Frustrated with Cloudy water and ph level

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frogabog, I have the Over the Wall skimmer that comes with the intex metal frame pools but it connects via a hose coming from the bottom of the skimmer to the wall hole that connects to the intake hose which connects to the filter. Here's a picture:
skimmer.png


My pool is close to a very high neighbor tree that has acorns which sometimes fall in the pool but for the most part, the only thing that actually gets in the pool other than people is water beetles! I find like 15 - 20 dead water beetles in my skimmer every morning.

Do any of you know if I'll be able to hook up the new 2650 filter/pump to the same intake/outtake hoses that are on the pool now? Will they still power my skimmer and vacuum? If not, how about a 3rd hose that connects from the old filter to the sand filter - like a 2 filter system. Intake goes 1st to the old cartridge filter, outtakes to the sand filter, which in turn outtakes back to the pool. However, if I do that, I will have to turn off/on both pumps at the same time - meaning either both or none are running (with a schedule).

Shipping status says our new filter will be here in 2 days!

As for the leslies - I didnt go today since i spent to much time at other stores. so i'll still make the online order as soon as i can for the other chemicals.

Thanks again everyone for your help.
 
The new filter should come with all the parts to either hook to the ports you have in the pool now and adaptors for smaller ports if needed. Or you can cut new holes for the larger hose size which allows you to use the adjustable eye that they send.

I'm using the same skimmer as you, and this is the one that I run over the side because the sand filter is attached at the wall ports. At the moment I'm using the adapters that allow you to attach to the smaller ports but I plan to cut the holes and use full size. I think there's a bit of a diminished flow doing it with the adapters actually, and likely am losing part of the power the pump should provide.

I'll take a pic of the setup for you in case you want to do a full time skimmer.

I just went to 5 stores in town looking for stabilizer. We got blasted with sudden sunny skies and both walmarts got hit hard, toys-r-us only sells pools, and k-mart is out. There's almost nothing left on the shelves, certainly not CYA. Pool store (where I got reagents) sells it for $30, and there I was told it would ruin my SWG, so I declined. I ended up at Lowes.

Oh, the connectors for the ports that the sand filter comes with actually have a screw on vacuum hose connector, so either way you can use the vacuum still.
 
I know its been a while but I've been bz. My waters been crystal clear for several days now using only bleach to the pool and daily filter soaks and changes! We got the big 2650 sand pump but need to get another bag of sand to operate it - we'll b doing that tomorrow. We also picked up a used swg today for only $50! I didn't find the pool salt at meijer so I picked up Morton softener salt. I just read it might have additives so I will probably return it & get the solar salt from home depot .

Is there anything else I should do?

Thanks for all the help!
 
Ok, I have one more question that I hope will be answered quickly.

I called the building supply here that sells sand (where we got our sand for UNDER the pool). They sell white silica sand in 80lb bags. Is that good enough for the filter or do i really need the one sold at the store (the HTH pool sand)?

I have already added 1 bag that I got from the pool store for $10 - is it ok to mix the one from the store with the one from the bldg supply or should I empty the bag i already added then just add the whole 80lb bag if its ok to use?

Oh, one more thing - i'm looking for a bigger sturdier ladder on craigslist - some of them say for 'hard walled' pools - can i still use them for the metal frame intex?

thanks again
 
Ok all, I have yet another question! I have a SWG now as well as the 2650 pump and the water is looking great! BUT, i still dont have a salt test kit - does TFP sell something that i need to test for salt or should i purchase those salt water test strips at walmart?

I'm running the 2650 pump on an 8 hr scheduale and the swg on a 7 hr scheduale (partially in the daylight and partially in the dark). I recently increased to 7 hrs from 6 for the swg to bring up the tc a little and started the runtime at 4am instead of 12am so both will run during mostly daylight as recommended by TFP. Now, i just tested my free chlorine (with a test strip becuase i still havnt ordered the chemicals from TFP - but am going to today!), anyway, the strip shows FC to be very high. i'm also seeing some black powder on the bottom (not sure if its dirt or black alge starting).

any ideas

thanks
 
Ok, i'll get the TFT salt test trips. Is there any discount available to new customers for the total order? I intend to purchase the following right now:

Salt Test Strips - Aqua Chek
R-0003 DPD #3 Reagent (for K-2006 or TF100)
R-0870 DPD Powder (for TF-100 and K-2006)
R-0871 (.75 oz) FAS-DPD Titrating Reagent (for K-2006) (is this the same as the 1st reagent i have listed?)
R-0013 CYA Refill - 8 0z.

thanks
 
ummhasan said:
Ok, i'll get the TFT salt test trips. Is there any discount available to new customers for the total order? I intend to purchase the following right now:

Salt Test Strips - Aqua Chek
R-0003 DPD #3 Reagent (for K-2006 or TF100)
R-0870 DPD Powder (for TF-100 and K-2006)
R-0871 (.75 oz) FAS-DPD Titrating Reagent (for K-2006) (is this the same as the 1st reagent i have listed?)
R-0013 CYA Refill - 8 0z.

thanks
Click to expand...

You can support TFP by becoming a lifetime member, which will allow you to take $10 off your TF100. But since you're ordering the reagents only, that doesn't apply. I still haven't used my discount, probably never will because I'll only need reagents in the future.

The reagents you're ordering are all correct, the R-0871 is NOT the same as the R-0003. You do need both. The Taylor refills are smaller than the TFTestkits refills, so consider that when ordering. I bought a 2oz refill of the R-0871 last season and over 2/3 was used. I didn't have a green pool and only shocked/tested for 12 hours the whole season. I don't often use the OTO test, so I guess I could have used less of the reagents if I did but I don't care for it much.

I point this out so you can make an educated judgement about the size of the reagents you purchase. If you have shocking to do at all this season, do splurge for the larger size reagents or you'll run the risk of having to re-order before fall.
 

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Ok so I made the order and in the meantime, I tested my ph, cl, & alklinity tonight to compare to the the tfp recommendations.

My ph seems to be at about 7.7, cl about 5, akl is 100. These I tested with the hth liquid test kit.
I also tested with an aqua chem 6 way strip. The numbers above were pretty much the same. I also got the hardness reading of 250, tc 1, fc 4 or 5, ph about 7.7, cya between 50 & 100.

So, i'm thinking I need to add some baking soda to bring my alklinity down. What about the tc reading?

I also added less than the recommended salt (2 bags less) & intended to go buy more once I read my swg recommended amount BUT, the swg I'd happy so should I leave it at that? The water is crystal clear and feels great!

Thanks
 
TC is never... ever less than FC. That result, in and of itself should tell you something about the test strips accuracy. And CYA between 50 and 100? Somewhere between there I guess... and perhaps you're supposed to guess too because the actual number is lost in space somewhere between 50 and 100. The CYA pad is the worst of the worst for accuracy, unfortunately (I once tested tap water with a strip that showed between 30 and 50ppm... ya right). Do you know how much CYA you added? Go with that value. Don't even look at the test strips, lol.

Right now, don't worry about TA. TA would be the last thing to adjust, after your pool is happy and clean, running smoothly. It should come down a little when you have to add acid to reduce pH. Which could be soon if it rises much. It's fine for now though. I'd let it go and see what happens when the pump is running before adjusting pH. If it rises above 7.8, then it's time to lower it.

If your SWG is happy, leave it alone for now. I tested for salt recently only to find it at 1850, but my SWG seems happy and produces chlorine. Not sure why it works, because it's not "supposed to", but for now I'm not changing things.
 
Lol ok. I looked bask in the posting and found that my cya was 30 last time I tested but since then I added 1/2 a jug of powder or granular stabilizer. I tried to test again with the liquid but I didn't have enough. Based on that, I think it should be about 50.
 
You'll want to raise CYA to 70ppm once you can get a good reading on your CYA. Or, if you're fairly sure you added only enough to get to 50ppm you could just add the next 20ppm and call it good. CYA of 70-85ppm is fine for a SWG so you do have a little room there for error.

If you have already the HTH 6-Way kit, all you really need are the reagents for the FAS-DPD test, the scoop, and a bottle of CYA reagent (8oz - plenty of tests in there) from TFTestkits.net

The link is in my sig (and many others) and when you get there click on refills. There are two choices, TFTestkits refills and Taylor. The Taylor bottles are smaller (.75oz) and a little cheaper than TFTestkits which are actually Taylor reagents in bigger bottles and a much better value but either will do.

You need these reagents:
R-0003
R-0870
R-0871
R-0013
little blue scoop - $.15

All can be had for less than $30 with shipping, so do a little shopping and see how you make out before you decide to plod ahead with strips. You can have a decent kit this way with what you already own.
 
Ok, here's what my results were:

FC 5.5 || TC 5 (the 5 10 mark on the test container) || CC .5 || PH 7.5 || CYA 50 || Salt 2330 (my manual says the target amount is 3000 - my swg is happy)

Soooo.........Should I change anything? I know i need to add more stabilizer once my pump kicks on again but other than that? Thanks
 
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