Getting the Frogs Out, Kids In

[kimkats]

Tap, tap, tap, tap all around the top of the filter with a rubber mallet with the pump off please :angel: Just walk around and around tapping as you go.

Yeah there was no way you were going to get that mess cleaned up-----ewwwwwwww to the max. Job well done by all!

Now we need to see about fixing that slide!!! Well I guess we do need to get the filter going first LOL

Kim

 

[HiddenRiver]

This is so weird...........two are talking as if they can see those pics but two others and myself cannot see them! How are you sharing them?

Kim

I can’t see them either—looking on my phone. Could that be the difference?

 

[Casey]

I'm not sure what's going on with the photos and why they're not showing for some people. I haven't figured out how to fix it yet.

In the mean time, here's a link to all of them on google photos. Pool Photos - Google Photos

Here is the link to pics incase someone skimmed over it.

 

[kimkats]

They are worth clicking on! The difference is awesome. What a great pool it ended up being!! WOW!

Kim

 

[spoonman]

Consider getting a Kritter Skimmer for your pool. I bought one and highly recommend. It helps trapped frogs, mice, etc to escape from your pool. Has saved countless critters in my pool. May want to get one for any frogs that head back to your pool after the cleanup.

 

[Xentex]

Good idea on the critter skimmer. I felt a little guilty about the frog genocide I committed with the trash pump. Not sure how many got sucked through there, but there were enough in there that I gave up trying to catch and release after a couple dozen.

After I started refilling the pool I left for a few hours and came back and there was a frog swimming around in there. So I put my boots on and went down there and got him out and walked him down to the woods to set him free. I felt like that was the least I could do after killing off his extended family. The second I made it back to the pool from the woods I noticed another one swimming around in there. That's when it occurred to me they just keep coming back. So, yeah, I think some kind of frog escape route is in order. I guess i just have to decide between the one built into the lid of the skimmer or the ones that hang in from the side of the pool.

 

[Chris19D]

Can't wait to see this pool with TFP blue water!

 

[spoonman]

I have the slimmer lid type. I no longer find dead mice in my skimmer.

 

[Dirk]

I find frogs in my skimmer on rare occasions. They're always alive. I fish 'em out, throw 'em a few bucks, and they hop on their merry way. I check my skimmer daily, that might be why I don't have this issue. They never thank me, though. Not sure what that's about...

 

[Xentex]

Pool full, water clear at the moment, kids feeling excited. I know half the world won't be able to see that photo below, but here's the kids first steps into the pool. It's come a long way in a week. Also added to the google photo album here: Pool Photos

Main motor is on its last legs, so that will be replaced shortly after I get the chemicals right. Haven't even tested yet, but given that it's all straight from the city water hose I know about what to expect. I got the first sock full of CYA in yesterday, but I reckon I have about 12 pounds to go. Luckily for me the filter looked fine inside after three years of non-use, and after adding 12 lbs of earth (per instructions somebody wrote on the controller) it's running fine around 15 psi.

Now I just have to get the CYA and chlorine in before it starts going green on me!

 

[kimkats]

Happy kids right there! LOVE it! When are they going to get to swim?

We call adding salt "Diamond Day" for the kids. They love to swim through it and help it mix it. It looks like "diamonds" under the water. Fun and easy way to mix it in.

You did a great job. It must feel good to look out and see it!

Kim

 

[riley00dog]

Thanks for adding the link to your google album as I still can’t view your inserted photos. The difference is incredible! It looks fabulous and clean. Two very excited kids there! Makes it all worthwhile.

 

[Casey]

With all the knowledge you've gained, that pool is going to bling out your back yard! All the neighborhood kids are going to be there this summer and that is a good thing because your kids will be home with you and you can keep a close eye on them! That's always a great thing! I remember having the neighborhood kids at my house and they had pools but not a TFP pool like we had.

 

[Dirk]

Pool looks fantastic! But which pool? Is it just me? I can't figure out what I'm looking at. I can see the first and last pictures you posted. In the first, the pool looks half "regular:" coping, edge tile, etc. and the other half looks to be a sort of beach entry edge, with no coping or tile, and the deck slopes into the water. But in the last picture, and all the others you posted, all I see is coping and edge tile going all the way around. I see the slide in both pool "versions" and the spa in some of them. Was that not a beach entry in that first pic? The pic that has the cover still draping across the middle of the pool?

 

[ptxAggie08]

Pool looks fantastic! But which pool? Is it just me? I can't figure out what I'm looking at. I can see the first and last pictures you posted. In the first, the pool looks half "regular:" coping, edge tile, etc. and the other half looks to be a sort of beach entry edge, with no coping or tile, and the deck slopes into the water. But in the last picture, and all the others you posted, all I see is coping and edge tile going all the way around. I see the slide in both pool "versions" and the spa in some of them. Was that not a beach entry in that first pic? The pic that has the cover still draping across the middle of the pool?

I was having trouble with that as well. It is not a beach entry pool. The first pic just has the cover on it, and the water had drug the cover down so much that it appeared to be a beach entry pool.

 

[Dirk]

I was having trouble with that as well. It is not a beach entry pool. The first pic just has the cover on it, and the water had drug the cover down so much that it appeared to be a beach entry pool.

OK, duh, I see it now. He peeled the cover back, not gathered it in the middle. Ha, looked just like concrete to me.

Still an amazing pool and transformation. Like diggin' a hole in your yard for something and finding a pot of gold that just needed a little polishing. So cool, it's a pool now!!

 

[x Wild Bill x]

Wow, great job on the transformation! I noticed you said you put 12lbs of D.E. in the filter, that seems like a lot of earth for a filter. In one of your pictures of your equipment, it shows a label on the Purex Titan 2000 Filter and lists amounts of D.E. in pounds, the largest filter on the tag requires 7.2lbs not 12lbs. You may want to do some research and make sure you have the correct amount of earth in your filter.

 

[BattleOfYakima]

WOW! Thank you for uploading the pictures and sharing the link! Great job! We're so glad we were able to be part of your transformation! Any questions right now? Any words of encouragement for the pool owners that come to TFP and read your thread and see your pictures?

 

[Xentex]

Wow, great job on the transformation! I noticed you said you put 12lbs of D.E. in the filter, that seems like a lot of earth for a filter. In one of your pictures of your equipment, it shows a label on the Purex Titan 2000 Filter and lists amounts of D.E. in pounds, the largest filter on the tag requires 7.2lbs not 12lbs. You may want to do some research and make sure you have the correct amount of earth in your filter.

Thanks, good tip! I went with the 12 lbs because there is a note written on the controller with instructions on how to backwash and re-fill the filter. It says 12 lbs, so I went with that. But I'll do some more research and see what I can figure out.

 

[Xentex]

OK, duh, I see it now. He peeled the cover back, not gathered it in the middle. Ha, looked just like concrete to me.

Still an amazing pool and transformation. Like diggin' a hole in your yard for something and finding a pot of gold that just needed a little polishing. So cool, it's a pool now!!

Ahhh, yes. Sorry, it didn't occur to me that the photos weren't clear. When somebody said "beach entry" and talked about sand I had no idea what any of that meant so I didn't reply.

What was going on with the earlier pictures is that there was a ton of water and basically silt/mud on the cover that I didn't want to dump into the pool. But there were huge holes in the cover in the deep end (far side in most of the photos), one of which was likely where the deer went through. So there was no way I could drain the cover to get it off with those big holes in it (new water would just come up through the holes) and every time I tried to scoop the gunk out I was stirring it up and I didn't want more of it flowing through the big holes and into the pool. At that point I had no idea how bad it was under there.

What I did was pull the cover back from the deep end, kind of fold and roll it up, so that I could isolate the half that didn't have holes in it. Those are the photos that I guess made it look kind of like a beach entry. I pumped the water off that half, cleaned out a couple big buckets of gunk, then took off the cover.

Shortly after that I realized that this had all been a waste of time because of the amount of gunk actually in the pool. I used to own a house with a pond in the yard, with frogs and turtles and all that. The more I dredged up from the pool the more I realized that it was in far more foul condition than my pond ever was. It wasn't just the algae and leaves, it really stunk, and the more I stirred it up and the weather got warm the more the whole thing began to really smell. That's when I realized I was never going to get ahead of this thing unless I drained it. When I saw the dead deer in there I was certain I had made the right choice.

At this point it's full of new water, I put enough CYA in it that it should be around 30 ppm, and last night I put a couple gallons of 12.5% bleach in it just to get the process started. This weekend I'll get all the water testing done and figure what else I need to add. Also planning to replace the whole controller and get the iAquaLink thing set up so I can run the pool from my phone (which would be especially helpful since we're not actually living in the house yet).