Spring Opening

[frustratedpoolmom]

Hi Experts, thank you in advance...been reading posts on this and other sites for awhile and have converted.... :-D

24' round, 52" high- AG, laars heater, Pool Frog - Homer Glen, Illinois

FC 0
TC .63
PH 6.98
CH 131
TA 121
CYA 95
Copper 1.29
Iron 0

This is from the local pool store that does the "little vials" test, not the strip reader....I use strips daily but have decided to purchase a kit.

A little history, try not to laugh at me....
Opened the pool 2 weeks ago. Water was cloudy and had a "purplish" substance along the bottom of the walls. On Monday, had the water tested at a nearby store and was told needed chlorine and my TA was too low and my calcium at 40 was too low. Sold me a TA increaser... and huge bucket of Calcium increaser. Did as instructed and went back, TA was still too low, bought more TA increaser and shock. Added calcium, still too low. Not seeing any chlorine results, even after adding shock. Went to a different pool store for testing, and they did not ask if I had a pool frog. Said my calcium was too low and Copper too high. Said to add "metal out" and calcium ($30), which I did as instructed last weekend. Monday I read in the pool bible they gave us with our pool, if I have the "pool frog" to turn it off BEFORE adding "metal out" products...too late! Left the pool store on Wednesday in near tears because teenager told me the brand new mineral cartridge (which I was soo pleased to have purchased online saving $30) for the frog was ruined by the metal out.... discovered this and other online pool forums that afternoon. Spoke to pool frog manufacturer and he said it's probably okay but to remove the mineral cartridge before using metal out product again...which I did. The water test done wednesday showed the CYA was 111. The pool frog supplies tri-chlor and thus explained why not having any success with FC readings. Also explained why we now have black algea because the pool frog is a giant rip-off waste of money.....among other pool store scams.....anyway cut to the chase.

Realized from online experts the only way to lower the CYA was to drain the pool, which I did yesterday. Was able to lower the CYA to 95. Naturally my stupidity permitted me to do the second round of metal out prior to fresh water addition, and now after spending $40 on metal out I have again increased the copper reading to 1.29 after successfully lowering it. Duh, realize I should have waited on that one.....(tired of the green haired 6 year old who is my son, and was trying to get the copper out).

Here's the questions, thanks for sticking with me.....
Is 95 still too high for the CYA? and since I added my third bottle of metal out today for another $20, I really don't want to drain the pool anymore....my blond hair will be green soon, yes? feeling particularly ditzy these days....
I have 2 packages of Cal Hpyo to add (later/tomorrow?) to increase the chlor. Will not use the "frog bac pacs" for a while until my CYA is acceptable levels, I've 3 pacs on hand for the remainder of the season. Headed to the grocery store later, as I will only abide by BBB from now on.
Are my other numbers okay, do I need to worry about them right now? This has been the worst year (out of 6) for water problems.

Any advice pool geniuses, my heros, lifesavers..... :-D

 

[NWMNMom]

You have an above ground pool? you don't ANY calcium in a vinyl lined AG pool.....that was the first thing I spotted. I think your Frog is putting the copper in the pool - some of the trichlor products have copper in them to act as an algacide. Get rid of the trichlor it is also dumping the CYA in there as well. JMHO, but those are the things that jumped out at me. You need to get your CYA WAY lower than that if you don't want to have to dump so much bleach in there. The Cal Hypo is also putting calcuim in -

Get a good drops based kit and test for yourself (in a pinch the HTH kits at Walmart work fine) and a LOT of bleach. The metal out should be used to sequester the metals. You probably have plenty in there now, filter that water very well and don't put anymore of those other chemicals in there. I'm no expert, and these guys can give you more specifics but I think you have been pool stored big time.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

CYA and Copper problems

Yes, I'm draining more water as we type....going to try and lower the CYA more, I guess the green hair will just be dealt with later....I've spent $60 on the 'Metal free' stuff and I'm not buying any more. The "pool frog" is gone. I found out from the online forums that my AG Vinyl pool calcium level is fine...naturally the pool store people steered me in the wrong direction! Live and Learn, bought my store brand bleach last night $1.89/3 Qt. bottle. BTW, when did the gallon bottle shrink to 3qt? It's been awhile since I bought bleach. I guess all grocery items have that shrinking-size-for-the-same-price disease....

So the book that tells me fix your TA first....that's true unless you have high CYA....so fixing the TA and then having to drain/refill your pool several times is a waste of (your TA fixing) time, you'll just have to do it again after refills....

First rule of pool ownership, don't listen to the pool store guys... Sorry Charlie at A.S. in Orland Park, you're a nice guy but I won't be seeking your advice anymore.....the last thing he said to me regarding the CYA reading on the test strips..."oh that's just stablizer, don't worry about that yet".....

 

[JohnT]

Re: CYA and Copper problems

Live and Learn, bought my store brand bleach last night $1.89/3 Qt. bottle. BTW, when did the gallon bottle shrink to 3qt? It's been awhile since I bought bleach. I guess all grocery items have that shrinking-size-for-the-same-price disease....

Usually, the 96oz jugs are 6% or ultra bleach, which gives you the same effect as a gallon of 5.25% bleach. You need to read labels, because some store brands are as low as 2.75%. Walmart's Great Value brand 6% bleach sells for about $1.28 a jug for the 96oz, and also comes in a larger size which is an even better deal.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

bleach

Yes, it's 6%....I knew about the cheapy brands being a lower %, so I looked at the content before I bought. I was looking for the word "ultra" and it just said regular. But being the contents says 6% that explains it....