After using Cyanuric Acid Reducer my pool won't hold chlorine

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Jaduck, I have no idea how to do any of those tests, but I don't think the bacteria is still active. It's been about two weeks since I added the last pack. I definitely wouldn't mind sending you some sample water though :).

Chem Geek, thank you and everyone else for all the advice. It looks like after about 340 ppm of chlorine in my sample water, it's starting to hold. It hasn't dropped at all in the past 8 hours or so which is a first. It looks like including the 30 gallons of chlorine that I've already added since that last packet of cya reducer, I'm going to need a total of over 400 ppm to stabilize my pool. It's crazy!!! But I guess, I'll go to the pool store tomorrow and start racking up chlorine. I'll let you guys know how it goes. Thanks again for all the help.
 
the trick is to test and add bleach/liquid chlorine every ten minutes
until you find very little drop over ten minute period
then switch to two hour testing
if you let FC drop the bacteria multiplies and you are back to the start again
you might be better off getting liquid chlorine from pool shop as it is stronger than bleach and may reduce the volume you need to cart home
 
with pump running 24/7
i would probably aim for 30ppm fc and test and adjust every 10 minutes until you find you still have 25ppm after 10 minutes
then keep at 25ppm testing every 2 hours
when you have at least 20ppm after 2 hours
then keep at 20 testing every 4-8 hours depending if you need sleep
i would order some more reagents and get a big stockpile of bleach/liquid chlorine as well
you dont want to run out half way and need to start from scratch
 
I spoke with the lead Microbiologist and he said that it would be a bust since we don't have the media to grow the bacteria in question, nitrogen fixating bacteria...we also do not have a DNA probe that would detect Nitrospira or Nitrosoma species. Sorry!
 
Maaaaaaan, their General Manager just offered to send a BiOWish technician to my house in order to examine my "unique" situation. At least, they have good customer service. Although, it looks like it might be too late. I guess that's a good gesture after over two months of dealing with this nightmare; half the summer got wasted.

So, I ended up buying a ton of chlorine yesterday and went ballistic on this thing. I kept it at about 60 to 80 ppm for almost 5 hours. At first, it was dropping over 20ppm every 15 minutes, but then the drop rate slowed down drastically. By 1:30am last night, I let it drop to a little over 40 and by 8am this morning, it had dropped to 20ish. That's where I'm keeping it now. Looks like it's still dropping by about 3 or 4ppm every four hours, but it's getting much better. Do you guys think I should start letting it drop to something closer to normal shock levels like 12 or below, or should I keep it higher?

Aussieta, I pretty much did what you suggested, but at first kept it at a much higher level (well over 60), testing every 10 to 15 mins. Hopefully I didn't damage the plaster or pool equipment. I bought a huge arsenal of chlorine and had a ton of reagent, so I was good :). Thanks for your help.

Jaduck, thanks for asking him anyway. I would have kept some sample water anyway, but was afraid of some sort of mutated monster growing out of it :).

It's not over yet, but my lesson learned is to never hire a pool guy again, and not to ever become of guinea pig for a brand-new untested product.

Thanks so much guys. You're all the greatest.
 

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jumper4000 said:
No the pool store wouldn't do it. I got this test kit from Amazon - Amazon.com : API Ammonia 130 test Kit : Aquarium Test Kits : Pet Supplies . My understanding is that there are two different types of ammonia tests and this is the type you want.

What situation is your buddy in?


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Thx for the link. He has the strangest situation. His pool is fresh water, approx 30000 gallons. He's been running trichlor tabs for 5+ years, and using dichlor LIBERALLY to shock the pool. I convinced him to go to the TFP liquid bleach method and invest in a Taylor 2006 kit. So he tested his CYA...ZERO. I had him bring a water sample to the pool store for a second opinion...ZERO CYA. We're all scratching our heads. So my only theory is he's been visited by the mythical CYA-eating bacteria. If that's the case, his ammonia should be through the roof. He does have some evidence of high chlorine demand, but the mystery remains.
 
I'm no expert, but I'd say if his ammonia is high, then his chlorine should disappear almost immediately (or within minutes). Maybe put a couple gallons of liquid chlorine in there in the evening and see how long it takes for it to drop. It's probably best to get the ammonia test kit and test it out. It's pretty cheap compared to everything else.


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Hi Guys, I just wanted to say thank you for all your help. My pool is finally fully stabilized and hopefully my two and a half month nightmare with this product is over (unless I discover other crazy things down the line). It cost me a TON of money and time, but I think I'm good now. I made sure to leave them a very appropriate review on Amazon, so hopefully others won't have to go through this.

Thanks again for all your help.
 
I'm glad you finally got through this. They will probably say that you shouldn't have had the FC drop below their recommended range, but there's no way to know whether their product would consistently do the right thing and break down the CYA all the way to nitrate or nitrogen gas rather than stop at ammonia. One cannot readily control the bacteria so that both sets work as they are supposed to and one set not run off. Most people who used their product and maintained the FC at the levels they recommend either had nothing happen at all or only had a very modest CYA reduction.
 
That's exactly what happened to me. While I had my FC even at as low as 1ppm, the first two packets of CYA Reducer did absolutely noting. It only started working after it went down to zero and stayed there for a few days. Oh well, you live and you learn. Hopefully others won't make the same mistake I did.
 
Glad you have it under control, jumper4000. What a nightmare!

Also, am I the only one who feels like she's back in college when reading chemgeek's and jaduck's posts? You guys are seriously smart dudes. :bowdown:
 
Next time we have the start of a season with some pools that are opening to huge demand with ammonia and partially degraded CYA, we should get the pool owners to send samples to jaduck for analysis of the organisms in the water. That would squash the debate I've been having with someone who doesn't believe this conversion of CYA can be biological because they don't believe the conditions are anaerobic enough.
 
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