Mustard Algae will not die

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nathandantzler

Active member
Jul 10, 2019
26
Nashville, TN
I've been using TFP method for 6 years now, with great results, and every year I fight against mustard Algae, but this year I'm stuck and not sure what else to do.

I opened my vinyl in ground pool on March 25th balanced the chemistry (7.2ph, 80ta, 20cyn), then SLAM'd and brushed 3x per day for about a week, the water was crystal clear, but I have mustard algae stains in the deep end and it continued to chew through the liquid chlorine. I then switched to Mustard Algae levels for a day and scrubbed the pool 4x that day, but that didn't kill it and the chlorine demand was still very high. I have been scrubbing the entire pool about 3-4x per day for the last 10 days, and adding at least 1 gallon per hour non-stop during the day to maintain mustard levels, but I'm not making any progress. For the last 2 days I've raised the FC to 30ppm and maintained it while scrubbing like crazy, still no progress and the Mustard Algae won't die.

Other steps taken:
- daily brush the inside of light niche housing
- used a funnel to pour 50/50 water / liquid chlorine down the electrical conduit that runs power to the light
- there is nothing else in the pool, and I'm keeping it totally clear of any debris
- switched to a new more firm brush and new pole

I know algaecides are not recommended by TFP, but I'm not sure what else to do and wondering if there's anything else out there that might kill the Algae.

At this point I've spent over $1500 on liquid chorine, and not sure what to do but fill the pool in with dirt just to end the Algae saga.

Specs on pool:
Nashville TN
30,000 gallon in-ground vinyl pool with Salt System and sand filter
7.2ph, 80ta, 20cyn, 3400ppm Salt
no other chemicals added other than liquid chlorine, soda ash, baking soda

Any tips / advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
 
How much FC do you lose overnight ? You're likely losing a ton to UV with a 20 CYA and highly elevated FC which burns off as a %
 
nathandantzler said:
I've been using TFP method for 6 years now, with great results, and every year I fight against mustard Algae, but this year I'm stuck and not sure what else to do.

I opened my vinyl in ground pool on March 25th balanced the chemistry (7.2ph, 80ta, 20cyn), then SLAM'd and brushed 3x per day for about a week, the water was crystal clear, but I have mustard algae stains in the deep end and it continued to chew through the liquid chlorine. I then switched to Mustard Algae levels for a day and scrubbed the pool 4x that day, but that didn't kill it and the chlorine demand was still very high. I have been scrubbing the entire pool about 3-4x per day for the last 10 days, and adding at least 1 gallon per hour non-stop during the day to maintain mustard levels, but I'm not making any progress. For the last 2 days I've raised the FC to 30ppm and maintained it while scrubbing like crazy, still no progress and the Mustard Algae won't die.

Other steps taken:
- daily brush the inside of light niche housing
- used a funnel to pour 50/50 water / liquid chlorine down the electrical conduit that runs power to the light
- there is nothing else in the pool, and I'm keeping it totally clear of any debris
- switched to a new more firm brush and new pole

I know algaecides are not recommended by TFP, but I'm not sure what else to do and wondering if there's anything else out there that might kill the Algae.

At this point I've spent over $1500 on liquid chorine, and not sure what to do but fill the pool in with dirt just to end the Algae saga.

Specs on pool:
Nashville TN
30,000 gallon in-ground vinyl pool with Salt System and sand filter
7.2ph, 80ta, 20cyn, 3400ppm Salt
no other chemicals added other than liquid chlorine, soda ash, baking soda

Any tips / advice would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
You are not following the SLAM process. With only 20 CYA you are too low and the kit doesn’t measure that low very well. You’d be wise to bump it up to 30ppm.
The other thing is that your FC is 200% higher than the SLAM process advices. That does nothing to help the process and only wastes liquid chlorine because it’ll burn off too fast.

Also, post a picture of the mustard algae. If it’s a stain then it’s probably not algae at all.
 
Bperry said:
You are not following the SLAM process. With only 20 CYA you are too low and the kit doesn’t measure that low very well. You’d be wise to bump it up to 30ppm.
The other thing is that your FC is 200% higher than the SLAM process advices. That does nothing to help the process and only wastes liquid chlorine because it’ll burn off too fast.

Also, post a picture of the mustard algae. If it’s a stain then it’s probably not algae at all.
Click to expand...
I'm aware that below 20ppm CYA is hard to measure, but why should I bring that up while SLAMing? Shouldn't I wait until SLAM is complete?

And I started with SLAM at recommended levels for a week, then raised to mustard levels, but it kept growing, only after raising much higher am I seeing the algae start to subside a little, if I let it dip below 30ppm even for a few hours, the algae starts to become more visible again.

If it were just a stain, why would my FC levels drop 7ppm overnight?
 
nathandantzler said:
I'm aware that below 20ppm CYA is hard to measure, but why should I bring that up while SLAMing? Shouldn't I wait until SLAM is complete?

And I started with SLAM at recommended levels for a week, then raised to mustard levels, but it kept growing, only after raising much higher am I seeing the algae start to subside a little, if I let it dip below 30ppm even for a few hours, the algae starts to become more visible again.

If it were just a stain, why would my FC levels drop 7ppm overnight?
Click to expand...
The higher you go above SLAM level, the faster the chlorine depletes. Not surprising you lose 7ppm overnight. You can’t really judge your overnight loss when it’s out of range so far.

Post a picture of it.
 
I'll let it drift back down to normal SLAM levels and see how much I lose overnight, but I'm certain the algae will begin to bloom again and get much worse.
It's hard to tell in the photo, but in person, it's much more visible. This is the bottom of the deep end currently, which is the least amount of algae visible so far. But again, that's been with extreme FC levels.
 

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nathandantzler said:
I'll let it drift back down to normal SLAM levels and see how much I lose overnight, but I'm certain the algae will begin to bloom again and get much worse.
It's hard to tell in the photo, but in person, it's much more visible. This is the bottom of the deep end currently, which is the least amount of algae visible so far. But again, that's been with extreme FC levels.
Click to expand...
Can you point it out in the picture? How did you confirm it’s mustard algae? If you brush it, does it puff up and get cloudy?
 
If you have a stain that won't brush off, (with or without chlorine) I doubt that is algae at all. Algae seldom, if ever makes a permanent stain that is not removed rather easily.

Your best bet is to get back to TFP basic premises. I suggest you SLAM the pool correctly and then start to identify the stain when your SLAM is complete
 

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