Having some algae problems. First post ever, so bear with me, because I realize you get the same questions all the time. I've tried doing this by reading existing posts, pool school, etc. but I'm to the point where I need help. And yes, I'm an Intex pool owner (not by choice), so hopefully I won't be seen as a second-class citizen here. ;^)
Brief history: This is my first season attempting my own pool care, without the guidance of the local pool store and their $$$ products. June was fine, thanks to daily monitoring with my cheap 2-way test kit -- sparkling clear water just using bleach, baking soda and a one-time dose of muriatic acid when my pH was initially high. Then July happened. Warmer weather, more rain storms, more swimmers, etc.
About two weeks ago the cloudy water started, followed by algae. I read the pool school "algae" topic a dozen times, but without the FC or CYA tests, I couldn't do the SLAM properly. So I basically have been guessing for the past two weeks, dumping in bleach, trying to vacuum up dead algae, clear, cloudy, clear, cloudy.
Finally, I broke down and spent the $78 on the TF-100.
I'm not quite sure what to do next, as I've "kind of" slammed it thru guesswork last week, and the algae kind of went away, but it doesn't seem to completely disappear.
Here are my readings from today:
FC 7.5
CC 1 (maybe only 0.5 -- the first drop almost did it but not entirely)
pH 6.8
TA 20
CH 50
CYA 45
What's my best course of next action? Just fix the pH and TA and let the chlorine do its thing? Or do I need to SLAM again, now that I can see all my values?
I should also mention that I've just been cleaning my same filter for about a month now. They say to replace them every two weeks, so I'm wondering if that could be part of the problem as well? (I'm going to buy a few new filters tomorrow.)
I'm slowly learning pool chemistry, but there are so many if/then scenarios, I wanted to see if anyone could guide me in the right direction before I start fiddling with things again.
Thanks!
Brief history: This is my first season attempting my own pool care, without the guidance of the local pool store and their $$$ products. June was fine, thanks to daily monitoring with my cheap 2-way test kit -- sparkling clear water just using bleach, baking soda and a one-time dose of muriatic acid when my pH was initially high. Then July happened. Warmer weather, more rain storms, more swimmers, etc.
About two weeks ago the cloudy water started, followed by algae. I read the pool school "algae" topic a dozen times, but without the FC or CYA tests, I couldn't do the SLAM properly. So I basically have been guessing for the past two weeks, dumping in bleach, trying to vacuum up dead algae, clear, cloudy, clear, cloudy.
Finally, I broke down and spent the $78 on the TF-100.
I'm not quite sure what to do next, as I've "kind of" slammed it thru guesswork last week, and the algae kind of went away, but it doesn't seem to completely disappear.
Here are my readings from today:
FC 7.5
CC 1 (maybe only 0.5 -- the first drop almost did it but not entirely)
pH 6.8
TA 20
CH 50
CYA 45
What's my best course of next action? Just fix the pH and TA and let the chlorine do its thing? Or do I need to SLAM again, now that I can see all my values?
I should also mention that I've just been cleaning my same filter for about a month now. They say to replace them every two weeks, so I'm wondering if that could be part of the problem as well? (I'm going to buy a few new filters tomorrow.)
I'm slowly learning pool chemistry, but there are so many if/then scenarios, I wanted to see if anyone could guide me in the right direction before I start fiddling with things again.
Thanks!