fighting a loosing battle..

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yetti

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May 28, 2012
11
Hi Guys I am a noob at this so bare with me.
I have a 30' round above ground that has become a monster. it eats chemicals like John Pinette at a buffet. not sure how I lost control of it last year but I gave up at the $200 worth of chlorine mark.
I am trying to reopen it here in Michigan and the water was clear when the cover came off just loads of debris on the bottom & sides.( it turned to a thick cloudy green within a day or two). I put in 8 lbs of shock to get the ball rolling last Friday. the first test yesterday(at the pool store) said I have zero FC and zero CYA. the pool store suggested I use 2 packs of sodium bromide to dial it up a notch to get the algae on the run. looks the exact same this morning.

I have been doing my home work here and there and keep hitting a wall. whats the right place to start at this point?
Fc =zero
cya=zero
ph 7.0
hardness= off the scale
alk=low

I have a hayward filter with Zeobest in it and that may be part of the issues. not sure?
 
This is probably not the answer you were looking for but the right place to start is in Pool School. It will seem daunting at first, but you will quickly understand what parameters are important and how you can get your pool crystal clear.

Secondly, you will need to take charge of your own pool and not depend on the pool store for advice....most of which is plain wron or sketchy and seldom very accurate. In order to do that, you will need to order a good test kit (yes, I have a dog in that fight) that will allow you to post accurate test results so everyone here on the forum will help you get your pool clear.

It can be done easily but not quickly.....keep reading others posts on here....we all started just like you are.
 
If your CYA really is zero, you need to raise that, real pool school and get it up to shock level and keep it there till you clear it up.
Going from green to clean is a process, it will take a while.
As others have said, a good test kit is a must, the pool store will just keep telling to try this, then try that.
 
First thing you should do is go to a pet store and get an ammonia test kit for aquariums. It should cost around $10. Test the pool water for ammonia. If the test is positive you will need a lot of liquid chlorine to get rid of it (and the bacteria that caused the ammonia in the first place).
 
Thanks for the quick replies. I have been reading in the pool school. so far everything people have been telling me is way off. one guy wanted me to buy 24 gallons of bleach and dump that in at once. I did the math it would put me at 71ppm if I used the scale right. seems kinda high?
secondly with the zeobest media I am guessing it needs cleaned. it has never been done on the 6 years of operation. one other question. for the first two years we ran Baquacil. getting it out of the pool was more work then building the pool. could the baquacil have damaged the media?
 
That much chlorine would have more than likely faded your pool's liner.

I'll let someone chime in that's experienced, but my understanding is that after a baquacil conversion you MUST change the filter media. You can go back with plain sand if you wish, sand works just fine for my pool.
 
well the opportunity to switch just stabbed me in the eye. I went to remove the head to do a salt soak like the zeobest website says. the entire bubble shaft came out with the head...I'm screwed. now I have to vacate the sand/zeo out to reset the bubble & tube.
 
well one last try..
I got the zeo out and back in with the repaired bubbler. I used a kiddie pool to over turn the contents and then hand scoop it back. what a pain. got the salt poured in and now it has to sit for at least 12 hours(time to replenish the salt content in the zeo per their site. then on to back wash.
 

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Like others have said, the key to managing a pool with minimal chemical use is understanding of what is going on (read pool school) and having and using a good test kit, I use and recommend the TF-100, it may not be the cheapest, but is the best value for your money and helps pay for the operation of this web site, note you can get a discount by becomming a life member here.
 
Right now I am using the Aqua Chem test strips. they give Fc CYA Bromine PH and hardness. the tests from the pool store confirmed what I was seeing. I have not tested yet today as I am giving everything a chance to settle in since the salt flush. I did put in 2 more gallons to kick it up this morning to see if it would change it up as I see no emediate results. just letting the pump and time do its job at this point. I'll check it in the morning to see if it has helped.
 
ok here is the latest up date.
Strips are gone. I have a proper test kit( found it after days of searching) I knew I owned one somewhere.
Chlorine is 6ppm
ph is 7.8
I added on gallon of acid to knock that down. still green but fading
plan to vacuum again this afternoon as we had a wind storm a few days back and I suspect there's junk on the bottom I can't see.
a buddy suggested I put my winter cover back over it till the green dies out? sounds like a plan
 
I don't think adding the cover and waiting for the algae to die is really your answer. You will still need to shock the pool properly in order to clean out all of the dead algae and debris in it, and make it safe for swimming. You will only be prolonging your efforts, and making your wallet lighter.

You need to know what your CYA truly is so you can begin shocking effectively. Just pouring a couple of bottles of bleach in daily isn't going to take care of the problems for you.

I know pool school and learning the chemicals, etc. seems a bit overwhelming and it seems easier to just dump things in and wait, but you'll find quickly that it is really once you give it a chance. Then you will understand how the various tests work together and will not likely have to fight a problem like you currently have again.
 
as is the pool showed no stabilizer the last time it was tested. I have the been treated it with the sodium bromide additive a couple weeks back and now just the chlorine and cover. if the trick works then it saves me money. at this point I have smoked up nearly $80 in chlorine already and haven't gotten the green out
 

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