Newbie w/ First Test Results and Questions

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OK... I got home tonight and looked at the pool. It actually looked much better tonight. Still some green to it but better. I brushed the entire pool like I have been every night and then ran some tests. Here are tonights test results...

FC - 36
CC - .5 (after adding the 5 drops, the color was just a shade from clear... closer to .25 IMHO)
TC - 36.5
CYA - 60
PH - 7.8 (Still at the same even after adding all that acid last night)

So the FC is maintaining thanks to the help of the SWG I am sure. It is actually climbing a little each day. The CC looks like it is almost gone and the pool is looking better. I am thinking another day or so of this and I should have it knocked out.

Any thoughts? Should I check any other chemicals right now or just concentrate on this? Also, should I finish adding my Borax to bring it from 30 to 50 or just leave everything until this is done? I do think I am going to add some more acid tonight though to try and bring that darn PH down some.

Thanks in advance!!!
 
I am not sure why your FC is at 35 when it should be around 18ppm or so. (It's like aspirin....just because two is good, six is not better still) Do not use the SWG to shock the pool. Calculate your dosages correctly and keep your FC around 18 or even 20 or so until your pool clears.

I would suggest you disregard your other pool water issues until your pool clears. The SWG is driving your pH up. Keep your pH down in the lower 7's and your FC will be slightly more effective as well as giving you more time in between acid doses.

Once your pool water is clear and you have a grip on maintaining a stable FC and pH, you can address the other, less important issues.
 
Thanks a million Dave!!! Since I added the 2.5 Gal of liquid chlorine, I assume the SWG being on 100% and on Santization Boost is holding/raising it from there. I will shut the boost off today and lower the SWG to 75% and see where that lands me as far as FC. Looks like I am getting there though. Just taking a little longer than I thought. :-D
 
OK... I shut the boost off and lowered the SWG to 75% to see where that puts me. I came home today and the pool much 10 times better!!! Still not 100% perfect, but I would say about 90%-95% there!!! :mrgreen:

I have to get ready to take my daughter out for halloween but will do a full set of tests in the morning and post my results.

Thanks again to all of those who helped!! Just about there!!!
 
So I went out this morning and checked the pool. Looks like everything has cleared up. I brushed the pool (all of it) and then vacuumed it. Kicked the filter back on and then ran a full set of tests. Here are my results...

FC - 40
CC - 0
TC - 40
PH - 7.6
TA - 60
CH - 310
CYA - 60
Salt - 3400
Borates - 30
Temp - 64

Since my initial testing and adding the 2.5 Gal. of 10% Liquid Chlorine, I have had the SWG on 100% with the Boost switch on. That being said, my chlorine levels have held and even climbed on a daily basis. Yesterday a switched the boost off and dropped the Sanitizer Control to 75% and today the FC has still gone to 40 so I just shut the entire SWG off. I will keep it off for a few days and monitor the FC during the morning and night. Once it gets down to around 10, I will kick it back on to 75% and work with it from there to gauge what the output % needs to be set at for my pool.

I have also noticed that my TA has dropped significantly from where it was. It is almost like all the acid that I have added has had more of an effect on the TA. Or maybe it had an effect on both the TA and PH but the aeration or something brought the PH back up. Not sure but things are looking better.

OK... So here is my question... With the numbers stated above, what should I do if anything??? I know I want to go ahead and use the pool calculator to bring up my borates and calculate how much acid to add as well. I think I will go ahead and do this 20 increase in one swoop. Is there anything else that you all feel should be adjusted???

Thanks for everyone’s patience and help. This has meant a lot to me!!! It has meant so much that I am going to sign up this weekend as a TFP Supporter!!! :goodjob:
 
I would still suggest you get your pool water stabilized (which it is not) before you focus on adding borates.

If it were my pool, I would have FC stable for at least a few days, if not a week........pH under control, too. With your SWG shut off, pH will be relatively stable, then rise again when you turn it bgack on.


In short, you seem to be in a rush to add borates and they are simply not essential to stabilizing your pool. A constant, steady source of FC along with predictable pH levels would be my first priority.

Your other numbers for CH, T/A, and CYA are fine.
 
Dave... Thanks!! I am just trying to do too much at one time I think. I keep forgetting POP. Ha-Ha I will heed your advice on the TC and PH. Once they are stable and running good, I will come back with new test results and opinions on what to tackle next.

Thanks again!!!!
 

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Update.... The pool looks awesome!!!! :mrgreen:

I still have the SWG off and tested the FC tonight. It has come down to 30 but the CC is still at .5 which is weird considering that the TC has been at 20 or above for several days now. Will this eventually go back to 0? Is it possible that I am getting a .5 CC because the FC is so high? Also, is it common for the FC to drop 10ppm in 2-3 days?

Anyway, just thought I would check in on this and let you all know. Still confused about the CC so hopefully someone can provide some input.

Thanks guys!!!
 
It is very common to test CC's of .5ppm. Generally, it's considered the equivalent of 0 ppm.

Yes, a loss of 3ppm FC daily given your other numbers makes perfect sense. I would let the FC come on down to about 3-4ppm and then set the SWG to 30-40% and monitor carefully to see if it trends up or down and adjust accordingly.
 
Dave, Thank you!!! Excellent advice that I am sure will help me out here.

I just want to thank you all for everything. Hopefully I have not been too much of a pain but I am new to most of this and joined here because of the great advice and helpfulness of others!!!

Thanks again!!!
 
I just received my Apollo Magnetic Stirrer!!!! WOW... this thing is GREAT!!! Testing everything is much faster overall and I feel I am getting more accurate results with it!!! I highly reccomend these if you do not already have one!!!

Here are the latest test results....

FC - 22
CC - 0.5
TC - 22.5
PH - 7.8
TA - 80
CH - 310
CYA - 55
Salt (SWG) - 3500
Salt (Strips) - 3460
Borates - 30
Temp - 69

I added 9.1 Oz. (Well best guessed anyway) of Mur. Acid tonight to drop the PH down a little. Pool Calculator said to add 9.1 Oz. to bring it to 7.6 which is what I am trying to do.

Everything is looking much better. Just patiently waiting on the FC to drop down enough so I can turn the SWG back on. Other than that, I think the numbers look ok. Anyone have any advice otherwise?

Thanks everyone!!!
 
You are correct about the CYA. I am just getting confused with all these numbers. LOL

I will test the PH tonight to see how the acid that I added affected it. Once I get my FC levels down, I will restart my SWG and get that adjusted. From there I will then bump the CYA up and then finally bump up the Borates to 50. Hopefully at that time everything will be where it should be. :-D
 
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