New pool owner……aaaggghhh

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pool$123

Well-known member
May 27, 2015
53
Central PA
Pool Size
24
We bought a house that has an ABG 24' Pool and we currently have it running using the Frog System. I'm not sure if it my inexperience in operating a pool or the system or both, but I feel like I am always chasing the necessary metrics. I am wondering the following:
--I recently purchased all the chemicals for the Frog System……should I continue or switch to BBB?
--I recently had my water tested at Ace Hardware and they said that my copper was high? Is that from the Frog system? If we change to BBB, should we add mineral remover?
--I ordered a test kit (k6000) and will have it tomorrow.
--How long after I add bleach do I 1/ have to run the filter 2/ wait to go swimming.

Thanks for any help or guidance!
 
Welcome to TFP!!:handwave:

Well, I think this will answer your questions:

1. Yes, get rid of the frog
2. Copper is probably from the frog. There is no such thing as mineral remover. Once it's there, it's there - until you change water. There is sequastrant which will bind up metals so they don't stain, but they are still there and you have to continually add sequsetrant.
3. Would that be a K-2006 test kit? if not, I'm not sure what you ordered
4. Depends on how much you add. Generally 30 minutes of running the pump will circulate chemicals.
 
Baking soda will not clog in the filter cartridge unless you dump it in the pump basket. Even then it will dissolve. Distribute over the pool surface while pump is running. Run for an hour afterward, brush the bottom after adding. Pool store is feeding you lies.

Copper in the pool is bad. It may turn hair green and/or stain pool surfaces.

# Sent from mobile device. Beware of brevity and spelling errors!
 
Welcome to TFP!

Just to back up what has already been said, yes the Frog adds copper to your water, yes copper can be a problem, and the best thing to do is remove both the mineral pac and bac pac from your frog, at least until you have a full set of test results.

The Alkalinity Up sitting on the pool store shelf is Sodium Bicarbonate. If you look that up on Wikipedia you will see that it often goes by the street name "Baking Soda". He will literally tell you not to use baking soda and then sell you baking soda. Moral of the story: Don't Ever Listen To Pool Store Guys.

Importantly, just because the name is BBB does not mean you necessarily need baking soda. TFPC (which is a version of BBB that we teach here) is less about the specific chemicals and more about proper testing and only adjusting what you need with the best chemical for the job. Once you get your kit run a full set of tests and post them here: FC, CC, pH, TA, CH, CYA. We will be able to help you from there.

And seriously, empty out that Frog. I completely removed mine and the pool has never looked better.
 
pool$123 said:
Until I learn to use my new tester, would I be ok to get water tested at ace hardware (close to my house)? I want the kids to be able to go swimming without me worrying?
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If you have the K-2006 then you have a perfectly good kit that is not too difficult to use, see link below for videos on some of the tests. The sooner you start working with the test kit the better, it takes abit of practice like anything, but its not overly difficult. You can always post back here for advice etc.

https://www.youtube.com/user/tf100testkit?feature=results_main
 
So I did my first test tonight and it was inside so I'm not sure how much that will skew the results……..
FC 4.4
CC 0.8
PH 7.8
CYA 70
Any guidance? I guess to get PH down to 7.4, I would need to add 3 drops which equates to over 36 fl oz of Muriatic Acid.
 
pool$123 said:
I had cc of 0.8. Anything I could/should do?
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first thing is to add chlorine. With 70 CYA your chlorine should never be below 5 and you should really target 8 to make sure the sun during the days doesn't take it below 5. I might even run the FC closer to 10 for a few days and continue to watch the CC.

You can add a little muratic acid to bring the pH a little closer to 7.5. I'm sure you will have a tendency for,pH to rise.

When testing you can use the 10ml sample size which changes the results in increments of .5. That is close enough for us, we don't need .2 accuracy. This saves the reagents in the kit.

How does the water look?
 

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Your CYA is pretty high and will continue to increase as long as you keep Bac Pacs in the frog. Removing everything from the frog would be very helpful. Also if you have sunlight today you should rerun your CYA test in full sun with your back to the sun and the tube in shadow. Your CYA might be lower than 70, which would be a very good thing.
 
I turned the frog to zero and will be removing the unit completely tonight. When I test, I put water into a bottle and sampled from there....is that correct? Also, when testing should filter be on or off when I sample? Isn't fc goal between 1 and 4?

- - - Updated - - -

Btw, thanks for all the help!
 
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pool$123 said:
I turned the frog to zero and will be removing the unit completely tonight. When I test, I put water into a bottle and sampled from there....is that correct? Also, when testing should filter be on or off when I sample? Isn't fc goal between 1 and 4?

- - - Updated - - -

Btw, thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...
no, FC between 1-4 is the reason pool store advice is so notoriously bad. You must keep your FC as a ratio to your CYA level. The higher the CYA, the more FC you need.

Check this out:
Pool School - ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry
 
pool$123 said:
I turned the frog to zero and will be removing the unit completely tonight. When I test, I put water into a bottle and sampled from there....is that correct? Also, when testing should filter be on or off when I sample? Isn't fc goal between 1 and 4?

- - - Updated - - -

Btw, thanks for all the help!
Click to expand...

FYI, I would not remove the frog, just remove the bac-pac and mineral pac for now.
I still have mine installed, and I use it for vacations. I drilled out the mineral pac and removed all the minerals and then just use a bac pac.
As long as you are aware of the effects of the chemicals, it works great, just not something you'd want to use continuously (the mineral pac not at all)
 
Nope, it's 1 inch pucks in there, they last forever.

BTW, I took one of the bac pac's when it was empty, cut in half, then filled it with 1" tabs from the store and sealed it up with electrical tape. Works great for the few times I need to use it and it's much cheaper.

You could take those back if the store will take them.
 

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