please help, very green pool with billion of critters

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B

bexter

0
Jan 15, 2009
6
Luddenham, NSW, Australia
Hi,
Im not only new to a having a pool, but new to a forum as well, so please excuse me if Im asking things in the wrong section or doing something incorrect. I will try my best!

I have an above ground vinyl pool, with a sand filter its approx 3m x 53 x 1.5depth, approx 22,000litres I think (sorry not to sure on gallons)

I desperately need HELP, I have moved into a home and the pool has not had anything done for it for 12mths or more, it was YUK, green as grass, I went to a pool shop who sold me a bunch of little size chemicals to put in it, and a little packet of shock powder, didn't do much at all, still green, another pool shop told me I didn't put enough chlorine in, so I put 20lts of liquid chlorine in, he adviced me to shock it big time to get the alge out, and scrub, it is starting to get clearer but my biggest problem is it has BILLIONS AND BILLIONS of swimming bugs, all sorts Ive looked up some and I think they are backswimmers and boatmen, how do I kill these critters fast, appranently chlorine won't kill them, there is too many to try and catch. My kids sooo want to use the pool. Please has anyone any advice on how to kill these animals ASAP.
 
Welcome to TFP!

In addition to what Exchemist said: Appropriate levels of chlorine will kill or discourage most, but not quite all, insects. For the insects that chlorine does not chase away, adding borates to the water often helps.
 
Hi bexter and welcome to TFP! :wave:

You have come to the right place to help "turn your green swamp back into a sparkling oasis"!

Apparently, you have been doing some reading and have already added your location in your profile! :goodjob: Congratulations and thanks! This info is really needed to help you further.

When you have a few momemts, please read the first article in Pool School which gives you the info we need for you to post for the members to help you. And, .......

.......... Add all your pool and equipment info (as much as you have now & update later) in your signature so that it will appear each time you post. This makes it easier for members to respond without having to ask too many detailed questions up front. (Go to User Control Panel (top, left of each page), select Profile, then Edit Signature)...and,

.......... The BEST thing we ever did was order a good test kit! After you spend some time reading here, you will learn that this is the BEST first step! This will put you in complete control of your pool! You can read about the recommended test kits in Pool School, but I, personally (along with many other members) prefer the TF100 Test Kit sold by one of our members, duraleigh. He has a site link on the home page (also link in my sig).

bexter said:
My kids sooo want to use the pool.
Click to expand...
Hey! We want that, too!.....and would love for you to post some pix asap :mrgreen: You can post 'green' pix now and 'sparkling oasis' later! Actually, it is winter HERE, and we would love to see every summer pic you have!

Just follow the steps outlined in Pool School and the wonderful info you have already received and your kids will soon be swimming!

G'Day :wink:
 
Hi there and welcome. Great advice givien thus far, I'll only add that you may find the boatmen/backswimmers remain even after your pool is clear and sparkly. You can search this forum for tips on defeating them, which usually includes adding borates to your water and/or squishing them by hand (otherwise they just come back) which sounds daunting considering you stated how many there were. Hopefully as your water clears the numbers will decrease and all will be well. Good luck! :wave:
 
Hi all,
Thanks again for all your replys, the pool is getting there, its not green anymore, but still cloudy, currently manually vacumming it or running filter 24/7.

filter did block at one stage with (yuk)critters, was wondering if you could tell me what borates is, not sure where to go to get it,

In regards the the test kit, I brought these stripes you dunk in the water and take out, not sure if I like them, or how accurate they would be.

It is summer over here, I notice on the news that you are having cold snaps over there, been pretty hot here, thats why we cant wait for the pool to be running, its been about 43C (not to sure what the conversion is into F).

I will try and get some nice of pool and let you know the updates, thanks again
 
bexter said:
Hi all,
was wondering if you could tell me what borates is, not sure where to go to get it,

In regards the the test kit, I brought these stripes you dunk in the water and take out, not sure if I like them, or how accurate they would be.
Click to expand...
You can add Borates by a combination (separately added) of 20 Mule Team Borax usually found in the laundry aisle in a grocery store and Muriatic Acid usually found in a hardware store. You can also add it in the form of mostly Boric Acid which is closer to pH neutral (so no acid neded) in products such as Proteam Supreme Plus and Bioguard Optimizer Plus. However, I wouldn't worry about that until after you get your pool clear.

The test strips (at least most of them) are not very accurate. It looks like Australia has a dearth of test kits, but Palintest has Pooltester Kits for chlorine (DPD), pH, Total Alkalinity (TA) and a separate kit for Cyanuric Acid (CYA). It does not distinguish between Free and Combined Chlorine and doesn't have a Calcium Hardness (CH) test. The Rainbow Pro-11 test kit is the 761 model from Pentair. It tests for everything you need except the Free and Combined Chlorine test is DPD and not FAS-DPD.

You should see if you can get the TF100 test kit from tftestkits.com or the Taylor K-2006 test kit via HornerXPress Worldwide. However, if this is prohibitively expensive, then the Rainbow kit above might be your next best alternative.

Richard
 
Yeah 43c. is hot, it would be more tolerable I think if the humidity wasn't so high (approx 80% or more), the further inland you go, the more dryer and less humidity, not as bad, i think, (even thou its approx 1 hour and 30 mins to the water), thanks for the conversion , before I realized you were f. not C. or thought 100, you all must be cooking.

we all got in yesterday, to help clean the sides down, critters seem to have dissapeared.... :-D

kids were very excited! and cooler
 

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Bexter, I'm from the Sydney region as well. Great to find a local here!

I would also recommend the TF100 test kit. I bought the kit mid last year. Shipping cost was around $40USD. Contact them via email to order.

Compared to the $$ that I wasted on chemicals due to bad advice from local pool shops, the shipping charge seemed quite reasonable!

Listen to the experts here... They know what they are doing.

All the best.

Daniel
 
thanks Daniel
I think I will order that kit next payday, the pool shops are soooo frustrating, I reckon they must hire people that know diddly squat, gggrrr....
Yeah Im so happy I found this sight, its so informative, never knew there was so much to learn, I just assumed in my own way (as this is my first pool) that you fill them up with water, turn the pump on, add some chlorine and off you swim...

wasn't I wrong....g
well I learnt how to back flush the pump today, and rinse, change the creppy crawly (automatic vaccum), and learning about the pressure...so I will just keep reading away!!!! :-D
 
Yeah thats what my internet weatherzone said, I have a weather station only about 1km away, a

And Im excited, :p I can see the bottom of my pool, could even see all the little tiny bits of dirt in the cracks, so I promptley vaccumed them up, and now its clearer still.... :lol:

So I think now I will get the water tested to get this balance right, and learn what things need to be added and when, when the ranges are out....

but hey ,,,,thank you, thank you, all, my pool is getting there! yippeee
 
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