Please help the husband with OCD.

[harleysilo]

Yep, I'd like to see it too!!

I was just under the understanding that when there is algae - any type of algae or organic "load", there would be a larger FC drop overnight. Did I misunderstand something along the way - is is possible to have something growing but still pass the OCLT?

I don’t think you misunderstand, I think this is just a special situation….

I don’t know the answer, but….

If Mustard algae requires a higher shock level to be killed, and that shock level has never been maintained, then perhaps it could be living in his pool. It may be a very small amount, only in the stairs section as mentioned. Maybe that small amount doesn’t consume much FC in8-10 hours as we might expect. Perhaps overnight chlorine loss was 1 vs. .5, a 1 drop error.

 

[Bama Rambler]

It really depends on how much is growing. Since he lost some FC, it's possible that there's a small amount of algae growing but he's keeping it knocked down.

 

[duraleigh]

Pics are posted and the algae is quite visible and it is not mustard algae. Sometimes, we end up nitpicking about test results.........Pool water chemistry is just not black or white, unfortunately. There are probably a thousand shades of grey that we have to take into account but are hard to put into test results.

Visible algae indicates the need to shock, regardless of ANY test results.

jasonlk1,

You should brush/scrub away the green algae from that surface and elevate your FC to 20 ppm to start the shock process.

 

[jasonlk1]

I'm going out now to scrub and raise the FC. I leave this afternoon for 3 days of work so it will be up to my wife to maintain it from there.

I ran the calculator and it suggested an FC of 16 for shock and 29 for mustard. Just curious at to why you guys are suggesting 20? I will follow your advice.

 

[harleysilo]

It looks like the Chlorine/CYA chart and the pool cal don't line up exactly. I would go with chlorine-cya-chart-t2346.html

 

[duraleigh]

I ran the calculator and it suggested an FC of 16 for shock

16 works....20 would probably work a bit better as suggested by the FC/CYA chart. One is just a little more aggressive than the other.....your call....I would use 20 ppm.

 

[jasonlk1]

Well I discovered another tidbit of info this morning. I raised the FC to 12.5 after I tested and posted at 7 am. When I went to test again to make sure it raised to 12.5 like I wanted my wife went with me and I showed her everything I have been discussing on here. She watched me do the FC test and asked what I was doing? Why are you using 10 ml of water? I grabbed the directions to see if I was mistaken but the say to use 10 ml of water and I showed her. She said omg I've been using 25ml like the rest of the test this whole time! So here is my assumption, correct me if I'm wrong......all of the test she has been doing this year to include the last several weeks have been with 25 ml of water. My thinking is that will require more drops of solution to go from pink to clear so you think your FC is higher than it actually is! So when she had all those really high numbers they were quite lower and we may have not even hit the suggested shock of 16 this whole time. We have just been treading water and getting it little by little! That would explain why she tested it yesterday morning and got 10.5 and then I did my first test a few hours later and got 4!

So I'm def thinking the way to go now is to shock and brush and see what happens. I'm off to brush. Let me know what shock level I should use 16,20, or whatever. After I brush I will raise it up!

 

[jasonlk1]

20 it is. That's a nice easy chart to follow. Thank you!

 

[duraleigh]

After I brush I will raise it up!

Raise your FC, then brush.....expose that living stuff to the high chlorine.

 

[Bama Rambler]

You can use the 25 ml for the test, but then you'd multiply the drops by .2 instead of .5. So her getting 10 ppm would have really been 4 ppm. which is the exact difference you saw.

 

[harleysilo]

2 heads are better than 1! Glad you figured out what could have been an even more frustrating situation.

 

[jasonlk1]

I just ran the numbers from this whole process and it looks like we're were maintaining an FC of 9-14 the whole time then it got as low as 2.8 at one point so we were not fighting it aggressively as we thought then lost ground is my guess. We are at 20 now and just brushed and back flushed. I have attached a pic of the back flush water. That is what it has looked like the whole time. My guess is we will have it licked in a few days now.......I hope! Thank you for all the help. I will let you know the result. The wife will keep up the FC to 20 and brush the next few days I'm gone.

 

[Patrick_B]

Ahhh, I was really wondering to be honest as this has had me scratching my head. I agree...shock it and go through with it till its done. After you scrub those green spots and expose them. And not to pick on you at all, but I am still curious about your CH. You got 20 and she got 50 if I remember the other posts correctly. Thats over 50% change and not an easy feat when changing CH level. Not important, but I am a curious sort.

 

[jasonlk1]

2 heads are better than 1! Glad you figured out what could have been an even more frustrating situation.

Trust me this has been extremely frustrating! I think we're on the right track now. Thanks to everyone for the help!

 

[jasonlk1]

Ahhh, I was really wondering to be honest as this has had me scratching my head. I agree...shock it and go through with it till its done. After you scrub those green spots and expose them. And not to pick on you at all, but I am still curious about your CH. You got 20 and she got 50 if I remember the other posts correctly. Thats over 50% change and not an easy feat when changing CH level. Not important, but I am a curious sort.

I just went back and reread the other post. Looks like she tested the whole battery of test 4 times and her results where 50,20,30,30. Then I got 20. I will run a whole battery when I return on Friday and see where it is and go from there. I'll worry about that after then. It think it's still low and very possibly could have been a testing error. I'm guessing the 20-30 is accurate.

 

[Patrick_B]

Just curious...cause the difference was a little much for endpoint variation. Cool let us know, and try not to OCD too much while you're away.

 

[jasonlk1]

Well this is what I have returned home to!

Sweet success! I will do a full set of test in another hour or so when the sun goes down to confirm with an oclt tonight.

 

[harleysilo]

Looks great, good job!

 

[jasonlk1]

Last nights 830 pm numbers:

FC 12. My wife said it was 16 in the morning when she tested it. So a loss of 4 is prob ok in a day
Cc .5
Ta 100
Ch 20
Cya 50
Ph 7.7

And this morning at 7 am:

FC 11
Cc 0

I may raise it back to 16 for the day since we prob wont be swimming today since all the rain has killed our water temp. It is only 64 This morning

What do you guys think?

 

[Patrick_B]

I think you are looking good man. Watch your CC for increase and stay after it. You know what to do from here.

I also think I could really use some of that water...any chance you can send a big truck full out here to me? I'll send you one back with enough CH to last you!