New pool owner! Order of balancing chemicals and other questions

[Mcham]

New pool owner, Intex Ultra 18x48, here in Central TX and we’ve had it up with water for about 2 weeks. It has stayed nice and clear but I’m wondering where to start with balancing out these numbers?
We have an SWG/sandfilter and upon reading through a lot of the info here on TFP I’m realizing we really haven’t had enough CL/CYA in the pool from the start. Though I’ve never had any problems with the clarity of the water, thankfully. I have been running the SWG for 4 hrs a day in the mid day hours 10am-2pm, also I run the sandfilter for about 8-10 hours a day. We shut it off over night.

**I bought a TF-100 kit and tested today and here are my numbers.

Salt 2800 - recommended 3000 the water tastes salty to me and the family??

FC 1.5
CC 0.5
TC 1.5
PH 7.8
TA 160
CYA 30
Calcium 125
Temp 90

*This pool stays in full sun all day.

I used the Pool Math app and see where I should start and here is what I concluded. Please some one with experience let me know if I’m on the right rack and what order do I work in.

-Raise clorine with bleach
-Add CYA via Conditioner (powder or liquid)
-Calcium number- Does it matter since our pool is vinyl?
-Should I lower the PH via Muriatic Acid, to help bring the Total Alkalinity come down then raise the PH again by
aerating ?

Also should I add everything at once that pool Math is saying to add? Do some products need to be spaced out from others? Acids sound scary?
How long do we need to stay out of the pool? When should I expect to see the effect of adding these chemical changes 24hrs? Should the filter stay on and for how long after I’ve added chems?

Thank you you in advance for all help. It’s greatly appreciated

 

[Richard320]

A little bleach, some CYA, and some muriatic acid to adjust pH down to 7.2. Don't bother with TA . It will come down soon enough as you maintain pH. You are correct that you don;t need to add CH. It will climb anyway, through evaporation and refilling.

You can do bleach or acid first, then go straight to the CYA. By the time you're done messing with the sock, fifteen minutes will probably have elapsed and you can go ahead and add the other liquid.

The threshold for tasting salt varies by individual. It's not alarming that you can taste it.

 

[YippeeSkippy]

Pool School - Recommended Levels

The only thing you need to do quickly is get some FC in there via liquid chlorine or bleach. Don't wait for the SWG to get you up there, it is only meant to *maintain* your desired FC level. It works too slowly to get you up there all by itself.

Add CYA in there too to protect the FC from your hot Waco sun. Put the granules in a sock and hang it over the edge of the pool on a stick or something, in front of a return. Squeeze the sock now and then to help dissolve.

Use PoolMath to help you determine how much to add.Pool School - PoolMath

Don't waste a penny on calcium, you don't need it.

When you're ready to drop your TA a bit, take your pH down with muriatic acid (again, using PoolMath to guide you on amounts) and this will also bring that TA down. Pool School - Lower Total Alkalinity

Maddie

p.s. stop drinking the pool water

 

[Mcham]

Great thanks it doesn’t sound so hard?
I got the bleach added
Ill move to CYA next here the thing I have a little liquid conditioner but not as much as pool math is recommending. I will add it first so I use it up. How long should I wait to test CYA again before adding the remaining in dry? 24hrs ? I wasn’t sure how long it takes for the liquid to accurately show up on the test?

I will then move to the Muriatic acid to lower Ph. I have to be away till evening hours today so I probably won’t be able to mess with the Ph (Muriatic acid till tomorrow)

 

[Mcham]

*I have about a 1/2 gallon of Natural chemistry Instant pool water conditioner that I’d like to use first. Though it’s not enough to meet the 97oz that pool math recommends I’m hoping it doesn’t screw things up if I use what I have and then go buy the dry after I measure again.??

 

[duraleigh]

*I have about a 1/2 gallon of Natural chemistry Instant pool water conditioner that I’d like to use first. Though it’s not enough to meet the 97oz that pool math recommends I’m hoping it doesn’t screw things up if I use what I have and then go buy the dry after I measure again.??

That'll be fine. You have a good grasp of the concepts. Pool care will be a snap for you.

No rush on the pH.....I would be tempted to leave it until it goes to 8.0.