Help with startup?

[jrock93]

Trying to start up my 24 ft above ground pool. It was green as the incredible hulk but after shocking it it is lightening up but will not clear. I just put 4 lbs. of shock in and check the chlorine levels and it says that my TC is high but my FC is low. My ph is low
my stabilizer is low, so I put in about 6 lbs. of stabilizer and 1 lb of ph plus but they are still low. It shows that my TA is within range. What should I do because at this rate I will empty out Walmart's pool supplies.

 

[AnnaK]

Welcome to TFP!

Please tell us what type of test kit you use, and then please post the test results numbers.

Rather than using commercial "shock" products, go buy some Clorox, lots of it - startg out with enough bottles to make 15 gallons. Read the Sticky here on the forum on turning your green swamp into a sparkling oasis. Become familiar with Jason's Pool Calculator at http://www.poolcalculator.com/ and add enough Clorox to reach shock level for your amount of stabilizer.

Run your pump 24/7, brush the bottom even if you can't see it.

Read the Stickies - everything you need to know id right in there. Post your numbers.

And hang in there. Together, we'll clean it up.

 

[jrock93]

I am using aqua-chem 6 way test strips but also have aqua-chem pro test kit but it will not check for FC and what do you mean get enough clorox to make 15 gallons. Approximately, how many clorox gallons is that. Will generic bleach work?

 

[jrock93]

I just tested my water after putting a gal of bleach.
These are the results

TH- 100
TC- 1.5
FC- 0
PH- less than 6.8
TA- 40
S- less than 0

 

[JasonLion]

You should work on raising your PH up to between 7.0 and 7.2. That may take some experimentation, since the PH test will read 6.8 even when the PH is much lower. I would use perhaps half a box of borax at a time, give it time to mix in, say an hour, and then test the PH again and repeat. Or if your test kit has a base demand test you can use that to figure out how much to add.

You need to figure out what your CYA/stabilizer level is. I didn't see a test result for that. If you just filled the pool and haven't added any then it will be zero. You want to raise CYA to between 30 and 50. If CYA is currently zero you want to start out with about 3 lbs of stabilizer, give it a full week to dissolve, and then test the level and proceed from there.

Getting the PH under control, between 7.0 and 8.0 but preferably around 7.2, is the most important step.

 

[AnnaK]

I am using aqua-chem 6 way test strips but also have aqua-chem pro test kit but it will not check for FC and what do you mean get enough clorox to make 15 gallons. Approximately, how many clorox gallons is that. Will generic bleach work?

Yes, generic bleach works as long as it's just plain, unscented bleach.

I meant, stock up on 15 gallons to start with. Since bleach comes in different size containers my suggestion is to have a total of 15 gallons handy to treat the water. It may not take that much, or it could take more than that. As Jason said, it's critical to know how much stabilizer (CY) is now in the water because the amount of chlorine required to achieve shock level depends on the stabilizer.