New fill and new to TFP

[snake4812]

Hello Friends, this is a great community, look forward to your help. I have been reading up a lot on Pool School and just ordered a TF-100 test kit. I think I know what I need to do to maintain things but I could use a little help getting up and running.

I have a 24' round AGP. It was just filled with city water and then my neighbor "helped" getting it started. He put two bags of that shock solution in, a puck with a floater, and I've put 2 jugs of the higher concentration bleach in (this is all over the last 4 days or so). I'm running the cartridge filter around the clock right now. This was all before I read up and got informed about what I was doing. Today I am getting in a Poolmaster 22270 test kit from Amazon that I ordered before learning about the TF-100.

So basically
1- Does the new water even need to be SLAMed, or have I put enough chlorine in that I might as well do it anyways?
2- I was planning to use that cheaper test kit over the weekend while waiting for the TF-100 to get an idea where I am, but there is no CYA test in the kit so it seems pointless, should I just return it? Should I keep putting some bleach in while I wait for the TF-100 to come in?
3- Also see I should have tested pH before treating with chlorine, at this point should I wait for testing pH as well or get it started with some Borax as the tap water is normally too low? At one point should I test the pH?
4- I plan on just using bleach going forward, but should I leave that tab in for now to build some initial CYA?
5- Should I keep running the filter around the clock for now or cut it back?

Any other guidance you might have to get me started over the next week or so is greatly appreciated.

 

[Texas Splash]

Welcome Snake! Let's run-down your questions:
1 - No, but it does need to have stabilizer and free chlorine or you will be in that position soon.
2 - If you want to return the kit you can and wait for your TF-100. Right now, you can get by with adding 1/2 - 1 gallon of regular bleach for minimal FC.
3 - It's okay. You can adjust PH at any time now. (Wait 30 min before each chemical)
4 - You can leave that tab for now, but later when your it comes in monitor the CYA (30-50)
5 - Doesn't hurt to leave it running for now since your water is new and you don't have much in it (chemicals). But remember, even moving water can have algae.

Recap - Continue with liquid bleach as noted for each day, adjust PH, and go ahead and start adding some stabilizer for CYA - you can use the sock method. If you have any more questions, let us know.

- - - Updated - - -

Pay close attention to the Chlorine/CYA Chart and Recommended Levels links below in my signature. Those are your handy references for right now.

 

[snake4812]

Thank you sir. So I assume from your post that the puck will not provide enough CYA to get me to the desired level quickly and I need to go buy stabilizer? Will I still be able to get an accurate pH reading with the gallon of bleach/day plus stabilizer?

 

[Richard320]

Welcome!

Hello Friends, this is a great community, look forward to your help. I have been reading up a lot on Pool School and just ordered a TF-100 test kit.

Yay!!

I think I know what I need to do to maintain things but I could use a little help getting up and running.

I have a 24' round AGP. It was just filled with city water and then my neighbor "helped" getting it started. He put two bags of that shock solution in, a puck with a floater, and I've put 2 jugs of the higher concentration bleach in (this is all over the last 4 days or so). I'm running the cartridge filter around the clock right now. This was all before I read up and got informed about what I was doing. Today I am getting in a Poolmaster 22270 test kit from Amazon that I ordered before learning about the TF-100.

So basically
1- Does the new water even need to be SLAMed, or have I put enough chlorine in that I might as well do it anyways?

No. There better not be any algae in tap water!

2- I was planning to use that cheaper test kit over the weekend while waiting for the TF-100 to get an idea where I am, but there is no CYA test in the kit so it seems pointless, should I just return it? Should I keep putting some bleach in while I wait for the TF-100 to come in?

Yes and no... It would be nice to know the pH and even the cheapest test kits usually do that test well. But it does seem like a waste. Maybe return it and get just the FC/pH tester for under ten bucks so you can swim this weekend? Or borrow that helpful neighbor's pH tester?

3- Also see I should have tested pH before treating with chlorine, at this point should I wait for testing pH as well or get it started with some Borax as the tap water is normally too low? At one point should I test the pH?

Without much CYA, all that chlorine you added is probably gone. See what the tester says. If it's the OTO type that uses shades of yellow, as long as it's yellow and not drifting into school bus yellow, FC is low enough to accurately test pH.

4- I plan on just using bleach going forward, but should I leave that tab in for now to build some initial CYA?

Yeah, let it dissolve. See if you can't tally up how many pucks you added and figure out what exactly was the "shock" you added. Poolmath can tell you pretty close what each pound of whatever and each 8 oz puck will have added to your CYA.

5- Should I keep running the filter around the clock for now or cut it back?

Any other guidance you might have to get me started over the next week or so is greatly appreciated.

Most of us run our filters far less than around the clock, like 3 or 4 hours a day. Cut back to 6 or 8 for now and after things are balanced, study up on Pool School - Determine Pump Run Time

Anyway, remember this: It's safe to swim if

• You can see the bottom of the pool
• The pH is between 7.2 and 7.8
• The FC is below shock level for your CYA (in your case, anything below 10 since CYA is at best a guess right now)
• The water is warm enough to tolerate

 

[snake4812]

Richard- awesome! Thanks for being so helpful. I know he bought that shock stuff at Walmart so I'm going to stop by today and try to find out what's in there. It was only $18 for that cheap kit so I can eat that and at least get my pH in good shape. Will that puck provide enough CYA to get me to the desired level, should I toss another couple in, or should I just buy some of that stabilizer?

 

[Texas Splash]

Puck might be kind of slow. Wal-Mart should have some stabilizer for a cheap price (4 lb bucket I think).

 

[Richard320]

Richard- awesome! Thanks for being so helpful. I know he bought that shock stuff at Walmart so I'm going to stop by today and try to find out what's in there. It was only $18 for that cheap kit so I can eat that and at least get my pH in good shape. Will that puck provide enough CYA to get me to the desired level, should I toss another couple in, or should I just buy some of that stabilizer?

Guessing the pool is filled 4' deep makes it 13,500 gallons. One 8 oz trichlor puck will only raise CYA by 2.5, so it will take a whole lot of them and a long time to raise CYA to 40 or 50. Unfortunately, each puck will also lower pH by about .2. So short answer, no more pucks. Buy a canister of CYA and get it up quick. Don't add any of it until you've reported back to us what that shock powder was. Depending on which of three commonly sold "shock" powders it was, your CYA could already be halfway there and you don't want to overdo it. It's easy to add more, hard to get rid of.

 

[duraleigh]

Welcome to the forum.

The puck will never add enough CYA to help you. Get stabilizer and dose your pool to 30-40 ppm for now.

Add 1 gallon of bleach each evening until your TF-100 gets in. Then post the results. You're on your way!!

 

[snake4812]

I can't thank you guys enough for being so helpful! Reading through the forum I am SOOOO glad I found this site at the beginning of my journey instead of all the time, money, and frustration people are getting from those pool stores.

I'll pick up some CYA and check on that shock that was used and report back.

 

[snake4812]

OK things are going well. I checked the Walmart shock poweder and it only has chlorine in it. I also picked up a nice load of bleach, the stabilizer, and some borax.

I've had the 3 pucks in there for just a couple days, just threw them out, so I'm guessing I should just assume I have 0 CYA and use PoolMath to calculate how much CYA I need, targeting 30.

I used el cheapo test kit and it gave me a chlorine reading of between 2 and 3. I will continue on with the plan to use about a bottle of bleach per day until I get my real test kit and confirm CYA level.

My pH was 7.6, I was expecting a low reading because it is new water but it has been raining for around 24 hours so maybe that raised it.

All that being said, I guess I meet Richard's criteria above and we should be able to swim this weekend! Let me know if I am on track with my thoughts or if you have any other advice. Thanks you guys are the best!

 

[Richard320]

OK things are going well. I checked the Walmart shock poweder and it only has chlorine in it. I also picked up a nice load of bleach, the stabilizer, and some borax.

I've had the 3 pucks in there for just a couple days, just threw them out, so I'm guessing I should just assume I have 0 CYA and use PoolMath to calculate how much CYA I need, targeting 30.

I used el cheapo test kit and it gave me a chlorine reading of between 2 and 3. I will continue on with the plan to use about a bottle of bleach per day until I get my real test kit and confirm CYA level.

My pH was 7.6, I was expecting a low reading because it is new water but it has been raining for around 24 hours so maybe that raised it.

All that being said, I guess I meet Richard's criteria above and we should be able to swim this weekend! Let me know if I am on track with my thoughts or if you have any other advice. Thanks you guys are the best!

LEt poolmath crunch the numbers to raise CYA to 40 and set the sockful of granules in the skimmer or dangling in front of a return jet. And don;t just blindly add bleach now that you have a tester. The color matching is inexact, but it's something. Get a number and plug it into the now column and let poolmath work.

 

[Texas Splash]

Sounds like you are on-track. Remember that after adding stabilizer, it (CYA) won't show for a few days which is fine because you don't have the test kit yet anyways. Hopefully you'll have it by early next week and be checking your water like a pro. No guesswork! Enjoy your weekend.

 

[snake4812]

LEt poolmath crunch the numbers to raise CYA to 40 and set the sockful of granules in the skimmer or dangling in front of a return jet. And don;t just blindly add bleach now that you have a tester. The color matching is inexact, but it's something. Get a number and plug it into the now column and let poolmath work.

Gotcha- if I measure the CYA out shouldn't have to guess on the bleach amount. Since it will take a while to take in the CYA should I shoot for a target of around 3 for FC?

 

[Richard320]

Gotcha- if I measure the CYA out shouldn't have to guess on the bleach amount. Since it will take a while to take in the CYA should I shoot for a target of around 3 for FC?

2 FC with zero CYA. Maybe shoot for 3 FC when it's partially dissolved. When the sock is empty, consider it all there even though you can't confirm it yet and plug your CYA target into poolmath as the now reading. Hint: if you scroll down to the bottom of the table and select your finish and all that it will suggest target values.

 

[snake4812]

Hello again friends. Well I received the TF-100 kit in today. It turns out the cheap OTO test from Amazon was giving me bad readings- basically it said 2 FC every time I ran it, so I was adding way too much bleach. The FAS/DPD gave me 16 FC and 0 CC. I ran the OTO included with the kit for comparison sake and it gave me a darker yellow than was on the scale, so I assume I can trust this one.

As for the CYA, I put in the recommended amount per PoolMath. I put it in Friday and it is still not dissolved completely in the sock, but I had to put a LOT in because I was starting at 0. Just give it more time I assume? Didn't bother testing CYA at this point as we are still dissolving. We got a ton of rain here in the Chicago area the last few days, so I did have to take the sock it for a while and ended up having to drain a couple inches from the pool, guessing this will dilute the CYA a bit more but I can always add more once I am stabilized and have an accurate test.

Am I on the right track here? Any tips? Guessing my FC will go down in a couple days because I probably have a low CYA level. Should I continue to run the filter 24/7 as the CYA dissolves? Thanks friends.