Black Algae Starting - Please Help!

[Texas Splash]

Good job.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Thanks!
Too bad I saw tons of fibers and specks of blue stuff in the filters... Now I'm worried it's from the PVC pipes.
Probably from when I used the stain remover and it told me to keep the pH super low
Hopefully that's not what it was, but if it was from the pipes, hopefully it won't be any worse.

It's possible it's from the filters themselves as they have blue cores. The ones we put in today are the original Hayward ones that are tan-ish colored.

When I move, hopefully it'll be in a community with a pool I don't have to take care of anymore. This is all so defeating.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Of course, now that I got the filters changed there is a small amount of air leaking out of the pressure relief valve on the filter, and a small drip coming from where the lid meets bottom.

I took it apart a second time and lubed it again but will do it once more and see if that solves it.

Note to add for future readers:
I learned that Hayward advises against lubing the filter head gasket. I also read that can cause it to break down and not seal as well as it should which I thought you lubed to help it seal better.
Apparently theirs are engineered in such a way that it's not needed, nor advised.

Also, make sure to get the metal reinforced gasket. I almost didn't and then found that the metal reinforced ones reduce blowouts which is kind of important for something under constant pressure.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Question...
Since I had already been gradually increasing my chlorine via my SWG prior to starting SLAM, will it work as intended?

I feel like my water is clearer but I also feel like a couple of the spots I posted pics of, have come back after they faded a little from the scrubbing. Or maybe I just haven't look closely enough at them the last couple of days.

I also need to scrub my tile line better because there is some green in the grout still.
I got the Wall Whale brush yesterday and that definitely helps me brush the walls easier but I'm not convinced it works as well as the metal one on the plaster walls....

Also-- I'll be away from the pool for 4 days in a week and I'm not confident I'll be done and ready to let the chlorine drift at that point. Recommendations for keeping the chlorine up without using the SWG?
I have tablets but those only donso much, and also I understand that's not the best way to keep it up during this process because of the stabilizer?

 

[Mdragger88]

Fc is fc - if you need to maintain slam level fc with your swg while you’re away do so. You’re right about the tabs- they will add cya which is not something you want to do until your slam is complete & you have passed ALL 3 end of slam criteria.
The reason for not using the swg during the SLAM Process is not because it is the wrong kind of chlorine or something but because it simply takes too long & generally is not able to replenish slam level fc as fast as algae consumes it especially at the beginning. Also swg cells have a finite amount of fc they will produce in their life so you don’t wanna waste that when you could just use liquid chlorine since you’re having to use it anyway.
You do have an oversized swg for your pool volume- it is capable of producing around 11ppm fc in a 24hr period if set on 100%. (So roughly .5ppm/hr)
Hopefully by the time you will need to be away your daily fc loss will be much less than that & you can set the swg accordingly.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Great Info... Thank you!
I had my SWG on until this afternoon, I had forgotten to turn it off.
Should I turn it back on at night to help maintain the SLAM level until I can check it in the morning before work?
I think right now I may need to worry more about keeping it at SLAM or + rather than OCLT?
Just in the last 4 hours I lost 2 FC and it's been dark for about 3 of those hours.

 

[Mdragger88]

Definitely Keep it at slam level as frequently as you can. Going over a ppm or so isn’t an issue but anymore than that just wastes chlorine & risks damage to people & equipment.
You may not be ready for the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test just yet. When the water is crystal clear & there is no algae (dead or alive) it’s time to give the oclt a go.
P.S.
I looked at your logs,
Great job on frequently testing & dosing keep up the good work

 

[MeowMeow724]

Thanks!
WFH helps the ability to keep up on it more than I normally would be able to!

I had a terrible dream last night.. I woke up to images in my head of there being a thick layer of black slime all over the pool!

This morning there was a new black spot on that same wall where most of the others have popped up. I think I need to rub a puck all over that wall as much as I can from the outside.
I still need to do that on the tile grout where I saw spots, too. I just scraped a couple of chunks off the tile grout and of course, some remnants of what I was scraping fell into the water and there was no way I could get it.

Why are new spots still showing up?? Is this stuff ever going to go away?

I have more CYA tester arriving tomorrow so I can verify if that's accurate. I know if it isn't then my chlorine SLAM levels would be off.

*Update:
I rubbed. Chlorine puck on some of the areas, including the tile grout where I've scraped chunks off of. (I went as far down the wall as I could reach down without dunking my head in ).
Another new black spot on that same area popped up in the few hours between me doing that and checking the chlorine.

Obviously the algae isn't dying if it's still forming new spots.

I also switched back to the steel brush. I just don't think the nylon whale brush is going to cut it for this purpose, unfortunately.

 

[Bperry]

Thanks!
WFH helps the ability to keep up on it more than I normally would be able to!

I had a terrible dream last night.. I woke up to images in my head of there being a thick layer of black slime all over the pool!

This morning there was a new black spot on that same wall where most of the others have popped up. I think I need to rub a puck all over that wall as much as I can from the outside.
I still need to do that on the tile grout where I saw spots, too. I just scraped a couple of chunks off the tile grout and of course, some remnants of what I was scraping fell into the water and there was no way I could get it.

Why are new spots still showing up?? Is this stuff ever going to go away?

I have more CYA tester arriving tomorrow so I can verify if that's accurate. I know if it isn't then my chlorine SLAM levels would be off.

*Update:
I rubbed. Chlorine puck on some of the areas, including the tile grout where I've scraped chunks off of. (I went as far down the wall as I could reach down without dunking my head in ).
Another new black spot on that same area popped up in the few hours between me doing that and checking the chlorine.

Obviously the algae isn't dying if it's still forming new spots.

I also switched back to the steel brush. I just don't think the nylon whale brush is going to cut it for this purpose, unfortunately.

Got a picture of these spots? Something doesn’t sound right with that. You shouldn’t have to brush hard at all, but it doesn’t hurt as long as you aren’t taking plaster off.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Got a picture of these spots? Something doesn’t sound right with that. You shouldn’t have to brush hard at all, but it doesn’t hurt as long as you aren’t taking plaster off.

Yes they're just like the attached. I scrubbed the new ones and now it's dark so I can't really get new pics yet.

These were after I brushed them also, so they were a little bigger.

All signs point to black algae because of the chunks I found on the tile grout and turned green when I smooshed them.

I'm using my robot vacuum vs the manual one. I stink at using the manual one. Is that an issue?

Also note, the whole wall in that area and some others, looks awful. Discolorations and one spot is quite brown. Some "yellowy" looking areas that's not just run of the mill algae because it's not scraping off.

 

[Bperry]

Yes they're just like the attached. I scrubbed the new ones and now it's dark so I can't really get new pics yet.

Those don’t look like any algae spots I’ve see but maybe someone else can comment.

 

[MeowMeow724]

Those don’t look like any algae spots I’ve see but maybe someone else can comment.

Interesting.
They are much smaller there than they were because I had already scrubbed them.

I just took this photo.
That area is the dark spot I've seen, that has some black spots on it, I think... But could just be how it looks in the pic.
The other spots have formed around that general area, high up and down low on the wall.

2 new black spots showed up today.

Note: my phosphate level is 2500 ppb which probably hasn't helped me, especially leading leading up to this.

Is it possible I had/have black AND mustard algae?

I have had yellow colored algae on spots (small areas) that I've brushed off from the to time. I thought it was just run of the mill algae... Now I'm wondering if that's not the case.

 

[Bperry]

Interesting.
They are much smaller there than they were because I had already scrubbed them.

I just took this photo.
That area is the dark spot I've seen, that has some black spots on it, I think... But could just be how it looks in the pic.
The other spots have formed around that general area, high up and down low on the wall.

2 new black spots showed up today.

Note: my phosphate level is 2500 ppb which probably hasn't helped me, especially leading leading up to this.

Is it possible I had/have black AND mustard algae?

I have had yellow colored algae on spots (small areas) that I've brushed off from the to time. I thought it was just run of the mill algae... Now I'm wondering if that's not the case.View attachment 461137

All the black algae I’ve had (the one time
I did) was the size of quarter or larger. Are you sure it’s not some kind of staining?

 

[MeowMeow724]

All the black algae I’ve had (the one time
I did) was the size of quarter or larger. Are you sure it’s not some kind of staining?

I honestly have no idea.
I definitely had black algae on the tile grout, so I suspect it's algae starting on the plaster. Maybe I caught it before it got as big as yours?
I've had the chlorine at 20+ since Oct 31.

But I don't know. When I brush the spots they get a bit smaller but don't completely go away.. there is also a lot of other general discoloration/staining along those walls....

I need to figure this out because it's obviously not going away if the spots keep popping up. And I leave town the middle of next week. I'm scared to see what it will look like when I get back.

How will I be able to determine if it's metals or algae?

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this they may be able to lend?

 

[Bperry]

I honestly have no idea.
I definitely had black algae on the tile grout, so I suspect it's algae starting on the plaster. Maybe I caught it before it got as big as yours?
I've had the chlorine at 20+ since Oct 31.

But I don't know. When I brush the spots they get a bit smaller but don't completely go away.. there is also a lot of other general discoloration/staining along those walls....

I need to figure this out because it's obviously not going away if the spots keep popping up. And I leave town the middle of next week. I'm scared to see what it will look like when I get back.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this they may be able to lend?

If it’s only been 5 days, it’s not been very long. You can try the OCLT and see how that does now. Might give you a clue.

 

[MeowMeow724]

I'm getting some vitamin c tablets today to test on the brown area to see if it's metal staining or not.

I know it's possible since I used the stain remover stuff, and my filter needed to be changed so I think the metal staining that was removed possibly just got re-deposited..
Though I'm also not convinced I don't have black algae, at least on the tile and/or black spots I've seen thus far. I'll report back on the vitamin c test.

 

[MeowMeow724]

I scrubbed a number of vitamin c tablets on the walls and it does have an effect. However, no effect on the black spots.

That at least gives me hope that my plaster can look less cruddy if I do some ascorbic acid treatment and sequestrant. I will probably get the culator also.

Some metal staining makes sense because I have flagstone coping which has lots of iron, and we used to have some Suncast chairs on the sunledge that had screws which started to rust so I took them out.

But, still not sure what the black spots are because the vitamin c didn't do anything to the black spots.

 

[Katodude]

Hi there, black algae is my speciality.

First get a wooden BBQ skewer. Pick at the spots with the skewer. They should come out. If they come out its black algae. The size of the spots does not matter. You can have tiny black algae spots or big ones.

Get a 1 gallon pump sprayer. Put the strongest LC in it you can find. (I buy mine from Leslies, it’s cheap and fresh). Spray the newly picked spots with the high dose LC.

Run you FC at 20% of your CYA level. You dont need to be a full SLAM level for BA.

I would repeat hitting the spots that you removed the BA from with the LC from the pump sprayer daily for a few days.

You will need to keep your FC at the high end of the spectrum. I run at 10-12% of my CYA even though I have a SWG.

South Florida seems very susceptible to BA.

 

[mgtfp]

With the water being colder, having the lower pH tells me my CSI is going to be high scaling potential. (High negative CSI)
My plaster already looks like Crud so I guess it's no biggie at this point.

I raised the TA (and keep it higher) to keep my CSI in range. I'll have to try and find the ideal combo of other chemicals with TA at the lower range. However, I am surprised to hear I should get my TA down as low as 60. At one point I had it at 70 and I was told to bump it, and in order to keep my CSI in good range it was difficult to with TA at the lower range but I will give that a shot. Having to add as much acid as I do will drop it relatively soon anyhow.

It's been a while since you posted that, but I just skimmed through your thread, and this doesn't seem to have been clarified: Above sounds like you have CSI back to front, if I interpret your posts correctly.

Negative CSI means that the water is undersaturated with calcium carbonate, which means that the water will want to get saturated by dissolving calcium carbonate out of the plaster surfaces, i.e. the more negative the CSI, the more corrosive the water to plaster surfaces.

Positive CSI means that the water is oversaturated with calcium carbonate, which means that the water wants to get rid of the excess calcium carbonate by creating scale on all surfaces in contact with the water, i.e. the more positive the CSI, the higher the scaling potential of the water.

CSI zero means that the water is saturated with calcium carbonate.

Reducing pH, TA, CH or temperature all reduce CSI, i.e. reduce the scaling potential.

Increasing pH, TA, CH or temperature all increase CSI, i.e. increase the scaling potential.

With a salt water chlorinator, you want CSI between -0.3 (negative 0.3) and 0, to avoid scaling not only on your plaster, but also inside the SWG cell, where CSI is locally increased around one of the electrode plates because of locally increased pH due to the chemistry of the electrolysis process.

If you already have a scaling problem, then you want to keep your TA rather smaller than higher.