First SLAM - need reassurance

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Jenrudolph1

Jenrudolph1

Bronze Supporter
Sep 26, 2020
17
Crystal Lake, IL
Hello

I have been in my first SLAM since last Tuesday. It hasn’t gone how I expected - I seem to be able to maintain my SLAM level the majority of the time with the the occasional large plummet (my target SLAM FC is 20 and it stays mostly between 19 and 20; yesterday I saw a 6ppm drop in 4 hours so I’m hoping that was the algae “giving in” LOL)

I am brushing 3-4 times per day, backwashing as needed, vacuuming twice per day, and checking levels every 3 hours other than overnight. One bonus of Work From Home

Yesterday and today we can see the bottom fairly well and there are clumps of algae. I am hoping that means it’s dying and dropping to the bottom but it’s still very green. For the first time our vacuum filter was dark green coming out of the pool. I had expected dead algae to be grey? Also, it is accumulating mostly below the return jets which seems odd.

Our sand filter is 21 years old and likely needs a good cleaning. As soon as I can find an O ring to have on hand (we anticipate the original is in there and may crumble when we open it), we are going to deep clean the sand.

We have removed our ladder and water came out of the tubes (it wasn’t green). Is it safe to set the ladder on the floor of the shallow end for 24 hours to kill what may be hiding? Will we damage our liner? or is there a better way to clean that?

Please reassure me we are on the right track and the fact the clumps are green doesn’t mean it’s not dying. I’m not in a hurry - my guess is we “may” be clear by this next weekend. But I don’t want to be missing something that I’m not doing correctly.


photos of the pool Day 3 (forgot to get a day 1 pic), today, and our vacuum filter after cleaning this morning.
3DF488E7-CBF7-407A-ACFC-E74351307D7F.jpegBF4B346A-0013-4833-92B5-B41F270F4D7A.jpeg8555138F-C5DB-4872-A14E-829BEA402591.jpeg
 
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I think you have made great progress and you are doing all the right things.
With regard to the ladder, I would keep it out of the pool. Suggest you make a small bucket of LC and water and clean it thoroughly and set it out in sun to dry. Try to pour some into the tubes as well.
 
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Keep up the good work 👍🏻
be sure to check light niches, skimmer throats, weirs, drain covers etc. Leave no cranny unchecked.
 
Happy So Excited GIF


Here is the deal Miss Jen. You. Are. Killing. It. Literally, figuratively……. Across the board. You want reassurance???? You got it.

You are hitting the FC hard and just as importantly, often. You are brushing like a mad woman and breaking the biofilm that algae grows to protect itself from the harsh environment. Sometimes you’ll stir enough up that it eats more FC. Don’t get discouraged. You had the right idea when you saw the unexpected loss. There was more that needed killing and you did !!!

Rest assured that it didn’t go green in a day and it takes time to undo it all. Your vigilance has paid off in a huge way. You’d be 10 steps back still if you hadn’t done as much as you have.

The ladder is easiest to leave out and make a 10:1 mix of bleach that will be user friendly for you. Make sure to get all the nooks and crannies under the ladder steps. While you’re at it get the skimmers good also all up in there. The foam on the weir door can be green at times too. Every inch is suspect until it isn’t.

You got this.
 
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Newdude said:
Happy So Excited GIF


Here is the deal Miss Jen. You. Are. Killing. It. Literally, figuratively……. Across the board. You want reassurance???? You got it.

You are hitting the FC hard and just as importantly, often. You are brushing like a mad woman and breaking the biofilm that algae grows to protect itself from the harsh environment. Sometimes you’ll stir enough up that it eats more FC. Don’t get discouraged. You had the right idea when you saw the unexpected loss. There was more that needed killing and you did !!!

Rest assured that it didn’t go green in a day and it takes time to undo it all. Your vigilance has paid off in a huge way. You’d be 10 steps back still if you hadn’t done as much as you have.

The ladder is easiest to leave out and make a 10:1 mix of bleach that will be user friendly for you. Make sure to get all the nooks and crannies under the ladder steps. While you’re at it get the skimmers good also all up in there. The foam on the weir door can be green at times too. Every inch is suspect until it isn’t.

You got this.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the great words of support! I'm trying... I just don't want to miss anything.

It's not odd that the accumulation of algae clumps is below the jets? On my last test I had a bunch of it accumulated again after cleaning this morning. I was thinking maybe that's the weakest water movement in the pool and that's why but I also worry that it's blowing out the jets and dropping there....

6573527E-C3C1-4C83-9F64-3156029D3745.jpeg
 
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Jenrudolph1 said:
How do you check the drain cover? As a non-swimmer (yeah, don't laugh), I'd have to have my husband do that and would need details of "how" before I ask him to.
Click to expand...
When u have good visibility of the drain take a pic of it & we’ll get the brain trust on it . Some just have a screw or two. If you can’t get it off you can always go the “squirt it with bleach” route.
It takes multiple filter cycles to filter out dead algea. You can do some vacs to waste on the biggest clumps if you can stand to lose the water. I would bet u have some channeling/clumping in the filter media going on so things should get better after u deep clean the sand filter.
Here’s the write up for easy access 👇

Deep Cleaning a Sand Filter

This post will walk you through the anatomy of a sand filter, and then provide a video at the end for how to deep clean your sand filter. The filter used in the photos and videos is a Hayward S180T top mount sand filter. The images are of a similar filter. Obviously not all filters are...
www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
 
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^^^^^^^ right there above. :) It takes some time and effort like everything else. Hopefully the deep clean gets the gunk out for good.
 
Thought I'd update you guys who have been so helpful! Things have been improving daily, but we were still getting the green "fluff" at certain spots in the pool. Yesterday we deep cleaned the sand filter. I must say we were surprised it was not in as bad shape as we expected it to be! We are proof that sand lasts indefinitely as this filter is 21 years old and I would guess it's never been changed. We got a lot of sludge out, but nothing solid like I expected to see.

But, this morning and throughout the day.... WOW!!! Our pool has NEVER looked this sparkly! Nothing green on the pool floor this morning.

I will be checking our OCLT and our CC levels tonight/tomorrow to see if we may be done SLAMMING, but I definitely think we are on the right track! This is day 14 of keeping the FC at 20.

So @Newdude @Mdragger88 and @mknauss (who pushed me into realizing we NEEDED to SLAM on another post!), THANK YOU!!! This site is the best!

IMG_9815.jpg
 
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Jenrudolph1 said:
But, this morning and throughout the day.... WOW!!! Our pool has NEVER looked this sparkly! Nothing green on the pool floor this morning
Click to expand...
That pic angle is the loooooooooooooong way to spot any cloudiness. And it’s lookin MIGHTY fine so hopefully you are there / almost there.

Trust your testing. It will tell you what your eyes can’t see / don’t see yet, giving you plenty of heads up going forward. (y)
 
Great job!
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