Brand new to pool care and feeling overwhelmed

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J

jman28

Member
Jun 17, 2019
23
Sacramento, CA
Hi all,

Have had some bad experiences with pool services so doing it on my own. Got the Taylor K-2006 testing kit and ran tests on my pool water yesterday around 4 or 5PM. In trying to determine FC I had to keep adding a bunch of the powder and still had trouble getting the sample to turn any shade of pink. when I finally got some pink I added two drops of the next reagent before the water turned clear which said there was .4 FC in my sample....but then the water turned pink again. Not sure if I'm doing the test right. My other results ended up being CC = .2 or .4 (can't remember off the top of my head), pH = 8 (took two drops of the reagent to get it down to 7.6), TA = 170, CH = 300, and CYW was less than 30 as I had all of my sample in and could still see the black dot. So there is a lot of algae and dead algae at the bottom of my pool already (why I had to stop the pool service I had as they couldn't seem to clean it) so it makes sense that my FC and CC are so low. Also it seems that the TA and pH seem to go hand in hand with each other so I'm thinking I did those right. At this point I'm kind of confused as to where to go. I'm thinking I need to SLAM my pool in order to kill all the algae in there currently, but where to go after that I don't know. One other problem is apparently the dead algae and slim in my pool was too fine to get filtered by my cartridges so I bout some First Aid (I think is what its called) in order to get that filtered out, but I haven't added any as there is new algae growth. A pool supply company suggested this First Aid stuff to help clear up my pool, but I don't know if it will work. I'm not sure I calculated the total gallons correctly. I took four measurements of the width in different areas and then averaged that out. Took the length from the farthest point to the corner by the steps and then took an average of the depth. My pool is about 3 feet by the steps and then drops to about 5 feet in the middle before dropping down to about 12 or 13 feet at the deep end. Any suggestions or tips or guidance on anything I have done would be greatly appreciated. I have attached a picture of my pool.
 

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Was your FC test done with the 25ML sample or the 10ML sample? If 10, your FC would be 1. If 25, your FC would be 0.4.

Now that we got that out of the way, you need to SLAM. Start by knocking your PH down to 7.2, that should be an easy win. After that, I find it hard to believe there is 0 CYA. My reasoning, in your picture I can make out what appears to be a floater and can only take an educated guess that if you were to open that floater you would find a puck or two. Those pucks add CYA to the water. IF there is no CYA, do an ammonia test before you attempt to add any. To do that, add 10 ppm liquid chlorine to the water and then circulate for 15 minutes. Test the water, if FC is less than 5, add chlorine back to 10 ppm, retest in 15 minutes. Follow this loop until the FC holds above 5. I've never battled ammonia before, but I understand it can be a tough fight as it will consume chlorine almost as fast as you can put it in.

Once you eliminate ammonia from the equation, you need to follow the SLAM process. It is outlined here SLAM - Shock Level and Maintain - Trouble Free Pool
 
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Welcome to TFP! :wave: You're in eh right place. Your K-2006 will serve you well, although if you got the 2006 and not the 2006"C", the bottle are a bit smaller. You may need more refills soon. But for now .......
Yes - SLAM Process. No doubt. Lower the pH to 7.2 first. Then use the sock soaking method to increase CYA to at least 30. You need at least 30 CYA to protect the FC form the SAC sunshine. Once teh sock is in the water, increase FC to "12" which will be your SLAM level until you pass all 3 criteria. Do your best to maintain that FC of 12 until you pass the SLAM. Check fairly frequently at first, then it will hold steady later.

Do not use any Clorox bleach or anything that says splashless or scented. Pool chlorine and regular bleach are the same thing. If you have a HASA refill agency nearby, you can check with them for bargains. Always use our PoolMath tool or APP to help you with the dosages.

After you pass the SLAM, we'll help you with the remaining chemical items. But passing the SLAM Process is #1 right now.
 
No expert here, but I can tell you, you have come to the right place. I was in you same position last year and with the help from the folks on here my pool has been crystal clear and super easy to maintain. Forget the pool companies and stores, they will have you broke in no time....and your pool will still be green.

Sounds like you did the chlorine test correctly, you just dont have any chlorine in the pool which is what turns the solution pink. After getting the solution to turn clear, it will turn back pink on its own...assuming there is chlorine in the water.

The experts on here will chime in shortly and have you on the track you need to be on for a perfect looking pool! This forum will be your friend and lifesaver for the next few weeks.
 
Also, do not add anymore pool store products. Those are generally a waste of time. For your chlorine (FC) test, do it like this:
Use a 10ML water sample size and add one generous scoop pf powder - no more. If it doesn't turn pink, you have no chlorine in the water. After you add that one scoop, mix and count the drops until clear. Divide the result in half. Example - 20 drops equals an FC of 10.
 
Wow, so much great information so soon. Thanks so much everyone. I can get ammonia test strips at a pet store correct? If so, what is an appropriate level of ammonia to have in my pool? That way I will know if ammonia is an issue, or should I just raise my FC to 5 and wait 15 min to test again to determine if ammonia is a problem? I don't smell ammonia coming from the pool, but I'm sure that's not the only way to tell if it's in there.
 
I would simply raise the FC to 10, use PoolMath - Trouble Free Pool to calculate. Circulate for 15 minutes and test. The algae will consume some of it, so don't expect it to test at 10. You're looking for any value above 5. Ammonia will consume the chlorine very quickly if it is present.

I am recommending the ammonia test because you tested 0 CYA. Bacteria can get into the pool and it will consume the CYA and the by-product of that is ammonia. You do not want ammonia in the pool.
 
15 minutes after you dose up to 10 PPM.

FC greater than 5PPM, no ammonia, add CYA via sock method, add muriatic acid to lower PH to 7.2, proceed with SLAM.
FC less than 5PPM, possible ammonia, redose to 10 and test again after 15 minutes. Keep in that cycle until FC holds above 5.
 

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Okay, a little late on this but here's what's happened over the weekend. I used the Pool Math calculator to figure out how much liquid chlorine I'd need to bring my pool FC up to 10. I added that and immediately checked my FC and got the .5 again. So I let it sit for 15 min while the pump ran and checked again. Still .5 on FC. Waited another 15 min and checked again, still .5. I even tested the water where I poured in the chlorine and got .5. Needless to say I was sure I had ammonia. The next day, Friday, after I get home from work I go outside and test my water and get a 1 FC. I'm confused as it didn't take as much of the powder to turn the sample water pink and I'm not getting double the FC. Saturday rolls around and I replace my broken air relief screen on my filter (as the previous pool guy taped it shut) and clean my cartridges that were covered in green "stuff". I then notice that my pump is cycling more water then I've seen it cycle in 5 years and my filter reading is no longer showing I need to clean my cartridges. Yesterday I test my water in the evening after the filter has run its regular schedule and I'm still getting a 1 on my FC reading. But I can see that there is a considerable amount of algae and "gunk" missing from the pool. Is it possible that I don't have ammonia and that my filter needed cleaning to better cycle through the water and with the chlorine that I put in there it killed and filtered a bunch of algae? At this point I'm thinking I should try and bring my water up to 10 FC again, now that my pump and filter seem to be working better, and see what happens. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Again I want to thank all of you for the tips you have given me so far, that overwhelming feeling is going away and is being replaced with hope :)
 
I would keep adding chlorine (bleach) to bring to 10 FC, retesting in 15 mins, and adding until above 5ppm as thetekgeek mentioned upthread. All of the cleaning you did will help out a lot but it doesn't explain why you don't have any FC immediately after adding bleach.

Only other options are misdoing the test or your bleach is so old it doesn't have chlorine in it anymore.
 
jman, I'm not sure you had ammonia since your CC readings never seemed to be extremely high. No matter, your FC is definately low and needs to be increased ASAP. At no time should the FC be at 1 or below, so it's imperative to increase the FC with enough bleach to be sure you can count 20 drops (equals an FC of 10) from pink to clear (10 ml sample size noted above). Remember, in this early SLAM stage, chlorine will get consumed very fast. For example, while the PoolMath tool may say that a pool of a certain size may require 5 gallons of bleach to get to a specific FC level, some of that will get oxidized extremely fast at your first dump. That's why you need to add the bleach with pump on high and test no later than 10 minutes to see if it held. If not, increase right away and keep that going until the FC holds closer to 10. An FC of 10 is your immediate goal.

Once you know the FC is holding, then you can add stabilizer to sure your CYA is a solid 30. From that point forward, increase teh FC slightly more to "12" and follow the SLAM Process page each day for best success.
 
I would even suggest doing the test with the 5ml(1 drop is 1PPM) sample or you will run out of reagent very soon. Have you order replacements yet? For the slam you only need to test FC.
 
Just wanted to say you're in the right place. I'm about an hour's drive North of you and after feeling bamboozled by the local poor store, I found TFP about 3 weeks ago, learned a lot, stopped using the pucks and powder and did a SLAM. Our 16' above ground pool is now sparkling and crystal clear. I also got the Taylor K-2006 and will be adding the K-1001 to it for daily FC and PH testing so I don't use all that powder up.

Here's a before an after to give you more hope.
 

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Okay, second update. I ordered some stabilizer and got 16 gallons of 10% chlorine. So to lower my pH from 8 down to 7.2 I added muriatic acid. After waiting an hour I tested my pH to find it was at 7.0. I think it was because I added an amount based off my TA being at 170 when in fact I was at 140. So I added soda ash to raise the pH to 7.2. I then add chlorine and after 10 min my FC has only increased by .5. Ended up adding about 6 gallons of chlorine and finishing the day with a 1 or 2 FC. got up this morning and tested the pH and saw it was at 7 again. Added soda ash and got it to 7.2. My FC had dropped about .5. Added chlorine testing every 10 min. So as it stands I’m at an FC of 3 and a CC of 5. I’m out of chlorine and with the minimal increase in FC looking to have to get 28 more gallons of chlorine just to get my pool to an FC of 10. That’s not including the chlorine I’ll need t bring it up to 12 and keep it there. Feeling frustrated.
 

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