New Liner, New water. Want to do this right!

[daskiker]

Having spent all summer battling algae, I must admit that I immediately put in 2 (96 oz.)60 jugs of bleach but I stopped myself from going further until I checked in here.

The pool is filled with tap water (plus 192 oz. of bleach). I found out from the guys that put in the liner that my pool is 25,000 gallons. I always thought it was 36,000 gallons but they were certain.

The readings before adding the bleach:

FC: 0
CYA: 0
PH: 7.2
TA: 60
CH: 80

Is there a particular order in getting these chemicals in balance? For instance, do I immediately raise my FC before doing anything else or do I add stabilizer first? Or do I add stabilizer at all? I have the link to the pool calculator, I guess I am just looking for guidance regarding which element of the pol chemistry is most important to attack first. Thanks in advance!

 

[jblizzle]

Get the CYA dissolving in a sock hanging in front of the return jet ... target for around 30ppm initially.
And maintain the FC around 1-2ppm until the CYA dissolves and then keep it above 2ppm as shown in the CYA/FC chart in Pool School.

Everything else looks fine.

You are using poolcalculator.com right?

 

[daskiker]

Thanks so much and yes, I am talking about poolcalculator.com!

 

[daskiker]

Would this be an appropriate time to use the chlorine pucks in the chlorinator, given that I am actually trying to raise CYA? Isn't a rise in CYA a side effect of using the pucks? According to the pol calculator, I need to add 100 oz. of stabilizer and I am not sure how much stabilizer to add at one time.

Thanks for any information on this!

 

[jblizzle]

Sure you can use the tablets to help raise the CYA. You just need to make sure you do not use too many. The calculator at the bottom will tell you how much each tablet will add.

If you are using the stabilizer, target about 30ppm initially, then you can raise it more if needed after testing after a week.

 

[daskiker]

I am not seeing where the calculator tells me how much CYA rises per some amount of tablet chlorine. I see that it says dichlor or triclor raises CYA, but I don't see anywhere that shows the numbers. Can you direct me to where that is? Thanks!

 

[jblizzle]

In the "Effects of Adding Chemicals" section.

Select trichlor (which is what the pucks are), each one typically weighs around 7-8 oz depending on brand.

 

[daskiker]

Thanks! It looks like if I put 4 pucks in then CYA will rise by 4.7 and FC will rise 7.7.

I think I am going to try to do this using the pucks in combination with stabilizer in the sock!

 

[jblizzle]

As long as you KNOW what you are adding to your pool ... you are free to do as you wish and still call yourself a BBBer

 

[daskiker]

Thanks so much! This has the added bonus of finishing off the pucks that I found buried in a closet. I'll be straight back to BBB once my CYA approaches 30.

 

[daskiker]

Update:

I am learning a lot on this forum. Thanks so much! I did use up most of my pucks, which helped out immensely when we were out of town. I also added some stabilizer (via a sock in the skimmer basket). I did overshoot slightly my targeted alkalinity level and CYA levels, but I think I am still in good shape!

pool is approximately 25,000 gallons:

FC:6
CYA: 40-45
PH: 7.5
Alk: 110

I have a few jugs of bleach on the shelf for ongoing maintenance and I have gotten increasingly confident in trusting the results of the test kit. Thanks to all of you for helping me win my earlier battle with algae and walking me through getting everything up to speed since the new liner. I appreciate everyone's patience in answering the same questions over and over again! Anyway, I may be going off a little half-cocked here, but I am moving on to adding Borates next so that I can have an even more luxurious swimming experience! Our pool is in direct sunlight for most of the day and we are in the deep south (plus a pool cover for night time). I am gunning for a long swimming season!

 

[jblizzle]

Your TA seems too high to be adding borates. And they have nothing to do with the amount of sun you get, as your post implies. Please realize that they are completely optional and most of us do not use them.

 

[daskiker]

There is a post on here titled something like, "So, you want to add Borates.." I will dig that up and follow whatever was in that post. If my Alkalinity is too high then I might just wait until the next swimming season.

My reference to the amount of sunlight the pool gets was meant only to point out that I still (potentially) have a long swimming season ahead of me--thus, it might be worth messing with adding Borates. I didn't mean to imply anything about a link between Borates and sunlight. Especially given that as I type this I know nothing about it! I plan to read up on the subject in this forum and see where it takes me. Thank you!

 

[jblizzle]

Note that the sticky you are referring to is a little old and outdated and seems overly optimistic.

The only "real" reason to look into adding borates is if you are struggling to prevent the pH from rising quickly ... the other "features" (algaecide, better feel, more sparkly) are secondary and often overstated.

 

[daskiker]

Well that is good to know. I was only interested in obtaining the secondary features that you mentioned, so I will skip the Borax, at least for now. Thanks for the input.

 

[daskiker]

What a difference a day makes!

I thought I had the perfect oasis and tonight I see algae on the deep end walls! I scraped it off and added 2 jugs of bleach but I didn't do anything else. I'll get on it in the morning. I obviously haven't learned as much as I thought I had. Talk about discouraging! For the record, this algae looks different from the yellow film I am used to. This stuff had to be brushed twice to come off, which is not my usual experience.