Algae I.D. PLEASE!

[budysr]

I ran on high because thats what the experts on here suggested as part of the shock process. Makes sense that you want the water circulating as much as possible at that time, but I guess you COULD do it on low speed if you wanted. My pool is about 14,000 gal.

You may not have to run the pump as long as you think once you have the water cleaned up. Try to back off a little bit each day on the run time and see if the water is still clear. I think alot of people run their pumps more than they need too and electricity isn't cheap.

 

[Cherie]

Thanks buddysr. We're about to dive in and do the MA shock now that the new pump seems to be working great!

Have a great week and thanks for your help!

 

[duraleigh]

What is "MA shock"?

 

[spishex]

Mustard Algae

 

[cubbybeave08]

We have the same thing going on in Greenville Tx, just down the road from Wylie. I am wondering if pollen or algae also. I had originally thought it was the sand filter, because we had a similar deal- vacuum and it is clear. Let the pump sit overnight, no obvious deposits. Start the pump, and a few hours later, those same deposits in all the little crevices on the floor only.
It is very fine, and "poofs" when you wave your hand near it. I have not done microscope tests, and it does not really feel like anything, as it is too fine and loose to feel. However, I can see (and my nose knows) the pollen is in the air all the time, and have been seeing it floating on the pool surface.
I have been able to keep my FC up with no problems using every other day chlorine addition, and my water sparkles (when it is not raining). And yes, the pollen blows almost year round here, and will travel quite a distance with the high winds, as will very fine dust.
I am interested in seeing how this thread comes out. I am too new to pool ownership to have a definite opinion, but it seems to lean towards pollen. If you think otherwise, I guess I had better start shocking.

I had this same stuff in my pool from the end of July until close in mid September. However I went and got some from the bottom of the pool and put it under a microscope and it was all sporey looking...it did not look like Algae of anything I had seen on the internet (microscopic photos) It looked more like pictures of pollen spores than anything else...when my pool is not running I can see it floating on the surface...It looks like dust...The one thing that I know that it comes back daily. Even when I shock up...my water has never been cloudy, and I don't lose chlorine over night. It stays at levels for two or three days. I am guessing from the pictures that Cherie has posted that we have the same thing and that is pollen. I have a huge tree in my back yard, and my neighbor has huge gardens next door. It is a pain, but I never had algae growth all summer long.

 

[amjohn]

Cubbybeave, I ended up with algae due to a contamination. I had to shock to clear up when I shut my pool down for the winter. However, I am also pretty certain that I had pollen for most of the summer, with the algae coming in "fall" (still summer for us in October). We have ragweed everywhere around us, with sept-oct being the peak season, so it was easy to see the pollen floating on the pool. My solar blanket was even yellow with it for a while. It is a tough call.
I do know that I got my CYA higher than I realized, was misreading the test, and under-chlorinating prior to the algae, plus having the solar blanket on 24/7 may have encouraged it.
Since my pool did not get filled until mid-August, I have not had a whole summer to evaluate. I do know that the spring pollen is unbelievable in this area, and am trying to be proactive with a skimmer sock and scum ball when the season starts (as early as mid-Feb). I have not covered my pool, and I do not have anything that looks like algae or pollen now, but we have had a couple of freezes out here in the boondocks, so we get a short break from the pollen.
The skimmer sock was very effective this fall- every day I would go out and find it to be bright yellow (ragweed pollen), squeeze and rinse it out (outside of pool- took me once to figure that out). When the algae got going, the skimmer sock started getting greener, rather than yellow- so that is a sign I now know to look for as well.

 

[buzzbait00]

Well..........Spring is here!!!!and the bottom of the pool is covered with the "stuff"agin!It stayed away all winter!Now it's Baaaaack.I vacumed for a wile then back washed.The back wash was pea soup green.I got the "STUFF" sturred up and now the whole pool is green.Im shocking right now.

 

[spishex]

Two questions for you Buzz:

- Does your pool have a main drain?
- How are your returns oriented?

 

[buzzbait00]

Two questions for you Buzz:

- Does your pool have a main drain?
- How are your returns oriented?

Not shure what you mean by main drain.It has a skimmer and drain/vacume under the water level opposite the return in the deep end.
Two returns-One in the shallow and one on the opposite side in the deep end.

 

[spishex]

So there's no grate on the bottom of the pool? Can you see the surface of the water moving from the force of the returns? If the answer to both is yes, that's your problem.

With no main drain, the circulation near the bottom of the pool is poor. Your chemistry might be fine in the top foot or so, but your chlorine isn't getting properly distributed to the bottom. The pool is entirely dependent on the returns for this. Aim the return in the deep end down at the very center of the deep end. Aim the shallow end return down as much as possible toward the center of the shallow end. You may still end up with a few dead spots that have to be brushed but it should be manageable this way.

 

[amjohn]

I have been having pollen for a while now (I can tell by my horrible allergies and sinus infection). We are having 50 mph wind gusts today- so much for March going out like a lamb.
Anyways, I have been using my skimmer socks continuously, and have to change them out every couple days. I started with 5 and have ruined 2 of them- just wore out. We are also getting BUGS!
I can see pollen/dust/whatever else blows around here coating the sides of the pool, the pump and filter, our grill on our back porch, my car, the tractor, etc. My test results show no CC, good water balance, and I am finishing the last of the winter polyquat. I will start my chlorine program shortly. The water temp is still 60 degrees and under, so no swimming going on here.
I added borates (not quite 30 ppm yet- working my way up) and DE to the filter. Anything to control the pollen/dust and keep algae from getting a foothold. I do not have a main drain (above ground pool) and I have one return, which I keep pointed into deep end. The pollen/dust/stuff does not pattern the deep end, I guess because of that, but scatters in pockets around the shallow end. Whenever I get a chance, with the sock on the skimmer, I brush the pollen/dust up just as the pump comes on and get it good and stirred up so that it will go through the skimmer- and sure enough, by the end of that pump run, the skimmer sock is filthy. Also have 2 scum balls in the pool- they work, but these have about had it- time for new ones.

 

[buzzbait00]

So there's no grate on the bottom of the pool? Can you see the surface of the water moving from the force of the returns? If the answer to both is yes, that's your problem.

With no main drain, the circulation near the bottom of the pool is poor. Your chemistry might be fine in the top foot or so, but your chlorine isn't getting properly distributed to the bottom. The pool is entirely dependent on the returns for this. Aim the return in the deep end down at the very center of the deep end. Aim the shallow end return down as much as possible toward the center of the shallow end. You may still end up with a few dead spots that have to be brushed but it should be manageable this way.

Nop!No grate.I can see the water moving on top.I'll try to point down the returns ,Thanks!

 

[schrody]

Good topic! I have lines of this stuff all over my pool too. It is the reason I have been considering a cartridge filter. My FC has been good lately and still no signs of CC...but the temp is still pretty low.

I never considered it might be pollen. I assumed it was my zeosand. If I try to vacuum it up I can see the return jets just start spitting out cloudy/dirty water.

 

[Cherie]

We left our pool open this winter, being our first winter with our pool. Once the weather got really cold, I did a final manual vac and backwashed all the stuff out, then turned the pump off and left it off. The pool stayed beautifully clean until we were due a freeze - and I had to turn the pump back on. So everytime I vacuum it out and leave the pump off, the pool stays clean. But when the pump runs, the stuff gets pretty bad. So it looks like we're all still in limbo as to whether this is algae or not?

Our next goal is to go ahead and do a cover (after we get the deck built around the pool). If the stuff stays gone once the pool is covered, then I'll know for sure it was pollen and not MA! Any thoughts on that?

It sure was nice to have a beautiful clean pool most of the winter

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

So it looks like we're all still in limbo as to whether this is algae or not?

If it stayed clean when the pump was off then it's probably not algae....sounds to me like something is wrong with your filter. Since it was not pollen season, it stayed clean cause nothing was blowing in. Once the pump was on, whatever was in the filter, returned into the pool via the return...I don't know how cold it was there on a daily basis, if it was too cold for algae to grow? But if you said you turned on the pump because of possible freeze....I don't know if algae could grow in temps that cold.

 

[JasonLion]

Algae can grow at extremely low temperatures, but it is rare for that to happen and it grows very slowly at low temperatures. In practice, if the water is below 50 degrees the chance of algae growing is very very small.

 

[cubbybeave08]

We left our pool open this winter, being our first winter with our pool. Once the weather got really cold, I did a final manual vac and backwashed all the stuff out, then turned the pump off and left it off. The pool stayed beautifully clean until we were due a freeze - and I had to turn the pump back on. So everytime I vacuum it out and leave the pump off, the pool stays clean. But when the pump runs, the stuff gets pretty bad. So it looks like we're all still in limbo as to whether this is algae or not?

Our next goal is to go ahead and do a cover (after we get the deck built around the pool). If the stuff stays gone once the pool is covered, then I'll know for sure it was pollen and not MA! Any thoughts on that?

It sure was nice to have a beautiful clean pool most of the winter

Cherie...I still think this is a dust or pollen of some type...I picked up a bunch of it and looked at it under a micro scope...it looked like a pollen spore under magnification. Do you ever notice it floating on the surface when the pump is not running...Because my yard is surrounded by trees, I have one tree but my neighbors have many...the harder the wind blows, the more of the Crud I get. If the wind is calm for days then I don't get any of it.

 

[frustratedpoolmom]

Cherie...I still think this is a dust or pollen of some type...I picked up a bunch of it and looked at it under a micro scope...it looked like a pollen spore under magnification. Do you ever notice it floating on the surface when the pump is not running...Because my yard is surrounded by trees, I have one tree but my neighbors have many...the harder the wind blows, the more of the Crud I get. If the wind is calm for days then I don't get any of it.

Beaver got a new avatar....

 

[cubbybeave08]

Cherie...I still think this is a dust or pollen of some type...I picked up a bunch of it and looked at it under a micro scope...it looked like a pollen spore under magnification. Do you ever notice it floating on the surface when the pump is not running...Because my yard is surrounded by trees, I have one tree but my neighbors have many...the harder the wind blows, the more of the Crud I get. If the wind is calm for days then I don't get any of it.

Beaver got a new avatar....

Gotta like it huh!!!GO CUBBIES!!!

 

[buzzbait00]

So there's no grate on the bottom of the pool? Can you see the surface of the water moving from the force of the returns? If the answer to both is yes, that's your problem.

With no main drain, the circulation near the bottom of the pool is poor. Your chemistry might be fine in the top foot or so, but your chlorine isn't getting properly distributed to the bottom. The pool is entirely dependent on the returns for this. Aim the return in the deep end down at the very center of the deep end. Aim the shallow end return down as much as possible toward the center of the shallow end. You may still end up with a few dead spots that have to be brushed but it should be manageable this way.

Nop!No grate.I can see the water moving on top.I'll try to point down the returns ,Thanks!

NOP!That did not work.