New pool startup / maintenance....installers chem cocktail (minerals)

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cznkane said:
Interesting...so the idea (however good or bad it might be) was that the copper is the algicide and the ionizer helps to keep it from staining things?
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That is all bogus science used to empty your wallet and enrich pool companies.

cznkane said:
Will the copper subside now that the PoolRX is out or will it stay in the water? 0.5ppm dangerous in any way or fine to ignore?
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Copper will only be eliminated by draining. It is not dangerous to health at these level but can result in the following...

What are the Effects of Copper in Pool Water?​

  • Green to black stains
  • Emerald green pool water
  • Blonde or gray hair turning green
Do your kids like green hair after swimming?
 
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cznkane said:
Copper is at 0.5ppm according to the pool store.
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You will get staining when that Jacks stuff wears out You can drain down to leaving about 18" in the pool. I would do that soon, or, try adding the Jacks stuff as the person subscribed to try and delay the staining.
 
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ajw22 said:
That is all bogus science used to empty your wallet and enrich pool companies.



Copper will only be eliminated by draining. It is not dangerous to health at these level but can result in the following...

What are the Effects of Copper in Pool Water?​

  • Green to black stains
  • Emerald green pool water
  • Blonde or gray hair turning green
Do your kids like green hair after swimming?
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Makes sense....oddly they think it's funny...they're 6, 5, and 5
 
mknauss said:
You will get staining when that Jacks stuff wears out You can drain down to leaving about 18" in the pool. I would do that soon, or, try adding the Jacks stuff as the person subscribed to try and delay the staining.
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Makes sense, thank you
 
@cznkane You might have thought your were asking some neighbors to help you. Well, the cavalry, the 101st Airborne, Seal Team 6, and the Avengers showed up to help you. @mknauss @ajw22 are them.

In the end, you will be glad you came. You will save a bunch of $, Time and heartache.

They helped me, I now spend less than 5 minutes a day on my pool. Took time to learn and get it right, but sooooo worth it.

Oh, and selling chemicals that turn children's hair green should be a human rights violation.
 
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PoolStored said:
@cznkane You might have thought your were asking some neighbors to help you. Well, the cavalry, the 101st Airborne, Seal Team 6, and the Avengers showed up to help you. @mknauss @ajw22 are them.

In the end, you will be glad you came. You will save a bunch of $, Time and heartache.

They helped me, I now spend less than 5 minutes a day on my pool. Took time to learn and get it right, but sooooo worth it.

Oh, and selling chemicals that turn children's hair green should be a human rights violation.
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Ha! That’s awesome, really appreciate the help. And I agree, turning kids hair green is not cool at all!
 
The A-Team got your water about fixed up! Well done guys! :hug: I am just jumping in to touch on a couple of spots.

Test-kit-chances are you will not find a "good" test kit in town. You might find the Taylor 2005 BUT it is not the one you want as it does not have all the tests you need. The Taylor 2006 is one of the okay ones but the 2006C is better because it has more regents. Then there is the TF-100 that is best of all as it was designed with the TFP way of doing things. They are two different companies owned by the same person. The TF-100 using the same regents as the Taylor kits BUT the TF-100 has more of the regents you use most often.

Next up is your hoses. Those hoses work but after a while they will form pin holes form the sun. They are also VERY easy to knock off by kids running by them or dogs or you when you are working on the equipment. What I did was use schedule 40 (very important as it is for pressure) PVC. It is easy to do! We can walk you through how to do it. The nice thing about moving to PVC is your can put cut off valves under the skimmer and return. This will help SO much when you want/need to work on the equipment like cleaning the filter.

Under the skimmer and return time now-Your skimmer will overflow during big rains. Water will also splash out of the skimmer with the kids to rock and rolling. This water overflowing can cause a wash out from under that area of the pool=not good news for your pool. What I did was dig down a bit in that whole area. I put some gravel under there to help hold the sand in. THEN I put a couple of larger stepping stones all the way under the skimmer and return area. I did make it slope a tiny bit away from the pool wall. This will keep the water from washing out the sand from under the pool in that area.

Now to the kids! 6, 5 & 5??? :shock: Bet you have your hands full LOL Look up this fun game:

Let us know how we can help and support you and your pool so it will keep the kids busy and wear them out so they will be ready for bed early so you get some rest too LOL

Kim:kim:
 
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Thank you @kimkats, I'll put it on the list to hard plumb those hoses (have some PVC skills), as well as get some erosion control under the skimmer. I honestly am a bit concerned about erosion all around the edges so might just get a big 'ol pile of river rock and backfill up against the first 6" of the pool wall all the way around. Was able to find a Taylor kit locally (K-2006).

Here are todays readings doing it myself:
  • FC - 1.8
  • PH - 7.5
  • TA - 200
  • CYA - < 9
  • Water Temp - 88*

I pulled the PoolRX thing out of the pump basket last week as soon as that was mentioned here. I also added a gallon of acid and started aerating to see if I can't get that TA down (doesn't really seem to be working very well though not certain I've got a good aeration setup).

If I'm not mistaken, my next steps are:
  1. Track down some CYA to put in a sock and dispense (where to find this?)
  2. Pull the tablets out of the chlorinator once I've got CYA where it needs to be (anyone ever suspend the sock of CYA in there?)
  3. Start chlorinating with liquid bleach (picked up four 1 gallon jugs of 12% today)
 
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An FC reading of 2.3ppm isn't possible with that kit. Nor is 8ppm CYA. Can you recheck?

You should be able to find stabilizer anywhere that sells pool chemicals, including some Home Depots, Lowes, etc. If all else fails, Amazon works. I bought some of this recently:

20 lbs Puri Tech Stabilizer Conditioner Cyanuric Acid UV Protection for Swimming Pools and Spas https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B011AFB...abc_SKTH0YHBHDW3T3TEM6FJ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

It's best to dispense the CYA in front of a return jet so that it doesn't get bound up in your filter for a few days.

Be aware that the tablets are also acidic and will tend to drive your pH down.
 
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MITBeta said:
An FC reading of 2.3ppm isn't possible with that kit. Nor is 8ppm CYA. Can you recheck?

You should be able to find stabilizer anywhere that sells pool chemicals, including some Home Depots, Lowes, etc. If all else fails, Amazon works. I bought some of this recently:

20 lbs Puri Tech Stabilizer Conditioner Cyanuric Acid UV Protection for Swimming Pools and Spas Amazon.com : 20 lbs Puri Tech Stabilizer Conditioner Cyanuric Acid UV Protection for Swimming Pools and Spas : Patio, Lawn & Garden

It's best to dispense the CYA in front of a return jet so that it doesn't get bound up in your filter for a few days.

Be aware that the tablets are also acidic and will tend to drive your pH down.
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Appreciate the speedy reply, thank you.
2.25 is the exact FC reading I got, the PoolMath app showed it as "2.3" when I just went to re look at it (edited above). I did the test twice with the new kit and once with the original kit (color matching instead of titration) and it all came out in the 2 to 2.5 range so I'm pretty confident in that 2.25 number. As for the CYA I really don't have enough to test...I filled the column and could still easily see the dot at the bottom. Figured 9 was the lowest marking so go with that...should probably just mark it as a zero until I can get a decent measurement (edited above as well).

Thank you for the link, will check HD as well. According to the app I need to add 5lbs 2oz by weight for my pool size to get that CYA up...sound about right?
 

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What test kit are you using?

Did you get a taylor or TFTEsT.net kit? Is it a FAS-DPD test? It is a binary test, when the color goes away, you are done. If you use 10ml you will get .0 and .5 increments. If you are using 25ml, then you will get .2 increments. That's why we are confused.
 
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PoolStored said:
What test kit are you using?

Did you get a taylor or TFTEsT.net kit? Is it a FAS-DPD test? It is a binary test, when the color goes away, you are done. If you use 10ml you will get .0 and .5 increments. If you are using 25ml, then you will get .2 increments. That's why we are confused.
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I got a Taylor K-2006 (updating signature now)...could have sworn I read it was 0.25 increments for the 25ml sample (grabs box)...apparently I can't read directions. 9 drops, 25ml sample, 1.8 FC (edited above).
 
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Not snake oil, but I can't see the bottle very well to see ingredients. I does say "Other Ingredients." They also claim that this liquid has a pool friendly pH of 8 vs. a very acid Cyanuric Acid competitor. I would steer clear and buy 99-100% CYA only. There are a bunch of Natural Chemistry that are really bad.

If you can't confirm it is 99-100% CYA, don't buy it.
 
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PoolStored said:
Not snake oil, but I can't see the bottle very well to see ingredients. I does say "Other Ingredients." They also claim that this liquid has a pool friendly pH of 8 vs. a very acid Cyanuric Acid competitor. I would steer clear and buy 99-100% CYA only. There are a bunch of Natural Chemistry that are really bad.

If you can't confirm it is 99-100% CYA, don't buy it.
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Thanks, edited above as well after reading a bit more. Saw the same things (additional stuff, pool friendly PH, etc) and thought better of it...won't be getting that.
 
Love the idea of the rock all around the pool. That is what we did. We picked out the bigger rocks and put them one by one as close to the bottom rail as close as I could get it with out touching the rail or wall.

Pushing TA down-it is like a yo-yo. Push the pH down to 7.2 using muriatic acid. This will push the TA down a bit. Then throw the kids in the pool to splash around and turn the return up to make it break the surface of the water. This will push the pH up again. Do the down and up over and over and over again until you get a TA of 80 or so. It is a process that could take a few days to get done.
 
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kimkats said:
Love the idea of the rock all around the pool. That is what we did. We picked out the bigger rocks and put them one by one as close to the bottom rail as close as I could get it with out touching the rail or wall.

Pushing TA down-it is like a yo-yo. Push the pH down to 7.2 using muriatic acid. This will push the TA down a bit. Then throw the kids in the pool to splash around and turn the return up to make it break the surface of the water. This will push the pH up again. Do the down and up over and over and over again until you get a TA of 80 or so. It is a process that could take a few days to get done.
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Sounds like a good plan then! (rock). I'm noticing that yo-yo effect. I've gone one round with the muriatic acid...probably need to do a few more. I've got one of these guys that I took the spray nozzle off of and just have the 1" opening shooting down into the water to create some aeration

1630365586913.png
 
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