me out) just to get some salt strips and salt (was just $1 more per bag than Lowes) as I have read that salt makes the water feel so much better, won't dry you out, etc.. Anyway I figured I might as well get a free test LOL and they had me at:
FC: 2.72
CC: 0.01
TC: 2.73
pH: 7.4
ALK: 60
CYA: 72
Now I know they are by far the pros when it comes to testing but this got me a little concerned as they had the TC almost 1 PPM lower than what my TFTkit showed and the kicker was the CYA was a lot higher. I'll admit I am not that good at the CYA test, still learning but it seemed like I could still barely make out the dot when it was closer to 60 so once I got closer to 50 I couldn't see it anymore so that's what I went with, but this made me think maybe this is why i started seeing algae?
I've been really really good with testing every day or every other day and usually adding about 3 FC every other day to keep in the range of 4 - 8 using a 50 CYA and lose no more than 1.5 to 2.0 FC on a sunny day however this makes me think I should split the difference and go back to 60?
Anyway back to the shock process....So I added the following:
320 (2.5 jug) oz of 12.5% to raise it 20.1
182 oz of 6.0% to raise it 5.6
80 oz of 10.0% (two month old jug, used to be 12.5%) to raise it 4.0
so that should\would make it 33.2
I just tested and my levels are:
FC: 36.0 (72 drops in 10 ml) also it is still sunny here so assuming my liquid chlorine was maybe a little stronger...
CC: 0.00
TC: 36.0
pH: 8.2 (very very dark purple )
So here are my questions and appreciate any and all help:
Do I need to now add acid for the pH or wait til I am done with the shock process? I've been at 7.5 for the last month now so now I just created another thing to worry about LOL.
With the shock process, I've read it several times and from what I can tell I am already passing 2 items (pool is crystal clear and was already clear before I shocked with the exception of the 4 or so quarter-size spots, so if I pass the FC test am I done? The pool has always been clear ever since I learned the BBB from this site and got my CYA back down, in fact I've NEVER seen it this clear before especially when I go underwater.
Do I need to keep adding bleach to maintain the 34FC as I didn't know if you only do this until the pool is clear and since mine is already wasn't sure? I also didn't know if I just test each hour or since it's already clear if I just wait to do the overnight test? I've brushed the sides and don't need to backwash, in fact I haven't had to backwash for a while as the pressure hasn't increased the 25%. I also run the variable pump 3 hours on 2100 RPM daily and 17 hours on 1000 RPM for about a 2.2 turnover rate daily.
Did I overreact and should I only do the shock process when really needed such as it begins to get cloudy, I lose more than 2 FC a day when it's sunny and or there is more than just a couple quarter size green spots?
I purposely tried to get the level to 34 as a just in case for mustard algae, but once I am done, do I just let it go back down to the normal range and what ppm would it be safe to get back in and use? I didn't know if I needed to wait til it got down to the regular shock level of 24 or if mustard shock level was ok?
Going forward, does it hurt anything by using a higher FC range maybe 10 or 20 more than what I think my CYA level is? I just didn't want to cause any problems, like bleaching out my suits or liner.
Thanks as always, off to test in about an hour.
Well I've been going good, just maybe one or two days where I let the FC go .50 below the minimum but today I noticed some small quarter size spots on the sides and bottom that looked like green algae so the panic button went off and I began the shock process.
My initials readings before the shock were:
5:00 p.m. central
FC: 3.5
CC: 0.0
TC: 3.5
pH: 7.5
ALK: 90 (on 5/20)
CH: 120 (on 5/8)
CYA: 50 (on 5/20)
I went by the pool store (now hear me out) just to get some salt strips and salt (was just $1 more per bag than Lowes) as I have read that salt makes the water feel so much better, won't dry you out, etc.. Anyway I figured I might as well get a free test LOL and they had me at:
FC: 2.72
CC: 0.01
TC: 2.73
pH: 7.4
ALK: 60
CYA: 72
Now I know they are by far the pros when it comes to testing but this got me a little concerned as they had the TC almost 1 PPM lower than what my TFTkit showed and the kicker was the CYA was a lot higher. I'll admit I am not that good at the CYA test, still learning but it seemed like I could still barely make out the dot when it was closer to 60 so once I got closer to 50 I couldn't see it anymore so that's what I went with, but this made me think maybe this is why i started seeing algae?
I've been really really good with testing every day or every other day and usually adding about 3 FC every other day to keep in the range of 4 - 8 using a 50 CYA and lose no more than 1.5 to 2.0 FC on a sunny day however this makes me think I should split the difference and go back to 60?
Anyway back to the shock process....So I added the following:
320 (2.5 jug) oz of 12.5% to raise it 20.1
182 oz of 6.0% to raise it 5.6
80 oz of 10.0% (two month old jug, used to be 12.5%) to raise it 4.0
so that should\would make it 33.2
I just tested and my levels are:
FC: 36.0 (72 drops in 10 ml) also it is still sunny here so assuming my liquid chlorine was maybe a little stronger...
CC: 0.00
TC: 36.0
pH: 8.2 (very very dark purple )
So here are my questions and appreciate any and all help:
Do I need to now add acid for the pH or wait til I am done with the shock process? I've been at 7.5 for the last month now so now I just created another thing to worry about LOL.
With the shock process, I've read it several times and from what I can tell I am already passing 2 items (pool is crystal clear and was already clear before I shocked with the exception of the 4 or so quarter-size spots, so if I pass the FC test am I done? The pool has always been clear ever since I learned the BBB from this site and got my CYA back down, in fact I've NEVER seen it this clear before especially when I go underwater.
Do I need to keep adding bleach to maintain the 34FC as I didn't know if you only do this until the pool is clear and since mine is already wasn't sure? I also didn't know if I just test each hour or since it's already clear if I just wait to do the overnight test? I've brushed the sides and don't need to backwash, in fact I haven't had to backwash for a while as the pressure hasn't increased the 25%. I also run the variable pump 3 hours on 2100 RPM daily and 17 hours on 1000 RPM for about a 2.2 turnover rate daily.
Did I overreact and should I only do the shock process when really needed such as it begins to get cloudy, I lose more than 2 FC a day when it's sunny and or there is more than just a couple quarter size green spots?
I purposely tried to get the level to 34 as a just in case for mustard algae, but once I am done, do I just let it go back down to the normal range and what ppm would it be safe to get back in and use? I didn't know if I needed to wait til it got down to the regular shock level of 24 or if mustard shock level was ok?
Going forward, does it hurt anything by using a higher FC range maybe 10 or 20 more than what I think my CYA level is? I just didn't want to cause any problems, like bleaching out my suits or liner.
Thanks as always, off to test in about an hour.