Hello! This is my second year using the TFP method. Last year we opened late and it took 17 long days to SLAM. You all helped me tremendously. So this year I figured - I've got this! It'll be a piece of cake! Well after opening 14 days ago, I started the SLAM 6 days ago (timing wasn't working out to start sooner). Our pool has been sparkly clean for that entire time, I have been brushing with a magic eraser all of the nooks and crannies and ones I missed last year (and day 1 found some algae and wiped it away, but since then, just some microscopic amounts here and there), brushing 1-2x a day, running the robot, skimming, and chlorinating hopefully about 4-5 times per day. I don't know why the OCLT still hasn't worked. The last two nights I've lost 2 and 1.5 respectively. The only thing I can think of is that there were black stains all over the vinyl liner when the pool was opened (we have a mesh safety cover). This happened last year as well. Some look sort of like snake shaped lines, some are perfectly round, some are long, short, some are big wide shmears of black/grey stains. By now, after all this LC I'm dumping in, the stains are about 98% gone. Only I can tell where they were. So these appear to be organic stains to me, and last year after awhile they all faded away as well but it was after the SLAM was complete.
My question is - could these organic stains be the cause of my SLAM not finishing? The water temp is about 70, the weather has been cool in the 60s. Next week it warms up and I want to be done with this by then.
I will attach pictures for reference of what these stains used to look like.
My levels are:
FC: 12-14 (I'm holding it between 12 and 14 during the SLAM - some of my LC I got at Home Depot was pretty old but I didn't have any alternatives so I'm trying to make sure I have enough LC in there)
CC: 0
pH: 7.4 (pre-slam)
CYA: 30 (although it rained a TON and I had to drain some of the pool, so this might be closer to 20 by now and I haven't re-tested)
TA: 50
CH: 175
I felt like I would totally have this done in no time, and it isn't happening. There doesn't appear to be dead algae on the bottom of the pool, especially compared to last year, but when I run the vacuum, I am getting some small quantities of beige colored particles that it picks up. So maybe there is algae? There isn't anywhere left to brush - I've cleaned the weir doors as well. Or would the organic matter turn into dead matter? I'm confused! Thanks! Julie
My question is - could these organic stains be the cause of my SLAM not finishing? The water temp is about 70, the weather has been cool in the 60s. Next week it warms up and I want to be done with this by then.
I will attach pictures for reference of what these stains used to look like.
My levels are:
FC: 12-14 (I'm holding it between 12 and 14 during the SLAM - some of my LC I got at Home Depot was pretty old but I didn't have any alternatives so I'm trying to make sure I have enough LC in there)
CC: 0
pH: 7.4 (pre-slam)
CYA: 30 (although it rained a TON and I had to drain some of the pool, so this might be closer to 20 by now and I haven't re-tested)
TA: 50
CH: 175
I felt like I would totally have this done in no time, and it isn't happening. There doesn't appear to be dead algae on the bottom of the pool, especially compared to last year, but when I run the vacuum, I am getting some small quantities of beige colored particles that it picks up. So maybe there is algae? There isn't anywhere left to brush - I've cleaned the weir doors as well. Or would the organic matter turn into dead matter? I'm confused! Thanks! Julie
