It feels normal, the algae or whatever it is floats above the liner about 1/2"-3/4". It looks like sand actually today and is getting thicker.
Mustard alge
- Thread starter kywallace69
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It feels normal, the algae or whatever it is floats above the liner about 1/2"-3/4". It looks like sand actually today and is getting thicker.
Ok if it floats above the liner then it doesn't sound like scale and if it's getting thicker it still could be chemical coagulation. If it's biological, then it's very resistant to chlorine.
Are you able to scoop any up with a net? Is it like white tissue paper and easily falls apart (that might be white water mold) or is it more viscous like mucous (snot)? Does it look like the stuff in this video?
Are you able to scoop any up with a net? Is it like white tissue paper and easily falls apart (that might be white water mold) or is it more viscous like mucous (snot)? Does it look like the stuff in this video?
It will dissipate if I try to scoop it and when I vacuum it, it try's to vanish and almost runs from things. after vacuuming I do notice mucus looking substances floating in the pool about halfway (not on the surface)
This stuff started like this last year and I shocked the pool real good and it killed it, but it's back this year and is the same like last but the pool had FC of 26 last Sunday and today which is 6 days later and it remains 23 and it's still there. It was like this before I added all the chemicals to try and kill it.
today it it has turned more greenish. We've had a lot of rain here lately.
I plan on on changing the filter sand.
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If you were able to collect some to put into a bucket, then you could try different things to see what might kill or oxidize this stuff. Things like algaecides or copper. These are last-resort methods, but nothing else seems to be working for you. I'd just hate to throw things into your pool without knowing if it will work -- a bucket test would help determine what works without wasting product or putting something else permanent into your pool.
Very good idea. It's very hard to collect but if I can get in the pool and use a pump to pump it into a bucket that might work. Is the chlorine to high to get into the pool for a few minutes without causing some skin issues?
No, it's not something you'd want to swim in or stay in on a regular basis, but technically the active chlorine level at yellow/mustard SLAM level (FC that is 60% of the CYA level) is the same as in 1.4 ppm FC with no CYA so roughly similar to many commercial/public pools that don't have CYA (such as those indoors).
Use an old swimsuit that you don't care about fading (though if in briefly and if rinsed off afterwards it should be OK).
Use an old swimsuit that you don't care about fading (though if in briefly and if rinsed off afterwards it should be OK).
what would the best copper additive chemical that i could try? I used yellowout before but didn't vacuum or brush like the directions said. I just dropped it in the pool and then vacuumed up with no results.
Id like to try some copper on this and see what it will do.
FC is 24 as of today. Exactly 7 days since I started the slam. I put some in a bucket today. Man the chlorine is high. Almost gaged me while I was in the pool trying to collect some of this stuff. I can't believe anything lives in this pool with the chlorine this high.
Id like to try some copper on this and see what it will do.
FC is 24 as of today. Exactly 7 days since I started the slam. I put some in a bucket today. Man the chlorine is high. Almost gaged me while I was in the pool trying to collect some of this stuff. I can't believe anything lives in this pool with the chlorine this high.
Understand that copper is a one-way street. If you use it, then it will stay in your pool until you dilute the water to remove it. Since you have a vinyl pool, your risk of copper staining is lower than with a plaster pool, but if people with blond hair swim in the pool their hair can turn greenish.
Most copper products are copper sulfate pentahydrate. We can't really recommend a particular brand since we don't generally recommend copper so don't have enough experience with it to know if one brand is better than another.
If you got some stuff in a bucket, see what happens if you add acid to lower the pH in the bucket. If the stuff breaks up, then it's more likely to be chemical coagulation than something living.
Most copper products are copper sulfate pentahydrate. We can't really recommend a particular brand since we don't generally recommend copper so don't have enough experience with it to know if one brand is better than another.
If you got some stuff in a bucket, see what happens if you add acid to lower the pH in the bucket. If the stuff breaks up, then it's more likely to be chemical coagulation than something living.
Well.......I got some of this algae in a bucket and added copper to it. Took two days but it killed the stuff, "I think". Anyway the bucket now is clear. So, I added this to the pool yesterday.
The pool looks like this today:
You can see the discolorations in the pool. This apparently is the copper on top of the algae.
This stuff is about 4-8" thick and is coating the areas where the algae was located and stained to the liner.
So, how long should I leave the copper like this and should I wait some time and brush then let it set again and try and kill the remaining algae?
i also added floc to the pool to make the copper lower to the bottom and lay on the algae.
also is this normal?
The pool looks like this today:
You can see the discolorations in the pool. This apparently is the copper on top of the algae.
This stuff is about 4-8" thick and is coating the areas where the algae was located and stained to the liner.
So, how long should I leave the copper like this and should I wait some time and brush then let it set again and try and kill the remaining algae?
i also added floc to the pool to make the copper lower to the bottom and lay on the algae.
also is this normal?
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Copper should be ions dispersed through the pool. Floc wouldn't normally affect copper and I would not be adding these extra things to the pool such as floc. That can just make things worse or confuse the situation with new problems.
Also, when you do a bucket test, you should add the proportional amount for testing so that would be a very, very small amount of copper. If you added a lot, then the amount you added to the pool may not work and you can't add more without creating problems from higher copper levels.
Also, when you do a bucket test, you should add the proportional amount for testing so that would be a very, very small amount of copper. If you added a lot, then the amount you added to the pool may not work and you can't add more without creating problems from higher copper levels.
I added a capful to the bucket and in a couple of days the algae was gone. It had this thick bluish color to it at the bottom much like my pool does now. I stirred the bucket up and it disipated.
Well that's WAY too much and there's no way you'd be able to add that amount of copper into your pool without staining (though your pool is vinyl so has lower risk). Let's just hope that the smaller amount you added to your pool works, but if you added a lot of copper then the only way to remove it from your pool is with water replacement.
Well after 4 days of adding the copper to the pool, the algae is back and growing again. FC had remained 26 for the past two weeks with no change. This algae must be immune to chlorine. And everything else. I was hoping the copper would kill it but it has not. The pool looks better but is still has this stuff in it.
What are my options:
Option 1 - Drain the pool and try and clean it. If so, with what?
Option 2 - Replace the liner on the pool. (This algae is stained to the liner)
I used poolife® AlgaeKill II Algaecide.
After adding three bottles of this stuff the stained areas on the liner where the algae was growing looked like this:
Is this normal? You can see the dark blue areas. Apparently this is the copper at the algae areas. This stuff got kinda thick. 2-4" in some places and 12" in other places. Very unusual. It did kill the algae is some spots but not everywhere.
After adding three bottles of this stuff the stained areas on the liner where the algae was growing looked like this:
Is this normal? You can see the dark blue areas. Apparently this is the copper at the algae areas. This stuff got kinda thick. 2-4" in some places and 12" in other places. Very unusual. It did kill the algae is some spots but not everywhere.
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This is a very interesting thread. I don't have anything to offer, other than to encourage you to keep at it and listen to chemgeek. Good luck!
[emoji176] Lisa P.
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[emoji176] Lisa P.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
POOLIFE® ALGAEKILL II Algaecide has this MSDS that shows it is mostly copper carbonate with three copper chelates (triethanolamine and ethanolamine and citric acid). The chelates attempt to prevent metal staining of plaster from the copper. With 14% basic copper carbonate and 3 presumably quarts with specific gravity 1.2 g/ml so the copper in the pool is (2839 ml) * (1.2 g/ml) * 0.14 * (63.546 g/mole Cu) * (2 Cu / basic copper carbonate) * (1000 mg/g) / (221.116 g/mole basic copper carbonate) / (75708 liters) = 3.6 ppm copper which is high. You used 3 times the recommended dose of 16 fluid ounces per 10,000 gallons.
I wonder if this stuff is iron bacteria. See the thread starting with this post. It is very resistant to chlorine but is killed by higher levels of copper. However, it is usually red due to the presence of iron while what you have looks more cloudy gray.
We don't really have a lot of options since we don't know what this stuff is. Though you could replace the water, we can't guarantee it won't come back. It's very frustrating even seeing this from the sidelines so I'm sure it's driving you nuts.
I wonder if this stuff is iron bacteria. See the thread starting with this post. It is very resistant to chlorine but is killed by higher levels of copper. However, it is usually red due to the presence of iron while what you have looks more cloudy gray.
We don't really have a lot of options since we don't know what this stuff is. Though you could replace the water, we can't guarantee it won't come back. It's very frustrating even seeing this from the sidelines so I'm sure it's driving you nuts.
Yes it is very frustrating. The pool is starting to get a lot of stains on the liner from the copper. This was expected though with the extremely high doses I added. The copper continues to settle to the bottom of the pool and the result is cloudy areas and kinda like mucus growing from where the algae stains are located. I will continue to vacuum this to waste until it is totaly gone. However I will have to keep putting more water in the pool to keep the level where it needs to be. With this, the PH and TA will get put of whack and the hardness will get higher. It is already 1000. CYA is remaining at 60. Our city water is at near 21-25 ppm of water hardness which is very high.
I think you meant "gpg" or grains per gallon where 21-25 gpg is 360-428 ppm Total Hardness. Usually CH is around 70% of TH so in your case 252-300 ppm CH. Only evaporation and refill would increase your CH. Water replacement should decrease your CH from 1000 down towards the 252-300 range.