A little new to the chemicals

[amybarra]

HELLO!
I'm new here, & new yo owning a bigger pool than ever. Lol relax its only a 15ft, one of the quick set vinyl pools. Even thought some of my friend recommended me not to get it, I still have it. Anyway to the chase, I knew nothing of the cleaning till last week when I was @ the store I bought the test strips, and chemicals for algae. Tablets. Shock, ph down, clarify, & the clorox app mentioned the scaling metal thing. I almost wasn't going to buy it but I saw a comment on here before registering that it can work for too much calcium which seems like my pools problem right now.
So. Im sorry this is long. But my question is, which chemicals should be going first, the first time I had everything first I used the algae chem. Then shock, chlorine tab, ph down, & clarify. Does it make sense? I tried looking for help in the order of each since it can't be combined. If anyone knows, thank u so much for ur time & responses
Happy swimmin!

 

[Wobblerlorri]

Welcome to TFP! First of all, we do pool sanitizing differently here. Read ABCs of Pool Water Chemistry and browse Pool School to get an idea. Essentially we use common household chemicals when our pools need them, in the amts they need, determined by doing our own testing. No pool store testing, no guess strips.

The first thing you need to do is get a good test kit. We recommend the TF-100 or Taylor K-2006C kits, links in my signature below. Next is stop adding things to your pool!! Just get a gallon jug of plain old household bleach, no scented, splash less or Cloromax technology. Use PoolMath to figure out how much bleach will take you up to 5 ppm free chlorine and add that every day until your kit comes.

Then do a full complement of tests and post back with the results. We'll be able to advise you better knowing what's going on with your pool.

 

[amybarra]

Oh wow, thank you for that! Will do!

 

[IceShadow]

If your pool is a smaller one, you could also follow Guide for Seasonal/Temporary Pools - Trouble Free Pool

 

[amybarra]

My pool smells better,& everything looks great ... just still cloudy ..
I used clarify after shocking etc tho.

 

[splashpad]

Welcome, glad to have you here!
Even with a quick-set, you need a reliable way to test your water, because it's easy to drain & refill, but not always necessary!
I'd get the 6-way HTH drops test kit (available from Walmart)
And as a fellow vinyl pool owner, please stop adding all the chemicals in you only need liquid chlorine and a little bit of stabilizer The flocs and clarifiers are hard on (or even bad for) your filter!