Colonel mustard behind the stairs?

[kooldecker]

Hey guys ,
first things first lol FC about 18, CYA about 45 PH 8.5 TA 20? ( get to it below)
moved, house has 24 ft above ground pool, just got into opening it. Had to drain most of it because they had CYA of well over 100. I drained 95 %, refilled. everything ”looking “ good , but cant get chlorine and PH in line. Dumped GALLONS of liquid into the pool only to have it eaten up in a matter of a few hours, dumped almost an entire bottle of Muratic so far, and still 8.5 and wont budge. The water was crystal clear, pool bottom and walls were clean as a whistle, and i was stumped, then i pulled those rickety birthday cake stairs from the wall and looked into the large hole into the back into the abyss, and what looked back was scary! It was filled i believe with mustard, it was yellow green, and just disgusting. I started with shoving a vacuum head in there, then a brush, still not satisfied i took the vacuum hose, shoved it into the breathe hole in the stairs, and held it to the jet to pump chlorinated water deep into it and flush it out a bit which seems to have worked, i figure at least this will get fresh water in there with chlorine. I have dumped gallons of liquid and am having trouble getting up to mustard slam FC , and the PH wont budge! Ive never dealt with this beast before, have been lucky with my old pool and now here we are lol. my plan tonight is as follows unless you have better advice ( which is what I’m looking for please)
1) keep adding liquid until i finally get it to mustard slam (24?) keep filter going nonstop
2) forget about PH until chlorine is dealt with ( is it the algae keeping it high? Is it that drastic?)
3) once i get a good overnight , try and work on PH
4) then work on TA
Any help you guys can give I appreciate, this site is always so helpful you guys are always there for each other , thank you in advance!

 

[ajw22]

Stop dumping MA in. pH test is invalid and reads high when FC is above 10. Forget about pH or TA until your SLAM is over and your water is clear and FC below 10.

Have you read...

Mustard Algae

Today We are going to show you how you can get rid of mustard algae in your pool. By following the steps in this guide and with no expensive chemicals.

www.troublefreepool.com

 

[CrystalRiver]

Do you have a set of test results from before you started your SLAM? They're far enough out of whack right now (and you've added so much muriatic) that I think it's a good idea to let FC fall and start over with a fresh set of readings with FC below 10.

Do not attempt to raise your FC to mustard algae levels until after you pass the three end-of-SLAM criteria at normal SLAM levels. Then and only then, you bring FC up to mustard levels for 24 hours only. Keeping FC that high for as long as you propose risks equipment damage.

 

[kooldecker]

no i did not see that Allen but will read it now. Thank you for all that , yes i believe i will do exactly that and start over . Thank you guys. I felt like i was on some sort of crazy cycle , did not know about the PH test not working past 10 FC, god i was spinning my wheels for sure. Thank you again and I’ll keep posting as i go . I feel like i c an relax a little.

 

[kooldecker]

Actually one question, I’m thinking i need to let FC go down, then do PH , get it down to 7.2 according to slam rules, then proceed with slam? Thanks again for your help

 

[ajw22]

Actually one question, I’m thinking i need to let FC go down, then do PH , get it down to 7.2 according to slam rules, then proceed with slam? Thanks again for your help

Let the FC get down below 10 and check the pH and TA.

7.2 is not a magic number. If your pH is between 6.8 and 7.4 then proceed with the SLAM Process. If the ph is above 7.4 then lower it to 7.2.

If your pH is below 6.8 or TA below 50 then post the results and lets talk.

 

[kooldecker]

Ch went down to 9.8 , Ph is still at 8.4 , and TA went down to 47. Figuring tomorrow after work i should start on the PH? I keep wondering if the algae is raising it, like i said before i never dealt with it luckily in the past, and obviously im back in a learning curve. Should i start adding more acid at this point?
Thank you again for all your help

 

[ajw22]

What test kit are you using to get pH at 8.4 and TA of 47?

 

[kooldecker]

using a color q 7

 

[kooldecker]

Update...... TA 98 CH 6.99 PH 7.6
still tweaking, but have to quit for the night as work calls, getting up at 2am is early no matter how you look at it. I had kind of an AHA moment and was trolling around looking at threads for PH down problems. And it hit me that it may be extremely high, but I’m only locked at 8.5 because thats what the limits of my meter are,,,,,,so i added a bit more and saw 8.4, added some more and got 7.6. Thank goodness lmao. It’s not what i want yet but tomorrow is a new day and at least i know I’m in the ballpark for problem one. Also i think the 47 TA may have been my fault lol,,,, i was running sample water diluted 50% when the Cl was high because it only reads 10 lol. Whoops! Well if thats the worst thing that happens this week I’m golden i tell ya! Going to check Cl again before work to see if i have any loss and ill post results. It’s not over yet but thank you for your help so far !