I started the process.. I added 15 gallons of bleach around noon today. I just checked on my test kit and UPS shows it on the truck now here in town somewhere. Hopefully I will get it today sometime. I took pictures before I started and took some about 3 hours later. I swear I can already tell a difference... Maybe it's just I'm so excited about finally seeing an end to all the mess. I will keep posting my results. As soon as I get the test kit I will post the results from it also. Thanks for all your help. This site has been a lifesaver.
Bacquacil & algae
- Thread starter swhimsey
- Start date
I got my test kit in and here are my first numbers. FC 1.5
CC 3.4
TA 160
CYA filled tube, no change, could see black dot clearly, did test twice to make sure was doing it right, same results
Also did the Calcium Hardness test, stopped after adding 51 drops and still was seeing no change, is this something to be concerned about right now.
Anyway, I guess I need to be adding more bleach, is this a correct assumption until the FC gets to 15?
CC 3.4
TA 160
CYA filled tube, no change, could see black dot clearly, did test twice to make sure was doing it right, same results
Also did the Calcium Hardness test, stopped after adding 51 drops and still was seeing no change, is this something to be concerned about right now.
Anyway, I guess I need to be adding more bleach, is this a correct assumption until the FC gets to 15?
You need to add acid - your alkalinity is too high, and your ph is way too high. You need to get your ph in the 7.2 range and try to get your alkalinty down to 100. You can do this by adding acid to take the ph down to 7.2 and turn your return jets up to bubble on the water. This will lower your alkalinty while raising your ph. Everytime your ph gets back up to 7.4 add acid to bring it down until you get your alkalinty in range (no higher than 130) Your chlorine will be more effective at a low ph too. You should not have any cya in your water since you have been using baquacil. You will need to add it after the conversion is fiished. You can put some trichlor pucks in your skimmer for now, becuase they contain some cya and is a stabalized form of chlorine. The more vigilant you are in keeping your chlorine up at 15, the faster the conversion will take place. Check as often as you can, as the baquacil will use up the chlorine almost as fast as you add it until it is all broken down. Just keep adding the bleach 
Feel free to ask any questions you have. Your calcium seems like it is very high - you probably will have to do some drain and refilling at some time. You can do it now if you want, it will also bring your alkalinity down, and will dilute the baquacil that is in your water too. If you stopped at 51 drops, that means your calcium is over 510, and you don't want it near that high! With a fiberglass pool you don't want it over 250. I keep mine at 150 With all the alkalinity and high ph and high calcium, along with the high chlorine, I am almost positive that you will have staining when the process is finished. Don't worry, I can help you get rid of them Please keep me informed, because I did a conversion on my fiberglass pool the second summer I had it, and that is why I learned all about stains 
Feel free to ask any questions you have. Your calcium seems like it is very high - you probably will have to do some drain and refilling at some time. You can do it now if you want, it will also bring your alkalinity down, and will dilute the baquacil that is in your water too. If you stopped at 51 drops, that means your calcium is over 510, and you don't want it near that high! With a fiberglass pool you don't want it over 250. I keep mine at 150 With all the alkalinity and high ph and high calcium, along with the high chlorine, I am almost positive that you will have staining when the process is finished. Don't worry, I can help you get rid of them Please keep me informed, because I did a conversion on my fiberglass pool the second summer I had it, and that is why I learned all about stains 
As soon as the FC level is below 10, hopefully right now, adjust the PH to between 7.2 and 7.4. Then resume bringing the FC level back up to 15 as frequently as practical. Chlorine is much more effective when PH is at the low end of the normal range.
Having zero CYA when starting a Baquacil conversion is normal. Baquacil doesn't require CYA. You might as well start adding some CYA, aim for a CYA level of between 30 and 50. Remember that it is far simpler to raise CYA than to lower it, so aim a bit low and touch it up later, so you don't overshoot. Also, CYA can take up to a week to disolve, so add some and then wait a week before retesting.
For testing very high CH levels you can use a variation of the test. Use a 10 mL sample, 10 drops of R-0010, 3 drops of R-0011L, and each drop of R-0012 then counts as 25 ppm. This goes more quickly if your hardness is high, plus it saves on reagents (all at the cost of reduced percision which doesn't matter at high levels).
You continue adding bleach as frequently as practical (but not more than once an hour) to bring the FC level back up to 15 until the FC level holds at 15 over night and CC reads at 0.5 or lower.
Your alkalinity is a bit high, but I think you can wait on that until you are done with the conversion. It is much simpler to deal with one thing at a time and the alkalinity will come down noticably, though probably quite not enough, when you lower the PH.
Having zero CYA when starting a Baquacil conversion is normal. Baquacil doesn't require CYA. You might as well start adding some CYA, aim for a CYA level of between 30 and 50. Remember that it is far simpler to raise CYA than to lower it, so aim a bit low and touch it up later, so you don't overshoot. Also, CYA can take up to a week to disolve, so add some and then wait a week before retesting.
For testing very high CH levels you can use a variation of the test. Use a 10 mL sample, 10 drops of R-0010, 3 drops of R-0011L, and each drop of R-0012 then counts as 25 ppm. This goes more quickly if your hardness is high, plus it saves on reagents (all at the cost of reduced percision which doesn't matter at high levels).
You continue adding bleach as frequently as practical (but not more than once an hour) to bring the FC level back up to 15 until the FC level holds at 15 over night and CC reads at 0.5 or lower.
Your alkalinity is a bit high, but I think you can wait on that until you are done with the conversion. It is much simpler to deal with one thing at a time and the alkalinity will come down noticably, though probably quite not enough, when you lower the PH.
OK so, right now I need to get muriatic acid right to adjust the PH to get it lower..correct. How much do I add at a time and how long do I wait between testing. I just added 6 more gallons of bleach, but have to go to town to get the acid. I will keep checking back on this to make sure I'm doing everything correct. This is a little bit intimidating to me...hopefully I can do it right, at least I know I have help, which is very reassuring
I don't remember seeing the volume of your pool anywhere. It helps us answer your questions if you put that, and some associated information, in your signature.
I would add 6 cups of 31.45% muriatic acid for each 10,000 gallons in the pool. Wait half an hour with the pump running to allow it to mix and test the PH again to see how close you got.
I would add 6 cups of 31.45% muriatic acid for each 10,000 gallons in the pool. Wait half an hour with the pump running to allow it to mix and test the PH again to see how close you got.
There are two ways to do it. You can either buy some CYA, often called stabilizer, or use trichlor tablets (which contain both chlorine and CYA and lower your PH).
To use stabilizer, I would start with 4 lbs of stabilizer in a sock and hang that in front of a return or put it in a skimmer (if it won't block the skimmer to badly). Using this approach you shouldn't retest CYA until a week after an addition. I calculate that you will need 5 3/4 lbs, but as I said you want to start with less than you need so you don't overshoot. If you use this approach, I wouldn't start adding it to the pool till your rate of chlorine usage slows down a little, probably two or three days. Too much CYA early on will slow down the conversion.
To use trichlor, a common form of chlorine generally sold as chlorine tablets or stabalized chlorine tabs, you will need somewhere around 10 lbs of trichlor tablets. You put one or two tablets in the skimmer (or one per skimmer if you have several skimmers) at a time, replacing them as they go away. This will also add chlorine, which is good, and lower the PH, which will require monitoring (which is a little tricky during the later parts of the conversion as PH can only be tested when FC is below 10). This approach will take longer to reach the correct CYA level, but is simpler to monitor as you can test CYA at any point without waiting the week.
To use stabilizer, I would start with 4 lbs of stabilizer in a sock and hang that in front of a return or put it in a skimmer (if it won't block the skimmer to badly). Using this approach you shouldn't retest CYA until a week after an addition. I calculate that you will need 5 3/4 lbs, but as I said you want to start with less than you need so you don't overshoot. If you use this approach, I wouldn't start adding it to the pool till your rate of chlorine usage slows down a little, probably two or three days. Too much CYA early on will slow down the conversion.
To use trichlor, a common form of chlorine generally sold as chlorine tablets or stabalized chlorine tabs, you will need somewhere around 10 lbs of trichlor tablets. You put one or two tablets in the skimmer (or one per skimmer if you have several skimmers) at a time, replacing them as they go away. This will also add chlorine, which is good, and lower the PH, which will require monitoring (which is a little tricky during the later parts of the conversion as PH can only be tested when FC is below 10). This approach will take longer to reach the correct CYA level, but is simpler to monitor as you can test CYA at any point without waiting the week.
Hi, Sue,
All the advice above is correct......I know all that thrown at you at once can be very intimidating.
For now, focus on getting your pH down as soon as possible. It should be a one-time application and then you can stop worrying about it for a while.
Then, focus solely on keeping your chlorine at 15 'til your pool clears. All the other issues can be dealt with later and won't noticeably affect what you're doing.
All the advice above is correct......I know all that thrown at you at once can be very intimidating.
For now, focus on getting your pH down as soon as possible. It should be a one-time application and then you can stop worrying about it for a while.
Then, focus solely on keeping your chlorine at 15 'til your pool clears. All the other issues can be dealt with later and won't noticeably affect what you're doing.
I added the MA around 11 a.m. at 4 p.m. my readings were FC 1.0, CC 8.5, I checked again at 6:10 p.m. FC still at 1.0
CC went down to 7
TA is now 140 and my ph is now around 7.2
I added 8 more gallons of bleach and now will leave it alone for the night and check again in the morning... am I doing the process correctly?
CC went down to 7
TA is now 140 and my ph is now around 7.2
I added 8 more gallons of bleach and now will leave it alone for the night and check again in the morning... am I doing the process correctly?
Yes, you are doing great!. The PH is now right and the bleach is chewing up the baqucil just as it should.
Good job, Now just let the bleach do the rest - you will see the hlorine will hold a little longer each time till it holds overnight. How does the water look now? Make sure you keep vacuuming too - I would vacuum to waste, and add fresh water each time. This way you will get all the bacquacrap out. You will have to change the sand in your filter (if you have a sand filter) after the process is complete, or you can wait till the spring - but it will need to be replaced. The conversion will leave lots of baquacrap in the sand even though you backwash.
Yeah, things are looking better and better. The water is now a light, light, aqua color but definitely a noticeable change.
My numbers today at 3:30 p.m. were FC 1.5, CC 7.5, TA 130. I just added 12 gallons of bleach. Am I right that I am trying to get my FC to 15? I didn't think about vacumning right now, guess I was concentrating on everything else so much. I will definitely to that. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and advice.
Sondra
My numbers today at 3:30 p.m. were FC 1.5, CC 7.5, TA 130. I just added 12 gallons of bleach. Am I right that I am trying to get my FC to 15? I didn't think about vacumning right now, guess I was concentrating on everything else so much. I will definitely to that. Thanks again for all the words of encouragement and advice.
Sondra
Yes, keep bringing the chlorine up to 15 every chance you get, until it holds overnight. Keep up the good work 
Latest #'s
FC 5.5
CC 8.0
TA 120
CH 200
PH 7.2
Yeah!
Added more bleach, I could actually see in the shallow end today!
Sondra
FC 5.5
CC 8.0
TA 120
CH 200
PH 7.2
Yeah!
Added more bleach, I could actually see in the shallow end today!
Sondra
Ok, so I guess there will be times of set backs, correct. I checked the pool this morning and it was once again very green and looked like stuff on the bottom again. I thought maybe it was staining, but once I started brushing realized that it was the same stuff (algae) I had before. My levels did not hold over night. They were 5.5 FC but this morning was 2 again. OH well, so I dumped like 17 gallons of bleach again. Should I put more than that in. I'm just guessing on the amounts, but apparently the algae was still present some. So is there anything else I need to know to do different now or just keep up with the bleach? Sondra