Hi. I'm back.
Still having an issue with the backswimmers and the little black beetles they eat(?). I think there are a few boatmen too. Mostly backswimmers. Any help or advice is very much appreciated.
Quick review: A few weeks ago I tested FC below 2. Water clear. Noticed bugs. Increased FC using only SWG. Still had bugs - mostly backswimmers. Posted on TFP. Raised CYA to 60. Raised FC to 7. Still had bugs. Put in a whole bottle of Bioguard Backup (2x my pool size). A lot of dead bugs/but algaecide colored water. Maintained FC levels 6+ ever since. Bugs returned. Tried 1/2 cup of dawn. More dead backswimmers, as many as the first time. Decided to shock.
Shocking the pool: Day 7. The SWG helps out with maintaining during the day when I'm at work. I test before sunrise, mid afternoon and after sundown.
We've been unsuccessful at passing the OCLT with about 2-4ppm loss. The water temp is hitting 90° so not sure if that matters.
AM Results: (I brought back to somewhere over shock level from 19.5 last night before bed so I didn't do OCLT today)
7am:
FC=25
CC=0
Before I started shocking last week:
PH: 7.5
TA=100
CH=220
I cleaned inside the lights Wednesday but didn't see anything except some debris from construction (nice). I brush daily and skim out the bugs when I see them swimming but here is the weird part.
I keep finding them dead in the skimmer basket in the mornings. There was 10-15 of them today. I'm not sure if they have a short lifespan or if I'm slowly killing off the food source so they starve or what.
The water looks magnificent. I've cleaned the filters 2x even though they weren't visibly dirty. Ran the water feature for 24 hours at shock level too. But still they mock me with their upside down shenanigans :jocolor:
My only guess is that the OCLT failure is due to organic contaminants either from the bugs it's possibly killing or the remainder of the algaecide/soap. I'm still at a loss as to the bugs though - I know we can't keep them out but it's getting frustrating. I have another bug product by lo-chlor called bug off on standby but I wanted to wait til things were back to normal before I consider dumping more unnecessary chemicals in the pool.
Thanks for reading/listening.