CYA dropped massively at end of SLAM - Halp!
- Thread starter AU Pete
- Start date
No, OCLT pass requirements are independent of CYA. Double check all non-visible areas of the pool for algae (inside the skimmer, inside any ladders if you have any, behind the light, etc). Give it a good brushing, maintain SLAM, and try again tomorrow.
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,293
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Yep, bummer, you need to keep going. Adding 10 ppm CYA will help hold the chlorine through a sunny day, but doesn't affect the overnight reading. Good thing it's a bit cloudy right now, which might help you out a bit.
Ok thanks - will keep going.
We don't have a ladder, but do have 2 lights.
I'm not sure if the front lenses are supposed to be removed at all to clean. I thought I may have seen some air bubbles inside the lens (suggesting theres water inside that outer cover) but I've contacted the manufacturer here to check. If anyone knows for sure what the story is with these let me know
(I've only ever brushed the outside of them)
Aqua-Quip | EVO FG LED Fibreglass
I mean - it looks llke theres slits there for water to enter the outer protective shell - but theres no way I'm unscrewing anything (with water covering them) without knowing for sure
cfherrman
TFP Guide
Many, many, many people found a lot of green sludge inside their lights.
You really need to investigate you fc loss, you will be fighting it untill you find it.
You really need to investigate you fc loss, you will be fighting it untill you find it.
Hi guys. A little late sorry but if I can pipe in?
I had the bad reagent from Clearchoicelabs. CYA standard showed nothing for me.
I contacted clearchoicelabs and they got back to me on the same day, tested their own store of reagent and told me theirs had gone bad. I don't know how long ago you got your cya reagent but it might be worth getting in contact with Clearchoicelabs. They were great. Apologised and sent me out new reagents from a new batch they just made.
I had the bad reagent from Clearchoicelabs. CYA standard showed nothing for me.
I contacted clearchoicelabs and they got back to me on the same day, tested their own store of reagent and told me theirs had gone bad. I don't know how long ago you got your cya reagent but it might be worth getting in contact with Clearchoicelabs. They were great. Apologised and sent me out new reagents from a new batch they just made.
Success! I finally passed the OCLT, and did it 2 nights in a row - so I'm all good.
I had a few missteps along the way so just to add some detail for anyone coming along later doing research:
On the Clear Choice Labs standard:
I contacted them and they're sending a new one out. They apologised and agreed something looked wrong. I can't fault their support - very nice people.
On cleaning behind lights:
With my particular lights, I couldn't remove the covers or lights from their niches for whatever reason. Still waiting to hear back from the manufacturer but I suspect theres a few beads of 'bonus' silastic/sealant inside the cover that is holding the cover on just enough that i cant remove them once screws are removed. At that point I didn't want to use brute force as they looked squeaky clean to be honest. (the lights were only installed 6 or so months ago and i've never had a really bad/green pool). Anyway, I figured I'd do what I can, so I blasted some water into the light 'slits' in the hope of dislodging any algae / membrane, saw a few bubbles fly out so I knew the water was at least being flushed through. I then used a pipette to squirt in some liquid chlorine while the pump wasn't running, and left that sit there for 15 mins. Then flushed again with the hose on jet. I did this 3 times over 3 days. I have no proof this did anything at all or was even required in this case, but I don't think it did any harm.
Here's a pic:
On my CYA level:
After my (and pool store) earlier estimates that CYA was down in the 20-30 range, i then measured it again a few days later and kept getting 40-45. So I don't know what was going on there. It could well have been my testing technique, though I'm pretty anal about being consistent & accurate. Otherwise there may have been something else throwing the results off.
Regardless, towards the end of the SLAM I reset my shock target based on CYA of 45 instead of 25, and that was what I continued with till the end of the SLAM.
On the Privet next door...
Still dropping lots of fine flowers and stuff. I ended up using the skimmer sock - and I think I'll keep that on for a while. It's catching a lot of stuff that would have been otherwise passing through to the filter.
Total SLAM time ended up being 12 days.
Thanks for everyone's help - this really is an amazing resource. Here's a pic:
I had a few missteps along the way so just to add some detail for anyone coming along later doing research:
On the Clear Choice Labs standard:
I contacted them and they're sending a new one out. They apologised and agreed something looked wrong. I can't fault their support - very nice people.
On cleaning behind lights:
With my particular lights, I couldn't remove the covers or lights from their niches for whatever reason. Still waiting to hear back from the manufacturer but I suspect theres a few beads of 'bonus' silastic/sealant inside the cover that is holding the cover on just enough that i cant remove them once screws are removed. At that point I didn't want to use brute force as they looked squeaky clean to be honest. (the lights were only installed 6 or so months ago and i've never had a really bad/green pool). Anyway, I figured I'd do what I can, so I blasted some water into the light 'slits' in the hope of dislodging any algae / membrane, saw a few bubbles fly out so I knew the water was at least being flushed through. I then used a pipette to squirt in some liquid chlorine while the pump wasn't running, and left that sit there for 15 mins. Then flushed again with the hose on jet. I did this 3 times over 3 days. I have no proof this did anything at all or was even required in this case, but I don't think it did any harm.
Here's a pic:
On my CYA level:
After my (and pool store) earlier estimates that CYA was down in the 20-30 range, i then measured it again a few days later and kept getting 40-45. So I don't know what was going on there. It could well have been my testing technique, though I'm pretty anal about being consistent & accurate. Otherwise there may have been something else throwing the results off.
Regardless, towards the end of the SLAM I reset my shock target based on CYA of 45 instead of 25, and that was what I continued with till the end of the SLAM.
On the Privet next door...
Still dropping lots of fine flowers and stuff. I ended up using the skimmer sock - and I think I'll keep that on for a while. It's catching a lot of stuff that would have been otherwise passing through to the filter.
Total SLAM time ended up being 12 days.
Thanks for everyone's help - this really is an amazing resource. Here's a pic:
Attachments
- May 3, 2014
- 58,816
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
Looks great!
When you test CYA, round up to the next highest number on your testing vial. So a 45 (the vial is NOT linear) is a 50.
In fact, when I do the CYA test, I fill the test vial to each line (say 80), glance, if see dot, fill to 70, glance, repeat.
When you test CYA, round up to the next highest number on your testing vial. So a 45 (the vial is NOT linear) is a 50.
In fact, when I do the CYA test, I fill the test vial to each line (say 80), glance, if see dot, fill to 70, glance, repeat.
Has your pool ever been this clear? That is such a pretty pool and area you have there!!
Kim
Kim
Ok - thanks - good plan.
I did see the vial is not linear. I was getting right on 40, or 1-2mm above 40 (ie: much closer to the 40 line than 50), which was why i estimated 40-45 - but yeah, take your point about rounding up to the next line.
thanks! yeah we're very happy with the whole thing - loving the bali hut/shade as i'm not in to baking in the sun all day
and yes, i don't think the water has been this clear before.
I fear I will now be pretty critical about the water quality when visiting other pools!
Pete
- May 3, 2014
- 58,816
- Pool Size
- 6000
- Surface
- Fiberglass
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
- SWG Type
- Pentair Intellichlor IC-40
and 
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,293
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
Beautiful pool! I really like your stone with that colour of blue
By the way, chances are you've picked up sparklypoolitis and it's incurable.
You'll hear hairnets mentioned here for the skimmer basket. I tried and tried but couldn't find them here without the elastic string, and those didn't fit my locking skimmer basket. But the idea is to catch a lot of the floating stuff and make the skimmer basket easier to clean. I could order 1000 of them, but asked the deli lady at Woolies if I could have a few to try, and it didnt work out for me. If it works for you, they're super cheap.
So I then bought knee-high nylons and they work great. $3 or $4 for 8, but I only swap them out about every two weeks or once a month. They fill up like a snake and I've tested and they don't restrict flow measurably. Definitely a time saver when cleaning the basket. The brand called Razza something in a blue box lasts the longest. I got a weird "go away creepy man" stink eye once when I was picking them out, but other than that, all good.
Just some skimmer sock options, and those work well too.
By the way, chances are you've picked up sparklypoolitis and it's incurable.
You'll hear hairnets mentioned here for the skimmer basket. I tried and tried but couldn't find them here without the elastic string, and those didn't fit my locking skimmer basket. But the idea is to catch a lot of the floating stuff and make the skimmer basket easier to clean. I could order 1000 of them, but asked the deli lady at Woolies if I could have a few to try, and it didnt work out for me. If it works for you, they're super cheap.
So I then bought knee-high nylons and they work great. $3 or $4 for 8, but I only swap them out about every two weeks or once a month. They fill up like a snake and I've tested and they don't restrict flow measurably. Definitely a time saver when cleaning the basket. The brand called Razza something in a blue box lasts the longest. I got a weird "go away creepy man" stink eye once when I was picking them out, but other than that, all good.
Just some skimmer sock options, and those work well too.
Thanks all for the kind words - yeah we put a lot of effort into the planning. My wife was actually 'project lead' dealing with contractors and landscape design as the whole thing stressed me out quite a lot. I did build my own deck under the hut though!
Update: Am in the process of carefully lowering the FC back down and very gradually raising the CYA - making sure I don't drop below any FC target levels.
Once you go thru a few weeks of a SLAM, I can see how much motivation there is now to keep the FC right on target and never dropping below the minimum.
Here's another pic - quite distorted from the iPhone panorama feature but anyway... The best part was jumping in the other day with new goggles and WOW - sooo so clear. the blue pool walls were sparkling.
I wish fishtanks were as rules-based as the TFP method! Can't just dump some liquid chlorine into the fishtank to clean it up
Update: Am in the process of carefully lowering the FC back down and very gradually raising the CYA - making sure I don't drop below any FC target levels.
Once you go thru a few weeks of a SLAM, I can see how much motivation there is now to keep the FC right on target and never dropping below the minimum.
Here's another pic - quite distorted from the iPhone panorama feature but anyway... The best part was jumping in the other day with new goggles and WOW - sooo so clear. the blue pool walls were sparkling.
I wish fishtanks were as rules-based as the TFP method! Can't just dump some liquid chlorine into the fishtank to clean it up
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,293
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
That's the one!
Wow, yes, your pool looks beautiful. Deck looks great too. What did they call that stone?
cheers - they're "silver tumbled travertine" pavers - the outer ones are done in a french pattern.
Hi Diomarsa, When did you get you reagent? I have just got mine and its showing zero for cya but I have been adding cya into the pool last few days. I wonder if mine is off?
Hi MissFancyPants. I got mine in January. Check CYA Testing - Not doing it right
One of the guys who works at clearchoicelabs posted in there as well because they are having the issues with the new batch.
One of the guys who works at clearchoicelabs posted in there as well because they are having the issues with the new batch.