Complete green algae

[Newdude]

Too many of their tests have proven to be all over the place that we don’t trust the occasional one that *might* be close to right.

Getting the CYA right is huge. You may have to drain a good portion of your pool and after filling will have totally different #s to treat. We’ve seen a bunch that needed to drain 50% or more according to Leslies and our tests said no draining was needed. Again, that’s HUGE.

We just don’t know yet. Keep adding the FC to help in the meantime.

 

[shwn2405]

While I'm waiting for test kit, just wanted to share the results from latest pool store test if anything that we can do while we wait for TF-100 results.

Nothing! add 1 gallon of liquid chlorine per day until the kit comes in!

 

[wireform]

As tempting as it may be any unused algecide return if you still can. You'll never ever get advised here to use it. Every single one of us was at some point was where you're now but stuck it out as a no resort cuz the pool store couldn't make it happen. The proven science here works every time. Just 2 weeks ago I turned around an 14.5k AGP in 9 days from swamp green to crystal clear because I was taught the fundamentals of pool care right HERE. Read through the forums to find similar troubled members and the outcomes. Best of luck.

 

[duade]

This thread is like a bad crash. But you cant stop looking....

 

[remoking]

atleast it feels better to know that I'm not the only one to have a green pool, haha

 

[poolnoobgrandma]

Yep, we see it hundreds of times a year. People are at their wits end and have tried pool store advice, family advice, etc. Each of those trips cost lots of $ and we get that you can be leery of a bunch of internet people asking you to spend more.

If it makes you feel any better, the pool test kit is the most expensive thing to buy for your pool and will pay for itself in the fact that you do not have to walk into a pool store again. I get 100% of my pool supplies from Walmart, Lowes, and Home Depot and each of those trips is well under $50 since I just buy liquid chlorine ($4 gallon), muratic acid ( $5 gallon), and the occasional bag of calcium or CYA at $10 each.

I'm two years into pool ownership. I started out here. Got my test kit, and have never been in a pool store. Salt water chlorine generator takes care of most of my chlorine needs, with occasional boosts from liquid chlorine (from Home Depot). We keep pH in line with muriatic acid (also from home depot). CYA and baking soda from Amazon. And that's it. You've come to the right place, and the information, advice, and helpful experts will see you to a beautiful, sparkling pool if you hang around.

Best of luck!!

 

[Orion7319]

While I'm waiting for test kit, just wanted to share the results from latest pool store test if anything that we can do while we wait for TF-100 results.

The thing is you can’t rely on that test at all. The numbers in that test make absolutely no sense with what’s going on in your pool. For example TA and PH are effected by one another. Your TA buffers the PH so it can’t drop below a certain point. Those test results say you have a PH of 7.9 and a TA of 58 correct? And you have dumped in lots of acid into the pool. Unless you have a salt water generator and a lot of water features that keep the water churning all the time, those numbers shouldn’t look like that. As far as all the money you have spent so far in chemicals for this pool here is a thought that should cheer you up. Following the methodology here (and because I have a salt water generator) So far this year I have spent $0.00 on chemicals. I’m still going though chemicals I had from last year. So far I added 4 pounds of dichlor shock that I had when I opened the pool (my stabilizer was low so shock was OK to use) 2 bags of salt that I had from last year, 4 pounds of stabilizer(CYA) that I had from last year and right around half a gallon of Muriatic acid I had from last year… and also just a few pounds of Cal-Hypo while I was figuring out my relatively new salt cell. Point is that if you follow this methodology, once your pool is cleaned up and balanced correctly, you don’t really have to spend much at all on chemicals…. You can spend it on pool robots instead so you can be even lazier with your pool maintenance!

 

[GenericHbomb]

While I'm waiting for test kit, just wanted to share the results from latest pool store test if anything that we can do while we wait for TF-100 results.

If this is accurate, CYA of 77 is too high. You need to get that down to 30-40. Issue you will have when SLAMMING is such a high cya will require a ton of chlorine, and the SLAM process already requires a lot.

That means you will need to drain some water off and replace it.

Need to start there otherwise you will literally be flushing money onto your lawn.

 

[wireform]

Do nothing except 5ppm chlorine each day till the kit arrives then do the full test and post them right here for your personal guidance to begin.

 

[NowintersinAZ]

atleast it feels better to know that I'm not the only one to have a green pool, haha

I just got done with yellow algae last month and you can see how my pool ended up afterwards Here Trust the people here they will help you get a clear pool and in the process you will learn how to take care of your pool with out all the chemicals from the pool store.

 

[CraigChing]

How can free chlorine at 0.4 be a hazard (which we agree) but total chlorine of 1.4 is a green check?

 

[superuser]

Because pool store.

 

[JohnGn]

Also, and I think this is important for you to know going forward, CYA is measured on a log scale, and any test result saying you have a CYA level of "77" is quite literally just made up. The advice here at TFP is to always just round up and use that number for your FC/CYA ratios. The biggest thing I learned is that the higher your CYA levels, the higher your FC needs to be to keep critters from growing and to keep the water safe. Yes, draining water and refilling will definitely reduce your CYA levels, but don't do anything until you get your test kit. I have a 19,000 gal pool and it would have been quite costly for me to simply drain half the water and refill back when my CYA was 90. I just let nature take its course (backwashes, partial hose fill, rain fill, winter snowmelt, etc.) and I stopped using the powder shock/pucks, and my CYA dropped naturally. Anyway, the more you read on this forum the better educated you will be about what really matters.

 

[Tcadwall0]

I recently posted on the difference between what the pool store 'guessed' (with fully automated testing) what my CYA was and what it really was. And while this is still to me the hardest test on the kit, I could have made big mistakes based on their report. What really concerns me is their report seems to imply that CYA up to well over 100 is acceptable. If you have a SWG, then 70 is good. but if you dont that is too high. No matter what - it isnt acceptable to be over 100. but really - you have to test it yourself (when you get your kit) to get good results.

 

[remoking]

finally! I just got my toolkit delivered, should I just follow instructions in the kit or do you recommend any specific test with instructions, like a video?

 

[mknauss]

Test Kit Directions

TF-100's YouTube Channel

 

[remoking]

Thank you mknauss

 

[remoking]

Ok, here are the test results and I hope I got some of it right.

Cyanuric acid 7 drops *10 = 70
Calcium hardness 23 drops * 10 = 230
Total alkanility 11 drops * 10 = 110
Free Chlorine = the water didn't become clear from 5 - 10 drops * 0.5, I can't really be sure what the level is
TC= 5 drops *0.5 = 2.5

I've attached some images to help with this test.

 

[JJ_Tex]

Cyanuric acid 7 drops *10 = 70

Double check this one. CYA is a bit of an oddity, but there are no drops involved. You simply fill up the squeeze bottle with the solution and pool water, then you fill up the cylinder until the black dot at the bottom disappears.

You have a picture of the cylinder in one of your pictures and the line is between 50 and 60. Is that where the black dot disappeared? If so, round up and call your CYA 60.

 

[JohnGn]

For the FC test, you keep adding drops until the water is no longer pink, swirling after each drop. With high FC levels, you may end up adding like 20-30 drops, especially during a SLAM.

For the CC test (I think you're calling it TC), you added 5 drops of the reagent, then if it turns pink again, you count the number of drops of the R-0871 reagent you need to add to clear the pink again. A CC of 2.5 would indicate that you have a pretty healthy algae growth taking place.

Also, the CYA test results seem to not be correct. Adding just 7 drops of the CYA reagent+pool water mixture to the CYA viewing tube would not even bring the water level up to the 100 mark. And, the photo you are showing indicates a CYA of maybe 50 or 60. CYA is not determined by counting drops. It's visual.

What's your pH?