New owner - Need help with bug infestation!

[Drivingmsdaizee]

Hello!

We just had our in-ground pool done last spring. The last 3-4 weeks we have been battling these tiny black bugs floating throughout the pool! Mainly on the surface and along the edges, but still see them floating in the center and along the pool cleaner hose. Every day we skim what seems like hundreds of these bugs! We’ve been doing TFPM since our pool was done and maintaining chemicals religiously. My husband already cleaned the main pool filter about a week ago, we’ve been using a sock in the skimmer basket, and chemistry has been good. Been at our wits end, just dumped enough liquid chlorine this morning to start SLAM. Will check OCLT tomorrow morning.

Our pool is 13k gal in-ground, gunite/plaster, liquid chlorine maintained by TF method, and we live in Sacramento area CA. We have quite a few neighboring pools so I imagine these bugs can be finding their way from anywhere, but we just can’t seem to get rid of them. Attached pics! They look like large fleas! They move very slow, don’t jump or fly.

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[ajw22]

Welcome to TFP.

@1poolman1 works in your area and may be familiar with the local bugs.

 

[Bperry]

Hello!

We just had our in-ground pool done last spring. The last 3-4 weeks we have been battling these tiny black bugs floating throughout the pool! Mainly on the surface and along the edges, but still see them floating in the center and along the pool cleaner hose. Every day we skim what seems like hundreds of these bugs! We’ve been doing TFPM since our pool was done and maintaining chemicals religiously. My husband already cleaned the main pool filter about a week ago, we’ve been using a sock in the skimmer basket, and chemistry has been good. Been at our wits end, just dumped enough liquid chlorine this morning to start SLAM. Will check OCLT tomorrow morning.

Our pool is 13k gal in-ground, gunite/plaster, liquid chlorine maintained by TF method, and we live in Sacramento area CA. We have quite a few neighboring pools so I imagine these bugs can be finding their way from anywhere, but we just can’t seem to get rid of them. Attached pics! They look like large fleas! They move very slow, don’t jump or fly.

Any advice is appreciated!

Welcome to pool ownership. Probably not necessary to SLAM unless it’s consuming chlorine.

 

[Drivingmsdaizee]

Welcome to pool ownership. Probably not necessary to SLAM unless it’s consuming chlorine.

Lol I just figured maybe the high chlorine concentration would kill them, but observing the last couple days, that hasn’t really worked I did pass OCLT as I thought I would, to eliminate any possible algae that could be attracting them.

 

[Bperry]

Lol I just figured maybe the high chlorine concentration would kill them, but observing the last couple days, that hasn’t really worked I did pass OCLT as I thought I would, to eliminate any possible algae that could be attracting them.

It probably kills them once they’ve been in the water for a bit, but I imagine you’de rather they does somewhere else. You can try turning up the pump speed to try and skim more of them out.

 

[Mdragger88]

If you haven’t been skirting minimum
FC/CYA Levels they may have just happened to hatch in your locale & will be hopefully gone soon enough. You can try a skimmer sock to help collect them & subsequently drown them. Be sure your skimming is optimal so they end up in there. If you pass your oclt & things are crystal clear there’s no need to keep with slam. Simply having elevated fc should make it less hospitable for them until they move along.

 

[Drivingmsdaizee]

Thanks for all the replies! Just wanted to come back here and update that after I did add enough chlorine to SLAM level, the bugs eventually stopped reappearing within the course of about a week