Green pool, I'm losing faith in the fight!!

[rosslamon]

Definitely sounds like that chlorine is being devoured by something. I had a swamp myself this year. The first act for me was the take care of that ammonia, but really it's just the slam process amped up. Test frequently. Every 10 minutes if you can. I beat my ammonia in an hour. Even if it isn't ammonia eventually it will stop eating the chlorine and you'll start maintaining. Whatever is eating the chlorine will eventually be killed by it. Keep the faith. It works.

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Just as a point of order that was told to me : if it's ammonia you need to beat it before you bring up the cya. Or it will just eat the cya / be harder to get to shock level to beat the ammonia.

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Here's a link to my battle : First time pool owner with some questions!!
maybe you can find something useful there.

 

[pooldv]

More on adding CYA and other chems to your pool here, Pool School - Recommended Pool Chemicals

Here is the process to SLAM Process

 

[LaurieBlue]

Definitely looks better. Just did a quick FC test this morning and again, 2 scoops in 10ml and it was clear. At this point keep slamming?

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Thanks rosslamon. You could be right here. I think I'll continue slamming, but checking every 10 minutes or so to see if the levels start changing.

 

[rosslamon]

It was clear like not a bit of chlorine? Definitely sounds like ammonia to me then. First time pool owner with some questions!

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Check out that link, it's a specific post on my thread where Swampwoman details the treatment that worked for me.

 

[LaurieBlue]

I just did the CYA test, and I filled up the tube so it's definitely less than 30ppm, and I can still faintly see the black dot. Is it stabilizer time or add more jugs? I just noticed on the Pool Calculator, too, after all these readings that it lowered from Shock 15 to Shock 12 and Mustard Algae Shock from 24 to 17.

 

[Mr Bruce]

Both When adding CYA aim to add 20 since there is probably ~some~ in there.

e: Yeah, if you are fighting ammonia you want to get rid of it before adding more CYA.

 

[pooldv]

First get FC to hold. Raise FC to 10 ppm, quick brush and retest in 10-15min. If FC is below 7 then repeat until it holds above 7. Once it does then raise CYA to 30 and SLAM Process

 

[rosslamon]

If it's still not holding any chlorine at all it'd say to keep pumping it with chlorine. There's no reason it should be absorbing that much FC even with 0 stabilizer. When it starts holding FC for 30 minutes or an hour then you're safe to add chlorine CYA, but I'd keep from doing it until it's holding chlorine. Just my two cents.

 

[LaurieBlue]

First get FC to hold. Raise FC to 10 ppm, quick brush and retest in 10-15min. If FC is below 7 then repeat until it holds above 7. Once it does then raise CYA to 30 and SLAM Process

Added 5 jugs and got FC to 7.5 (yay!) and CC to 1.5. Add 1.3 Jugs (according to calculator) to get to 10? How do I raise CYA once it gets there?

I also brushed the walls again, and used the more recent bottles of chlorine (211), which may have helped.

Thank you all so much, btw!

 

[rosslamon]

You just need to add some stabilizer. I usually use : https://www.walmart.com/ip/Clorox-Pool-and-Spa-Chlorine-Stabilizer-4-lbs/41466055

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Just add however much the calculator says you need

 

[LaurieBlue]

Checked 12:50pm - FC 3.5/CC .5, added 1 jug. 1:00pm FC 6/CC .5; Checked again 2:24 pm - FC 2.5/CC .5. Going to add 4 more jugs.

 

[LaurieBlue]

Checked 12:50pm - FC 3.5/CC .5, added 1 jug. 1:00pm FC 6/CC .5; Checked again 2:24 pm - FC 2.5/CC .5. Going to add 4 more jugs.

3:07pm - FC 9 (!)/CC 1. And it's starting to rain again slightly. Giving it a rest for a while and will check again this evening.

 

[rosslamon]

Keep it up! You're doing a great job!

 

[LaurieBlue]

Added 3 more jugs around 5pm yesterday. Just for curiosity's sake, I took a bottle to Leslie's to get a reading, and here's what they showed about 45 minutes after - . Their advice was to not add anymore chlorine but do algaecide instead. I'm sticking with our plan here, and came home and added 3 more jugs last night. Reading this morning shows, again, low FC - 1ppm. However, it looks SO much better! According to the calculator, going to add 5 more jugs. All this bleach/chlorine addition (33 jugs in the last 2 days), plus 5 today, is still on the right track, yes?

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[Swampwoman]

Hi Laurie.
Just to clarify, if you'll excuse the pun

To actually effect the SLAM Process you need to MAINTAIN your FC at/slightly above your target at ALL times [fc/cya][/FC/cya].

Every time you let it get down to 5 if you need to be at 12 you're stalling or going backwards by giving the algae an opportunity to reproduce faster than you're killing it.

So for the weekend, stay in the "kill zone" by testing and dosing more frequently. If you do this enough over the weekend, I predict by Monday your FC will hold for much longer periods and you'll be able to continue progress with fewer additions.

Hope that helps and cheers to clear

 

[LaurieBlue]

After adding the 5 jugs and brushing again, got it to FC 12, but the CC is still at 1. I will test again shortly and I'm assuming will probably need to add more bleach to keep it up high.

 

[Swampwoman]

Yes, m'am, that's the ticket. You'll be amazed at the difference after a few days of solid maintaining

 

[LaurieBlue]

Okay - I got it to FC 10 (and it's looking pretty good)! But the CC is still at 1. What's my next step? Maintain for how long? Or get it to 12 and then add stabilizer?

 

[duraleigh]

SLAM SLAM SLAM You need to read that article and follow it exactly. It is a process, not a one time addition of chlorine.

 

[LaurieBlue]

Oh right. Hubby is asking about backwashing. Wait until this process is over?