Need Help - Fighting Algae Continuously

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jobondur

Well-known member
Dec 13, 2009
183
Virginia Beach, VA
Currently shocking my pool to clear up what looks like green algae. The water is clear but it's growing on the walls, especially around the light and ladder. I have brought the water up to shock levels and brushed the pool walls and floor. I am going to perform an OFCLT tonight. My SWG is currently turned off, at what point do I turn it back on? Tomorrow after I take my OFCLT readings? Do I need to remove the ladder and clean it and also pull out the light and clean in the nook behind it?

Also, for those of you with SWGs, what % do you keep your SWG at? I had it at 60% but my FC is only 3 and my target is 5-6 per the chart. I guess I'll bump it up to 80 but does this seem high? My salt is fine (3620) and my CYA is roughly 85, the SWG is brand spanking new and my 1 hp pump is running 13 hours a day. Below are the readings before shocking. Any help is greatly appreciated...

FC - 3
CC - 0.5
TC - 3.5
Ph - 7.6
TA - 90
CH - 130
CYA - 85
Salt - 3620
 
Just measured the FC and it looks like I overshot with the Chlorine a little. Was shooting for 30 and ended up at 38. That's not high enough that it will harm anything is it?

Richard320 said:
I wouldn't bother with the overnight test until at least there's no more green. And if you're not doing the test, there's no reason to turn off the SWG. Keep FC high - real high, given your CYA level - continuously and it will go a whole lot faster.
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There's no green. The only visible algae was on the walls and I brushed all that off after adding the Chlorine. The water is relatively clear now. So do I do the OFCLT tonight or not????

Maybe my algae isn't green algae? The color certainly looks green to me but maybe I'm fighting mustard algae??? It only ever grows on the walls and floor, I never seem to have anything in the water. Looking for some advice here....
 
jobondur said:
Just measured the FC and it looks like I overshot with the Chlorine a little. Was shooting for 30 and ended up at 38. That's not high enough that it will harm anything is it?There's a chance you'll bleach out the vinyl liner. I kinda doubt it with your high CYA level, though

Richard320 said:
I wouldn't bother with the overnight test until at least there's no more green. And if you're not doing the test, there's no reason to turn off the SWG. Keep FC high - real high, given your CYA level - continuously and it will go a whole lot faster.
Click to expand...

There's no green. The only visible algae was on the walls and I brushed all that off after adding the Chlorine. The water is relatively clear now. So do I do the OFCLT tonight or not???? What is the CC level? If it's above .5, you're not done, so there's no reason to do the OFCLT.

Maybe my algae isn't green algae? The color certainly looks green to me but maybe I'm fighting mustard algae??? It only ever grows on the walls and floor, I never seem to have anything in the water. Looking for some advice here....
Click to expand...
Maybe it is Mustard Algae - in which case the shock level for 85 CYA is 47!!
 
I assume you've got a reading from tonight's dosing. And an alarm is set. Let's see what your tomorrow brings.

And check/clean with tiny brushes any niches or step innards that could be harboring something green.

Tell us what happens when you brush the algae spots. And consider more draining, 100ppm is seriously above a manageable level. I'm afraid if you're battling algae, that the CYA level is working against you. Regardless of what type it is.
 
frogabog said:
And consider more draining, 100ppm is seriously above a manageable level. I'm afraid if you're battling algae, that the CYA level is working against you. Regardless of what type it is.
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I'm confused, where did 100 come from? My CYA is 85 right now.

I just ran the OFCLT test this morning. My FC is 35.5 and my CC is 0.5. So it looks like I lost roughly 2.5 ppm of FC over the night so I should keep the pool at shock levels for the day and do the OFCLT again tonight?

I did the test at 6:15 am this morning, the sun was up but no direct sunlight on my pool. That's early enough right???

I'll brush the ladder and crevices when I get home from work today. I assume I'll be ok getting in to clean the light niche?
 

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Sorry, I guess I confused your CYA level with someone else's. Or was just too tired...

At a CYA level of 85, regular shock level is 22ppm. Generally it's safe to swim at or below shock level. So technically 40ppm would be stretching it a bit.

However... take this example and use it as you will:

My father had surgery once, a cadaver bone was inserted in his spine. He spent three years battling systemic MRSA, 15 surgeries, etc. till they removed the bone. It came back about a year and a half ago and his new physician gave some instructions for eliminating MRSA in the house which included taking a weekly bath with a cup of bleach added.

So, let's say that a bathtub of water holds 50 gallons. Insert 1 cup 1 oz 4 tsp of bleach and the FC is now 100ppm. No CYA in bathtub water btw.

You can take that as you will, but I take it as 100ppm FC ain't gonna do much harm to a person, and might even help some.
 
frogabog said:
At a CYA level of 85, regular shock level is 22ppm. Generally it's safe to swim at or below shock level. So technically 40ppm would be stretching it a bit.
Click to expand...

How did you get that shock level? When I go to the Chlorine/CYA Chart it lists a shock level of 30 for CYA of 80.

I doubt my pool is still at 40, I just chose a number a little higher than I figured it would be for a fudge factor. I figured it would be alright on the skin but what about my hair? I'll likely wear goggles and go underwater and clean out the niche.

That sounds like quite the ordeal your father went through, hope everything ended up turning out for the best.
 
I got it from Pool Calculator. Which is less aggressive than the CYA/Chlorine chart in pool school. Either works, but when things get stubborn using the more aggressive CYA chart can help.

Thanks for the notice, it was an ordeal for him, but so far so good sans the most recent reappearance. He's taken a lot of Vancomyacin. He's still alive at least. And he's now a BBB'er for his spa since I informed him that my kids would not be allowed to soak with him without sufficient chlorine. The mineral thingie he got sold on after burning out his heater with trichlor in a feeder (don't ask... darn ebay anyway!) is not able to kill MRSA and we've already had a few bouts here with the kids and some skin/nose MRSA. I hate to think he gave it to us (not me yet, thankfully) but I honestly don't know how else it got into our lives.

Edit: The chlorine won't really do much to your hair, maybe dry it a bit only. Shampoo should take care of that. If you're thinking that chlorine turns hair green, it isn't so. It's actually copper (from algaecides) that creates the green hair of lore...
 
Left for work this morning with the SWG on 100% and the FC level at 35.5. Came home and measured around 4:30 and the FC was 26.5. I brushed the liner, cleaned the skimmer housings and returns real well, took off the ladder and cleaned it real well, and removed the light and cleaned it and the housing really well. When I removed the light there was a mound of algae sitting in there, looked mostly dead. Going to do the OFCLT again tonight and hope I pass this time. Wish me luck....

Oh yeah, is 6:00 early enough to do the morning OFCLT reading? I don't have DIRECT sun on the pool at that time but the sun is definitely up...

:lovetfp:
 
Good, you found and killed it!

One caveat however... while running the SWG your chlorine loss tests are skewed. While shocking, it's best to turn the SWG off entirely, for two purposes:

1 - Chlorine loss tests will be accurate
2 - Saves your SWG cell

By all means turn the SWG off for the OCLT if you think you can try it tonight but since you lost over 10ppm today with the SWG running, I'd say no, not ready.
 

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