I'm hoping someone can help me with a few questions. We just finished filling our brand new pool (22k AG SWG) 6 days ago and at the time my TF100 test kit hadn't arrived yet so I let the pool store test my chemicals. (I know, I know, but I had to start somewhere.)
Anyway, of course my levels were zilch. My SWG was flashing low salt the first day, but by the time the water was filled completely and I collected my sample for the store the next morning that light had went off. My sample was reading 2800 according to the store (would like it to be 3000-3500) but since the salt just went in the day before they said give it a day or two more to fully dissolve before I worried about it. Ok, no problem there, but now I've tested it with the strips (all that was available) and even though I swear I'm not color blind I can't determine which shade level best matches my strips. I'm including 3 pictures for comparison hoping someone with more experience can give me their opinion. Same with borate, again, just the strip and I can't tell.
Of course my CYA, chlorine, calcium and borates were all extremely low, but rather than using shock or tablets I went with bleach for the chlorine and the store had already given me stabilizer, boric acid, and calcium chloride included in my start up package. They tried to sell me something to bring my alkalinity and ph up, but I didn't buy it because I knew I could use baking soda instead.
I used the pool math app and added the amount of baking soda suggested, although I added too much all at once instead of adding, testing, and adding more, so I'm afraid I'm a little too high now. My ph has been at 7.5 with alkalinity at 110 for several days, but after a bunch of rain yesterday my ph went up to about 7.8 and the alkalinity is still around 110. I plan on adding some muriatic acid to get that back where it needs to be.
My CH is still low, currently sitting at 150, but I'm not worried about that right now since it's a vinyl pool.
The bleach got my chlorine up to 3 (FC 3, CC 0 = TC 3) and its been holding steady for days, but now with yesterday's rain my levels have varied, but I'm still at 3 with FC 2.5 & CC .5.
Here's my biggest concern.... the store told me to add 7 lbs of dry stabilizer to raise my CYA. Pool Math suggested 9 lbs. They had given me 8 pounds with my package so I went with that and added it in over a period of 3 days time. I put about 2 pounds at a time in a sock inside the skimmer, making sure not to obscure it. (I know some people say not to add it in the skimmer, but that was specifically what the directions said to do and hey, I'm still new, lol.) From everything I've read though, it seems like that sock should have taken a while to dissolve, but mine literally took just a couple hours and my VS pump was only running on low the whole time. Is that normal? Anyway, 3 days after the full 8 pounds was dissolved my CYA is still sitting at 30 tops, actually it's probably more like 25. What in the world? Did it dissolve too quickly to do any good? Was it bad stabilizer? I don't want my pool sitting with low CYA, but I don't want to overload it if it takes time to show up. But 3 days later?! I started putting the first couple pounds in 6 days ago! Does anybody have any clues that could help me on this?!
Thanks for any input on CYA and/or salt & borate strip readings.
Anyway, of course my levels were zilch. My SWG was flashing low salt the first day, but by the time the water was filled completely and I collected my sample for the store the next morning that light had went off. My sample was reading 2800 according to the store (would like it to be 3000-3500) but since the salt just went in the day before they said give it a day or two more to fully dissolve before I worried about it. Ok, no problem there, but now I've tested it with the strips (all that was available) and even though I swear I'm not color blind I can't determine which shade level best matches my strips. I'm including 3 pictures for comparison hoping someone with more experience can give me their opinion. Same with borate, again, just the strip and I can't tell.
Of course my CYA, chlorine, calcium and borates were all extremely low, but rather than using shock or tablets I went with bleach for the chlorine and the store had already given me stabilizer, boric acid, and calcium chloride included in my start up package. They tried to sell me something to bring my alkalinity and ph up, but I didn't buy it because I knew I could use baking soda instead.
I used the pool math app and added the amount of baking soda suggested, although I added too much all at once instead of adding, testing, and adding more, so I'm afraid I'm a little too high now. My ph has been at 7.5 with alkalinity at 110 for several days, but after a bunch of rain yesterday my ph went up to about 7.8 and the alkalinity is still around 110. I plan on adding some muriatic acid to get that back where it needs to be.
My CH is still low, currently sitting at 150, but I'm not worried about that right now since it's a vinyl pool.
The bleach got my chlorine up to 3 (FC 3, CC 0 = TC 3) and its been holding steady for days, but now with yesterday's rain my levels have varied, but I'm still at 3 with FC 2.5 & CC .5.
Here's my biggest concern.... the store told me to add 7 lbs of dry stabilizer to raise my CYA. Pool Math suggested 9 lbs. They had given me 8 pounds with my package so I went with that and added it in over a period of 3 days time. I put about 2 pounds at a time in a sock inside the skimmer, making sure not to obscure it. (I know some people say not to add it in the skimmer, but that was specifically what the directions said to do and hey, I'm still new, lol.) From everything I've read though, it seems like that sock should have taken a while to dissolve, but mine literally took just a couple hours and my VS pump was only running on low the whole time. Is that normal? Anyway, 3 days after the full 8 pounds was dissolved my CYA is still sitting at 30 tops, actually it's probably more like 25. What in the world? Did it dissolve too quickly to do any good? Was it bad stabilizer? I don't want my pool sitting with low CYA, but I don't want to overload it if it takes time to show up. But 3 days later?! I started putting the first couple pounds in 6 days ago! Does anybody have any clues that could help me on this?!
Thanks for any input on CYA and/or salt & borate strip readings.
