‘Discovered TFP this week and have spent many hours reading posts and advice. We have been here a year. I am new to pools and have had only pool supply store advice to date. Other than pH and FC, I have had little understanding of balanced chemistry. ‘Have battled black algae a couple of times and switched to dichlor recently. I’ve been told the only sure way to really combat the black algae is to resurface the pool., but I’d like to get another year out of it.
I metal wire-scrubbed the blazes out of it about a month ago which raised the TA to 130. Lots of acid got it down, but the FC keeps getting eaten up.
I’d like to go to borate supported chemistry, but found my CYA over 100 on last analysis. Consequently, I drained and replaced 70% of my water yesterday and today. I am waiting on my borate test strips.
Here is a summary of past month:
5/15 FC 2, CC 2, CH 200, CYA 45, TA 90, pH 7.4, phos 2000
5/28 FC 0, CC 0, CH 220, CYA 90, TA 130, pH 7.4, phos 500
6/25 FC 5, CC 5, CH 180, CYA 100, TA 70, pH 7.4, phos 2500
So, with 70% fresh tap water and liquid chlorine adjustment to 5 this morning, here is where I am at this afternoon.
6/27/ FC 1, CC 1, CH 140, CYA 25, TA 130, pH 7.4, phos 600
Am I on the right track to assume that I need to adjust FC, get TA down to 50 (I forgot to shut off water softener), then get the pH back up? Does it matter if I use dry acid or muriatic acid to get the TA down?
Should I use dichlor to pick up the FC, so that I get a small bump in CYA, then start to work on the Borate when I get the test strips in a couple of days?
Thanks for reading all this. I appreciate that you folks are here. -- dbriefly
I metal wire-scrubbed the blazes out of it about a month ago which raised the TA to 130. Lots of acid got it down, but the FC keeps getting eaten up.
I’d like to go to borate supported chemistry, but found my CYA over 100 on last analysis. Consequently, I drained and replaced 70% of my water yesterday and today. I am waiting on my borate test strips.
Here is a summary of past month:
5/15 FC 2, CC 2, CH 200, CYA 45, TA 90, pH 7.4, phos 2000
5/28 FC 0, CC 0, CH 220, CYA 90, TA 130, pH 7.4, phos 500
6/25 FC 5, CC 5, CH 180, CYA 100, TA 70, pH 7.4, phos 2500
So, with 70% fresh tap water and liquid chlorine adjustment to 5 this morning, here is where I am at this afternoon.
6/27/ FC 1, CC 1, CH 140, CYA 25, TA 130, pH 7.4, phos 600
Am I on the right track to assume that I need to adjust FC, get TA down to 50 (I forgot to shut off water softener), then get the pH back up? Does it matter if I use dry acid or muriatic acid to get the TA down?
Should I use dichlor to pick up the FC, so that I get a small bump in CYA, then start to work on the Borate when I get the test strips in a couple of days?
Thanks for reading all this. I appreciate that you folks are here. -- dbriefly
at dbriefly's pool and that is what it is doing. It's there now and the only way you can get rid of it is to SLAM that 1CC out of your pool, keep brushing til your arms fall off and keep the FC elevated until the black algae is eradicated. 
