I’ve had this above ground pool since new in 2015. Always used the aqua smarte system it came with and used natural chemistry’s pool magic stuff for opening, closing, and weekly maintenance. That stuff is expensive of course but it was easy and I’d check things every now and again with strips and a proper test kit. The liner and wall was replaced about 4 years ago under warranty so it was a fresh fill then. That’s important for later.
This year I pulled the cover a few weeks ago and started doing things as normal. Water was looking good except for these assumed algae spots, but a pool store test showed CYA at 132 and high phosphates. So I learned a bunch more on chemistry, dug in here on TFP and set out to get this fixed up. I figured out that the stabilizer in the tabs finally caught up with me in the form of high CYA. The typical closing and winter loss of water didn’t bring CYA down near enough.
I drained the pool down to about a foot of water since CYA was so high. I didn’t want to go too low being an above ground and risk it coming down. Got it filled back up, CYA was in much better and got it balanced. Gave the pool a shock with the granular/powder stuff and brushed the liner like I had in the past to clear up any thing like this. Wasn’t working this time so I decided it was time to SLAM.
I started the SLAM after verifying CYA, and PH were good at 52 and 7.5. I’m using liquid bleach/pool shock on Saturday and got it up to 26-28 FC. I’ve been maintaining that level and brushing at least once a day but usually 2-3 times a day. This stuff seems to have gotten less but it’s still there. So I hopped in last night to get a better idea and can’t capture it in a rag. It just disappears into the water when moved. It feels very finely gritty rather than slimy. So, now I’m questioning everything.
I just checked the OCLT this morning and was at .5 PPM. So all signs (except the presence of this stuff) point to ending the SLAM. If it’s not algae I don’t think the SLAM is going to work. I’m still maintaining as of this morning but am looking for help. I know it’s hard to diagnose without being there but any help is appreciated.
This year I pulled the cover a few weeks ago and started doing things as normal. Water was looking good except for these assumed algae spots, but a pool store test showed CYA at 132 and high phosphates. So I learned a bunch more on chemistry, dug in here on TFP and set out to get this fixed up. I figured out that the stabilizer in the tabs finally caught up with me in the form of high CYA. The typical closing and winter loss of water didn’t bring CYA down near enough.
I drained the pool down to about a foot of water since CYA was so high. I didn’t want to go too low being an above ground and risk it coming down. Got it filled back up, CYA was in much better and got it balanced. Gave the pool a shock with the granular/powder stuff and brushed the liner like I had in the past to clear up any thing like this. Wasn’t working this time so I decided it was time to SLAM.
I started the SLAM after verifying CYA, and PH were good at 52 and 7.5. I’m using liquid bleach/pool shock on Saturday and got it up to 26-28 FC. I’ve been maintaining that level and brushing at least once a day but usually 2-3 times a day. This stuff seems to have gotten less but it’s still there. So I hopped in last night to get a better idea and can’t capture it in a rag. It just disappears into the water when moved. It feels very finely gritty rather than slimy. So, now I’m questioning everything.
I just checked the OCLT this morning and was at .5 PPM. So all signs (except the presence of this stuff) point to ending the SLAM. If it’s not algae I don’t think the SLAM is going to work. I’m still maintaining as of this morning but am looking for help. I know it’s hard to diagnose without being there but any help is appreciated.
