Hello. I'm new to the site and to the TFP method and I'm hoping someone can let me know if I'm on the right track to treating what I think is mustard algae.
I recently fired my pool maintenance company for a number of reasons, including the persistent algae on the southern, shady walls of our pool. This led me to purchasing a TF 100 kit and reading everything I can on the site.
When I started, I found that the CYA was at 18, so I purchased stabilizer to bring it up. I completed the following test after stabilizer was added, and also had Leslie's test the water as I'm not super confident in my test ability yet.
FC 2.5
CC 1
TA 130
pH 7.8
CYA 28 (Leslie's showed 33)
CH 450
I decided to begin the SLAM method, thinking that my CYA was close enough to the lower limit of 30 when averaging my score and Leslie's. After adding the appropriate chlorine on Monday afternoon, I took the FC up to 14, CC at 0.5. The next morning the FC reading was at 13, and CC was 0. The water was clear so I thought that I had passed the OCLT with a drop of 1ppm in chlorine over night.
From there, I took the chlorine level up to Mustard Algae levels recommended by my CYA level. After adding more bleach, at 4pm yesterday I tested FC at 19 and CC 0, with lots of brushing. By 8:30 last night the FC was 16.5 and CC at 1, so I added more chlorine again.
This morning I did the full slate of tests and here's the results:
FC 16
CC 0.5
TA 110
pH 8.2
CYA 22
CH 600
I believe the pH isn't a concern because I'm at such high FC levels, but the CYA dropping like that is puzzling. CH coming up to 600 is a bit confusing too.
I've attached a before and after of what I think is mustard algae. The first two pictures were taken May 7th, the second pics are taken this morning. It doesn't seem like I'm making much progress.
Any thoughts on my next steps? Should I drop back down and try SLAMing again after a few days? The one step I know I'm missing is taking the lights out of the niches. I got lazy on that step since I actually have to get in the pool to remove them, but I can do that as well.
Do I give up and head back to Leslie's?
Thanks for all the great advice on this website!
I recently fired my pool maintenance company for a number of reasons, including the persistent algae on the southern, shady walls of our pool. This led me to purchasing a TF 100 kit and reading everything I can on the site.
When I started, I found that the CYA was at 18, so I purchased stabilizer to bring it up. I completed the following test after stabilizer was added, and also had Leslie's test the water as I'm not super confident in my test ability yet.
FC 2.5
CC 1
TA 130
pH 7.8
CYA 28 (Leslie's showed 33)
CH 450
I decided to begin the SLAM method, thinking that my CYA was close enough to the lower limit of 30 when averaging my score and Leslie's. After adding the appropriate chlorine on Monday afternoon, I took the FC up to 14, CC at 0.5. The next morning the FC reading was at 13, and CC was 0. The water was clear so I thought that I had passed the OCLT with a drop of 1ppm in chlorine over night.
From there, I took the chlorine level up to Mustard Algae levels recommended by my CYA level. After adding more bleach, at 4pm yesterday I tested FC at 19 and CC 0, with lots of brushing. By 8:30 last night the FC was 16.5 and CC at 1, so I added more chlorine again.
This morning I did the full slate of tests and here's the results:
FC 16
CC 0.5
TA 110
pH 8.2
CYA 22
CH 600
I believe the pH isn't a concern because I'm at such high FC levels, but the CYA dropping like that is puzzling. CH coming up to 600 is a bit confusing too.
I've attached a before and after of what I think is mustard algae. The first two pictures were taken May 7th, the second pics are taken this morning. It doesn't seem like I'm making much progress.
Any thoughts on my next steps? Should I drop back down and try SLAMing again after a few days? The one step I know I'm missing is taking the lights out of the niches. I got lazy on that step since I actually have to get in the pool to remove them, but I can do that as well.
Do I give up and head back to Leslie's?
Thanks for all the great advice on this website!