Advice from Mustard Algae survivors?

[JanHan]

1. Wondering when passing OCLT is actually complete? The numbers/testing portion is easy enough to figure out, but I'm referring to the visual part. Been at it for a week, but still seeing the small bits of sandy stuff settle at the curvature of the pool floor. It's a light sandy color. I plan on SLAMing until necessary and refuse to give up the battle, but I also don't want to keep going if this is dead algae I'm vacuuming up and it just takes a while to filter out. Does mustard algae have a dead color?
2. How long has your pool been mustard algae free since you won your battle? I need inspiration that as long as I keep my levels correct, this will never ever happen again. It feels like I'm stuck in the Hotel California trying to clear this up and scared that it will all come back the second I stop the SLAM. Thanks

 

[grannydi]

I had an outbreak of mustard algae in April. Best advice ever is DON'T USE YELLOW OUT and stay out of the pool store for a remedy. That stuff ate up my free chlorine faster than I could pour it in, and I had so much combined chlorine in my pool it stunk like a public pool. Honestly, I knew better but was so frustrated I did it anyway. Anyway, I did get rid of it finally by SLAMing my pool, then doing the mustard algae slam. Check all the hiding places too, because it was behind my stairs. SWG is up and running now and maintaining the FC on it's own, and no sign of any more mustard algae. Stay the course and it will happen. Good luck.

Diana

 

[JanHan]

Thanks Diana! And no, no pool stores for me. Been following the SLAM directions, found a huge source behind my light niches, that helped a bunch. My water is beyond clear and beautiful now, I'm just not sure if these last small bits of stuff are dead and will ever be gone. Glad to know you killed yours completely though! Thanks

 

[jeffbrig]

Hope you have better luck than me. I'm finding it to be difficult to eradicate completely. The mustard algae disappears at SLAM level FC, but it comes back at normal levels. About a month ago, I completed a 4 day slam + 24 hours at elevated Mustard Algae level. When I let the FC come back down, the algae started reappearing on the shaded walls before FC was even back to the low end of "normal". A year ago I killed it with a bromine treatment, but as Diana noted, that's a real PITA for maintaining chlorine going forward. Not recommended. I've kind of resigned myself to keeping FC at the high end of the recommended range, along with frequent brushing, to keep it at bay.

 

[JanHan]

Hope you have better luck than me. I'm finding it to be difficult to eradicate completely. The mustard algae disappears at SLAM level FC, but it comes back at normal levels. About a month ago, I completed a 4 day slam + 24 hours at elevated Mustard Algae level. When I let the FC come back down, the algae started reappearing on the shaded walls before FC was even back to the low end of "normal". A year ago I killed it with a bromine treatment, but as Diana noted, that's a real PITA for maintaining chlorine going forward. Not recommended. I've kind of resigned myself to keeping FC at the high end of the recommended range, along with frequent brushing, to keep it at bay.

That's what I'm afraid of! After 52+ bottles of bleach and over a week of time, I'll lose my mind if this has been a failure. As of today I don't see a speck of "sand". In a little bit I'm going to go back out and wear a snorkel mask and vacuum every inch possible with the vacuum hose. I did this yesterday for hours. Last night I passed the OCLT but I'm going to give it another day just in case and do another OCLT again before bumping up to mustard shock level for 24 hrs. I'm sorry you're dealing with this also, it really is frustrating as heck.