Newbie Introduction

[Tanner M]

Hi all! I just joined the site after reading for countless hours. I am about to start the BBB method so I figured I better join because I know I will have questions! As of today, my readings are as follows:

FC - 0
PH - 7.O
TA - 100
CYA - 0
CH - 300

Awful isn't it?? Hopefully within a week or so with this method, I will have this pool cleaned up! Thanks again for all of the great information so far.

 

[BoDarville]

Welcome to TFP!

The first thing you need to do is get some chlorine and CYA (a.k.a., stabilizer) in your pool. Recommend using plain unscented liquid bleach as your chlorine source. CYA is usually marketed as Stabilizer. Look for an active ingredient of 100% cyanuric acid. Use the Pool Calculator to help determine the proper dosage amounts. You want to aim for an initial FC of between 4-5 ppm and a CYA of 30 ppm.

The chlorine/CYA relationship is the first item you want to get a handle on. Suggest reading these articles to start: ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry, and Chlorine CYA Chart

A couple of things to help us help you...

• 1. Please add to your profile the state and nearest city in which you live. Don’t need specific town, nearest major city is fine. Your climate is important to the advice you receive. By doing this, it will appear in all your posts without you having to enter it each time.
  2. Suggest adding information about your pool and related equipment in your signature. By doing this, it will automatically appear in all your posts so you do not have to re-enter it each time. If you have a SWG, please include those letters in your signature so it stands out as the advice for SWG vs. non-SWG is often different.

Here's how to do both of the above: Adding location to your profile and pool info to your signature.

If you don't already have one, you will need a good test kit to properly manage your pool. Here is a comparison of the recommended Test Kits.

 

[woodyp]

Welcome. You should bump that PH up to 7.2 or 3 as well.

 

[Tanner M]

Well I finally got my TF100 test kits. Here are the results

CYA - 90
CH - 500
TA - 120
FC - 4
CC - 1
TC - 3
PH - 7.2

From what I have read I am screwed when it comes to my high CYA & CH levels. The pool is clear, just a little bit of algae growth on the walls, nothing major. What do you guys think?

 

[pwrstrk]

I'm thinking you need to SLAM with visible algae and the CC of 1. Your FC is way low for your CYA level. pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock

pool-school/shocking_your_pool


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[Smykowski]

If you see algae, you need to SLAM it.

 

[Tanner M]

I forgot to mention that part, I have begun the slam process. FC is currently 37. And has been holding there for 2 hours now. I will test again before bed. I just saw that we are expecting rain over night, hopefully that wont screw up my slam to badly!

 

[pwrstrk]

Ok now we're getting some more info. You should be ok with some rain. Just remember the longer you keep it at shock level the faster the process goes. Test as often as you can,or every hour if you can.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[Tanner M]

Are we talking all through the night? Even if my FC is still holding at 37 on my next test?

 

[jblizzle]

Set your alarm to get up every 2 hours ... jk. Just do the best you can, right before bed and when you get up in the morning.

 

[Tanner M]

Well when I woke up my FC was down to 17.5. I went ahead and raised it back up to 37 again. We are forcasted to have rain for several days... I guess I will just continue to keep it up for another day or so and keep brushing and hope for the best? I cant do the OCLT test with the FC levels this high can I?

 

[JohnN]

Most people prefer to do the OCLT at shock level.

 

[Tanner M]

I did not know that John. Thanks for the reply!

 

[techguy]

You don't need to any OCLT testing until you get to a point where you are not losing more than about 4 FC during daylight, given your 90cYA. OCLT is looking for a end stage and you still have some work to do.

 

[Tanner M]

techguy - from your experience how many more days of this do you think I have?

 

[jblizzle]

It takes as long as it takes ... could be a few days or weeks ... depends on what is in the water. Since you water sounds pretty clear with algae on the walls, it should be on the shorter end of that spectrum ... depending on how well you maintain shock level and if you are adequately brushing.

 

[techguy]

Like Jason said, it varies. It depends on you variety of algae, your environment, your water, you filter, and your chlorine.

I and a technical nerd by nature. I used to work on the HelpDesk and what you have asked is akin to "How long will it take to fix my computer?" My HelpDesk answer was always somewhere between 10 minutes and 10 hours. I will let you know when I am done."

I really depends on how fast you kill the algae and your filter can remove the debris (dead algae, etc) from your water. With a dedicated effort, you could be clear and balanced by this weekend but sand filters can be slower. When you get to a point where you are not losing much FC, you can try adding DE but this should not be done until you are holding your FC.

 

[Tanner M]

To many variations to consider!! Well I will just keep after it and hope for the best. I have had to raise FC back up twice today and have already brushed the entire pool twice today (that is an *** kicking). Thanks for all the help fella's!

 

[linen]

You may want to consider lowering your cya by doing partial drain/refill. Fighting algae at that high cya can be difficult.

 

[Tanner M]

Even if I am going to switch over to salt or does it matter? I really hate to drain and refill this late in the year. Also, sorry about my *** kicking comment. I didn't realize this forum was so sensitive.