First test

[ozdave]

Hi All, Have just made the switch from pool shop testing to a Clear Choice test here in Australia and performed my first test.

My readings are as follows and am keen for some input. Currently looks like I just need to add some CYA

FC - 4.5
CC - 0.5
PH - 7.8 (but could be higher as this is as high as the kit I have goes)
TA - 75
CH - 525
CYA - 30 or less? CYA is one of my questions. I can still see the dot at the bottom of the viewing tube with my test sample but there is a test sample provide in the kit and i can see the dot with that as well.
Salt - 4800 (seems high, we have had a bit of rain lately and I have back washed some out, haven't added salt in probably 6+ month - perhaps i've been over salting based on the pool shop?)
CSI - .16 (but i am guessing the water temp at 26C)

My water is nice and clean and clear.

Thanks for the guidance!

 

[ozdave]

Also I forgot to to mention that I do have some calcium deposits that have formed over the last couple years. The pool shop never had an answer for this so keen to understand if there is something I can do to stop them (and remove the ones I have)

 

[mknauss]

Welcome to the forum!
Your test results look great. Have you read Recommended Levels?
CYA test is a challenge. Try the following next time ==
Once you have your solution ready, back to the sun, etc. Fill the vial to a line, say 80, lower the vial to your waist level and glance for the dot, you see it, add solution to the 70 line, glance, see it, repeat until you no longer see it with a glance. Then use the CYA value one step above the line you read. So if you stopped at 50, use 60 ppm CYA.
The vial is in logarithmic scale. So it is not viable to interpolate between the lines. Just use the whole numbers, such as 50, 40, 30, ....

Your CH is not all that high so your calcium deposits should not be growing very quickly. Try lowering your pH and keeping your CSI in the -0.3 range for awhile. Use a pumice stone to remove the existing calcium.
I suggest you read ABC's of Pool Water Chemistry.

 

[ozdave]

Thanks for the feedback, I've had a read of the chemistry pages but will need to go through the Recommended levels in more details.