Another green swamp for you guys

[Bama Rambler]

Why would you want to adjust the pH and TA. They look fine to me!

Your CH is kinda high but it's on the upper end of normal. I wouldn't worry too much about it yet.

 

[nitronick]

I thought my TA needed to be a little higher. I'll take your word on it. Thanks

 

[nitronick]

Is there a good place to get filters online that might be a bit lower in price? That $450 is making my backside pucker. :lol:

 

[faby3003]

What I've found shopping for pool supplies online is that there isn't one place that has the best price on everything.

I recommend finding the model/part number of your filter cartridge, type that into google, and use that to find the best price.

 

[nitronick]

This StaRite System 3 can convert to either sand or DE. Would I be better off converting it to DE? Those elements seem to be much cheaper. Of course, I would have the added expense of adding DE.

Thoughts?

 

[faby3003]

I have the same filter and I have a DE cartridge in mine. It must be cheaper because it has fewer pleats.

I like it because it is very easy to clean. You just pull the cartridge out, hose it off, put it back in. Only takes a couple of minutes to clean. I think a cartridge filter with more pleats would take longer to clean.

I have to clean my filter about once every 2-3 weeks. My filter takes 6 lbs of DE. So, at most I use 50 lbs. of DE for the entire season, which costs me about $40.

 

[nitronick]

I have the same filter and I have a DE cartridge in mine. It must be cheaper because it has fewer pleats.

I like it because it is very easy to clean. You just pull the cartridge out, hose it off, put it back in. Only takes a couple of minutes to clean. I think a cartridge filter with more pleats would take longer to clean.

I have to clean my filter about once every 2-3 weeks. My filter takes 6 lbs of DE. So, at most I use 50 lbs. of DE for the entire season, which costs me about $40.

You ain't kidding! After bleeding pressure and draining, undoing all 8 clamps, pulling both heavy waterlogged elements out, rinsing, rinsing the housing out, replacing the drain plug and reassembling everything, I'm into it for about an hour.

With the DE filters, do you even have to take the elements out? Can't you just pull the drain plug and rinse them while inside the housing?

 

[faby3003]

I think you could leave them in if the de doesn't clog the drain. For me its easier to take it out.

 

[Swampwoman]

Just a quick note since you're new to it as I was a month or so ago -- be sure to keep the water level up to the fill line on the front of the skimmer plate to be filtering effectively. Sounds stupid but I didn't quite get the connection on that one at the beginning the mark, if you can't see it, is roughly halfway up between the screws.

 

[nitronick]

Well, so much for the DE idea. The filters themselves aren't that expensive, but getting the conversion pieces to make it work puts the cost well over just buying new cartridge filters.

I've had a little setback in my fight with algae. Pump was working fine when I started this, although I had an air leak somewhere. It has gotten worse, to the point that the pump now won't even prime. I have to deal with this before I can continue. Should I continue adding some bleach to at least try to keep from losing too much ground in killing this? I don't know what good it will do since I have no circulation.

 

[nitronick]

WOOHOO!

Back up and running! Pump is working with one tiny air bubble dancing around in the basket lid.

I could just choke the previous owner. Seems that standard operating procedure for repairing an air leak in the feed pipe was lots of electrical tape and silicone sealer.

Anyway, I'm back at square one with the green water. I'm going shopping with the wife and will be making a stop to load up on bleach again. Hopefully, I can hit it hard starting tomorrow morning.

Wish me luck

 

[nitronick]

Oh, here's one for reference....

 

[tltmom]

That will be a gorgeous pool when it is all fixed up!
Can't wait to see "after" pictures

 

[nitronick]

24 hours after starting. I've ordered new filters, so hopefully it will clear up quite a bit faster once they are installed.

 

[Glock]

Cool, cant wait to see it clear.

 

[nitronick]

This morning Day 4

Starting to look like a pool. Once the sun hit it, the water color is much more blue. I can barely see a hint of the green left. Easy to see the bottom of the shallow end, but there is still some cloudiness in the deep.
Still waiting on my new filters. Hopefully they will be in today or tomorrow.

 

[nitronick]

WooHoo! I can actually see the bottom of the deep end! Well, I could before I stirred up some junk by brushing :lol:

I hope my new filters get here today.

 

[nitronick]

A pic for the record....

 

[nitronick]

Quick question.

I'm noticing some leaves wedged in the rocks that make up the waterfall. I'm sure there are more in there. Am I going to have to dismantle the waterfall to make sure there are all cleared out?

 

[nitronick]

Day 6. As you can see, the water is very clear. Apparently, I'm going to have to be vigilant at cleaning up the seeds from the ivy close by.

Here's my numbers from this morning...

FC -9.5
CC- >.5
pH -7.8
TA -80
CH -275
CYA -?

I'm having a problem with the CYA. I added 4 lbs of the HTH stuff when I first started this back on the 10th, and really never saw any difference in the water when doing the test. Here it is the 29th, and I'm not seeing but a slight difference while doing the test. The past couple of days I added another 4 lbs. Hopefully, it will start showing up over the next few days. With record temps this past week, the sun is chewing up my chlorine. I test around 8am and bring it up to shock. I then check around noon and bring it up to shock. When I get home from work around 10, I'm usually down to 2 or 3 ppm.

Any ideas?