New. Done with pool stores.

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Zeff2413

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Jul 3, 2013
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Hey there. I am new to this forum and somewhat new to pools in general. We got a late start on our pool this year and I have been dealing with the local pool and spa store. Ill admit that I have been duped into buying their products such as algae terminators, algaecides, and "shock." I have read pool school and I want to use those methods. 2 weeks ago when I started on the pool it was dark green. I had my water tested at the pool store and they recommended 2lb of shock (I do understand "shock" is a process and not a product) and algae terminator. No progress over the next 3 days. After that I went back to the pool store and had my water tested again. They recommended 4lb of shock and 1 qt algaecide 60. Over the next 4 days I continued to shock the pool every night ( with granular shock - Super Shock It 73) and brushed it twice a day. The pool made significant progress. It turned lighter green, but has not made much progress in the past 3 days. It is now a light murky green and I cannot see the floor. Please help me. I do not have a good test kit yet, but will get one. Ive read here the TF -100 is a good kit. I have been using test strips to monitor FC and it has stayed at or above 10ppm. Here are the results from the test done at the pool store this morning:
TC - 10
FC - 10
PH - 7.6
TA - 40
CH - 325
CYA - 60

32'x16' 25000 gal. IG, Vinyl, Centurion Challenger .75hp pump, Triton II Sand Filter
**Will someone please tell me how to edit my signature so I can add that info.
Thanks,
Zeff L.
 
..........."IF""""".......... those pool store numbers are correct, which is highly unlikely in our experience, your shock value for that level of CYA is 24. 10 will never get you there. Trouble is, you can't even measure your FC level that high without one of the fasdpd drop test kits we recommend. If you can't measure it that high, you certainly can not maintain it until finished shocking. Gonna have to get one of those tet kits pronto. In the meantime, familiarize yourself with the "process" and learn all you can in pool school. Play with the pool calculator. We use plain old bleach to chock with and/or maintain with. Welcome.

Control panel/profile/signature...............
 
Zeff2413 said:
Hey there. I am new to this forum and somewhat new to pools in general. We got a late start on our pool this year and I have been dealing with the local pool and spa store. Ill admit that I have been duped into buying their products such as algae terminators, algaecides, and "shock." I have read pool school and I want to use those methods. 2 weeks ago when I started on the pool it was dark green. I had my water tested at the pool store and they recommended 2lb of shock (I do understand "shock" is a process and not a product) and algae terminator. No progress over the next 3 days. After that I went back to the pool store and had my water tested again. They recommended 4lb of shock and 1 qt algaecide 60. Over the next 4 days I continued to shock the pool every night ( with granular shock - Super Shock It 73) and brushed it twice a day. The pool made significant progress. It turned lighter green, but has not made much progress in the past 3 days. It is now a light murky green and I cannot see the floor. Please help me. I do not have a good test kit yet, but will get one. Ive read here the TF -100 is a good kit. I have been using test strips to monitor FC and it has stayed at or above 10ppm. Here are the results from the test done at the pool store this morning:
TC - 10
FC - 10
PH - 7.6
TA - 40
CH - 325
CYA - 60

32'x16' 25000 gal. IG, Vinyl, Centurion Challenger .75hp pump, Triton II Sand Filter
**Will someone please tell me how to edit my signature so I can add that info.
Thanks,
Zeff L.
Click to expand...
Welcome! :wave:

You've been Pool-stored. I'd say you got off cheap.

Stop right now and go to http://tftestkits.net/TF-100-Test-Kit-p4.html and order a TF100 with the XL option. I also recommend the speedstir, since it works great and nobody who has bought one regrets it.

Okay...now that you're back...
You need some way of testing while you wait for the proper kit. Even one of those cheap 2-way drop kits from the hardware store is better than nothing. You'll need to dilute the sample with bottled water about 4:1 and then multiply the reading by 5.. so it's not going to be too accurate. But at least it will prevent things from regressing back to emerald green.

You edit the signature up in the upper left. User Control Panel, then profile, then edit signature.
 
Zeff2413 said:
I do have a Taylor K-1004 test kit. As for the 4:1 ratio is that 4 parts bottled water to 1 sample? Or the other way around? Do I use the same amount of water and drops?
Click to expand...
Four parts of bottled water and one part pool water and mix it up in a mesuring cup or something. Then use that mixture as the sample water for the test and multiply the result by 5.
 
Ok. Test Kit ordered. In the meantime, the water has changed to a a light blue-ish color but I still cannot see the floor. Tested the FC with a diluted sample as suggested. Results were FC is between 12-15. Also had a water test done at the pool store today just to be sure, but I did not buy anything :) Here are those results:
FC - 10
TC - 10
PH - 7.8
TA - 120
CH - 325
CYA - 75
So I would need 7 -96oz jugs of bleach or 674 oz according to the pool calculator. Do I need to keep FC at shock level to get rid of the cloudiness? How long will it take for the FC to come back to a safe/swim able level?
 
Yes, you have to HOLD IT at shock level until the three criteria of the process being complete are met. You may have to continue to add bleach on an HOURLY basis the first day or two. This process can take a week, two weeks, and I've even seen 3 weeks. STICK WITH IT.

Have you read through the process?
pool-school/shocking_your_pool

it is hard to say how long it will take to come back down, lots of variables.
 
As RobbieH said, yes...keep FC at 21 ppm FC (from poolcalculator.com and 75 ppm cya) until you pass all three criteria simultaneously in the pool school shocking process (criteria are also in my sig). This will be come easier when you get your kit.
 
Great. Thanks for the quick response. I have read the shock process in pool school. What usually causes the cloudiness? And when I add bleach should I add all of the recommended amount at once? Or do smaller amounts every hour?
 

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Cloudiness is caused by the green algae dying, turning gray/white, and floating around in your pool water until the filter removes it.

Add the recommended amount ALL AT ONCE (according to poolcalculator). You are hitting the algae where it hurts, hitting it hard, and hitting it to kill.

Unscented 6% or the newer 8.25% is what you want. No "outdoor", no "no splash", no "flowery fresh".
 
Dead Algae causes cloudiness when going from green to clean.

If you started green, it will transition from green to tan/grey to tan to white to grey blue to blue to almost clear to clear blue as you continue filtering out the dead stuff.
 
Robbie beat me to it, but here are my thoughts...

Cloudiness once you start to see a blueish color again in the water is often dead algae that need to be filtered.

Add the whole amount (in front of the water returning to the pool), then if you can test again every hour, continue to add enough to stay at 21 ppm FC.

8.25% is starting to be more common. Use plain old bleach. Avoid anything that is scented or splashless.
 
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