Bleach vs Chlorinating Liquid

[Canucklehead]

Hi all,

Such a great forum. I found the answer to my first question in an old thread: Chlorinating liquid 10.3% is pretty much the same as Concentrated Bleach 8.25%, but 25% stronger. Should have been obvious, maybe.
A recent missive from TFP cautioned against using Bleach with Chloromax. May cause foaming.
Question: can I assume, if I'm not seeing foaming, is there any reason I should not keep using Concentrated Bleach with Chloromax?
Thanks!

 

[Newdude]

Hey CH !! All pools have a different threshold. You may get away with 25 gallons and somebody else only can use 6. We don’t know how much you can use, but if you use enough…. You’ll wish you didn’t.

 

[Rich807]

My question out of curiosity is has anyone reported getting foam in their pool from using it?

 

[Newdude]

My question out of curiosity is has anyone reported getting foam in their pool from using it?

Absolutely. That’s how we know. We can’t tell you how many gallons will make you foam. We *can* tell you if you use exactly enough to foam, it will.

 

[Canucklehead]

Okay thanks folks. I'll stick with the "Chlorinating Liquid".
One of the reasons I asked the question is that I was wondering if Bleach is somewhat more effective than Chlorinating Liquid.
Apparently not, but we have an issue right now with patchy fine algae on the floor of the otherwise pristine pool.
FC is 7.5 - I boosted it 3 days ago because we were going to be away a couple of nights. pH is 7.5 and CYA is just under 30. I can't vacuum and backwash right now because I've just added another 200 gm of CYA and must wait a week before backwashing, right?

 

[mknauss]

I've just added another 200 gm of CYA and must wait a week before backwashing, right?

How did you add it?

200 grams of CYA will add 2.4 ppm CYA to your pool. That is not significant.

 

[Canucklehead]

Thanks MK. The 200gm CYA was added via a sock in the skimmer, and dissolved over the past 3 days. I was purposely keeping the dose low, having been warned about overshooting with CYA. I had also placed 5 or 6 pucks in a puck caddy, so concerned I was about the FC level dropping during our 3 days absence. That gave me additional anxiety about bumping the CYA too high.
When you say that 200gm of CYA is not significant, are you saying it's such a small amount I can go ahead and vacuum/backwash/rinse? Or are you saying that I should add a larger dose to increase the CYA above 30, and that will get rid of the patchy brown algae? I don't think CYA has any direct effect on algae, I'm just confused about the underlying meaning on your comment.
Any further advice about the patchy brown algae?

 

[mknauss]

The test for CYA is at best +/-10 ppm. Adding 2.4 ppm of CYA will not be seen on a test.
If you dissolved the CYA using the sock method, there is no reason to wait on a backwash. You will lose the normal amount you would lose with the water you send to waste.
Follow the SLAM Process to eradicate your algae.

 

[Canucklehead]

Thanks for the quick and helpful reply.

 

[Canucklehead]

Finally getting around to the SLAM, having put it off for 2 weeks due to being away from home.
I thought that I had read last time I SLAMmed, that one should leave the summer cover off the pool until the SLAM is complete. Upon re-reading the SLAM procedure, it appears that I'm mistaken.
Any recommendations? Is the high FC level inclined to break down a vinyl cover?
Thanks!

 

[ajw22]

Finally getting around to the SLAM, having put it off for 2 weeks due to being away from home.
I thought that I had read last time I SLAMmed, that one should leave the summer cover off the pool until the SLAM is complete. Upon re-reading the SLAM procedure, it appears that I'm mistaken.
Any recommendations? Is the high FC level inclined to break down a vinyl cover?
Thanks!

You want the cover off and give the pool time to breath during the SLAM process and the suns UV burn off the CC that will be created.

 

[Canucklehead]

Okay thanks. Good to know.

 

[redmaxx]

Hey CH !! All pools have a different threshold. You may get away with 25 gallons and somebody else only can use 6. We don’t know how much you can use, but if you use enough…. You’ll wish you didn’t.

I have a 6k gallon pool and I used around 8 jugs over a couple of days of disinfecting Clorox with Chloromax. It turns out, Chloromax is an older antibacterial, a derivative of chloroquine. By itself it shouldn't cause foaming, but there are formulations of Chlorox bleach with Chloromax AND foaming agents. So I'd go ahead and use the Chloromax, it's working for me anyway.