So if I am understanding you right you have mustard algae and you are getting your FC up to around 20 and trying to hold and your CYA is 50. Pool math if I am reading it right, shock should be around 29. If this were my pool I would wait until evening and shock to a minimum of 30 and I would maybe assume my CYA could be higher, so say at 60 mustard algae shock is around 34, so I would probably take to 40. I would not maintain that level, just get it to that level and let it start dropping back down. I was having some issues with algae and slamming at suggested levels was not solving the problem for what ever reason, and it was not until I shocked way past slam levels did I solve my algae issue. Hope this helps.
Mustard algae SLAM 4 days and counting.
- Thread starter aralph
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None of this is good advice. The OP should keep following the SLAM process. The mustard algae treatment is done at the end of a successful SLAM process, not as a special event.
If he has mustard algae and CYA is 50 perhaps higher, why is shocking to 30-40 ppm bad advice? Not saying don’t slam. I followed the suggested slam process to at a T and algae kept coming back after a few days. It was not until I shocked at high levels did I get rid of it. Not telling anyone what to do, just what I would do and did. As the saying says, keep doing what you’re doing and you will get the same results.
Going above SLAM level does two things:
1. It wastes more chlorine to the sun than it does santizing.
2. The potential for damage to equipment increases.
The SLAM process works every time, and its very unlikely the OP has real mustard algae. Lots of folks name anything that looks yellow as mustard algae when its really just regular algae.
Thanks. I'm not going that much above SLAM level. Just enough margin so I'm not testing every 10 minutes. But it's eating chlorine like crazy. I've added 6 gallons in the past 4 hrs just to keep it around 20ppm (it dove down to 15 in the span of 2 hrs). Pool has been crystal clear for the past 3 days. Just a very light dust on the bottom when I sweep 6x a day. I've been doing this annually for years. Usually I have this licked in around 3 or 4 days. But after 5 full days it shows zero signs of slowing down.
Something is very wrong if your water is crystal clear yet you're averaging 5 ppm FC loss per hour.
Please help us rule out testing error. You are using the FAS-DPD test, correct? And it's not expired, correct?
And help us rule out a problem with the chlorine. Is there a date code on the bottles? You are registering the chlorine level in your water rising when you add it?
Please help us rule out testing error. You are using the FAS-DPD test, correct? And it's not expired, correct?
And help us rule out a problem with the chlorine. Is there a date code on the bottles? You are registering the chlorine level in your water rising when you add it?
Like I said not telling you what to do, only what I did. I shocked at a high level, more than slam level. That cleared up my algae. What you do with that information is up to you. If you think that is bad advise then I recommend you don’t do it. Anyway, I hope you get your pool cleared up. I’m heading to have cold beer and night swim.
Yes FAS DPD, all I've ever used. Powder is expired, I ordered more. But it seems to be working. When I add two scoops it turns red and I'm adding the expected amount of drops (example, I add a gallon and I see an approx 3ppm increase). Chlorine is straight off the shelf from Walmart, 10% sodium hypo.
Triple check your using 10ml sample size. Also clean your test tube with alcohol. You got something really odd going on. There’s threads with soupy swamp water with dead animals in it that dont consume near as much chlorine.
Man I think you're right. I don't think I can trust this stuff at all. Getting different readings and takes the sample awhile to turn red even with my magnetic mixerI. can't wait to get the new stuff in tmrw so I can actually see how much chlorine is actually in my pool right now. Saw a post a few days ago where Duraleigh said he thought the stuff was still good long after expiration....
It should turn pink immediately after adding the powder and beginning to stir. If its taking longer than 1 sec, then that points to a test issue.
The TFP shock chart says 20 for CYA or 50??? The Free Chlorine and Cyanuric Acid Relationship
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It is. Please don't try the advice that user is offering, it's not well founded and could cause additional problems.
First of all I come here to this forum to learn and perhaps share what I have learned an actually done so that maybe it can be of some help to others. I did not come here to spout my bad advice, pollute the forum, nor did I suggest just to just start dumping chlorine in the pool as was sent to me directly from a member on this forum. If I have given bad advice it was not my intent. Aralph said the pool was clear, but had mustard algae . I know what the chart says on slamming, but if you go to the pool math calculator an input CYA at 50 it says mustard algae shock at 29 and goes up from there i.e CYA at 60 mustard algae shock at 34 etc. Also, I read a very good article about what it takes to break through the nucleus of algae and kill it and the recommended level was 30 ppm. All I was just trying to suggest was maybe up the chlorine levels based on the pool math for mustard algae, as well as, the article about break point chlorination. If that indeed is bad advice then I apologize. I come here to learn as we all do, so if that it is bad advice then educate me and others on why it is bad advice , don’t just say it is and don’t do it. That’s not helping either. Anyway, I hope everybody has a great day and weekend and that we all take some time to remember, honor , and be thankful to those who gave their lives in defense of our nation and the freedoms we enjoy this Memorial Day. To all veterans which I am, who may be reading this, thank you for your service.
I do not doubt that it worked for you, nor your intent.
But we have thousands of posts from folks with damaged finishes / liners and our advice needs to be safe for anyone who tries.
People often think about the OP, and not the untold number of future readers once it's all out there.
Thanks for your post and I understand bad advice can lead to unintended consequence, and I try to always advise in my post, which is rare, with I am not telling you to do this, just what I did, but I still don’t understand why chlorine at 30 ppm with CYA at 50 can be bad. A lot of that chlorine is bound up by the CYA and not actually active all at once. I can see if CYA was 0, then I agree it probably would not be a good idea to get chlorine that high.I do not doubt that it worked for you, nor your intent.
But we have thousands of posts from folks with damaged finishes / liners and our advice needs to be safe for anyone who tries.
People often think about the OP, and not the untold number of future readers once it's all out there.
Under the right parameters, with a proper test kit, it's not.
It's even recommended for MA protocol, *at completion of regular SLAM* (when needed). 24 hours of MA SLAM is safe. But if we go out of sequence it only adds confusion. And maybe those future readers who are confused and grasping at straws just skim that part and dose MA level FC from unreliable methods.
If things aren't followed in entirety, in the proper sequence, that's where we open up the chance to do more harm than good.
There are a great many posts out there and they all need to agree of it will confuse folks even further when they rabbit hole their issues. Things will be taken out of context and/or order and we lose the proven track record of working for all.