Opening 30ft above ground vinyl pool HELP

[Ilovemylife1129]

Hello! I just tested leveled from my pool to start opening it. I knew I’d have to SLAM since my pool is green. I just started TFP method last year. Can I get some suggestions on getting started based on my numbers?
FC- 0
CYA- 0? I could fill to the top of the cylinder and still see the black dot
CH- 150
TA- 66
PH- 8.2? The color was so magenta so 8.2 is the highest reading in the kit.
Any suggestions on getting started would be great!!! Why is my CYA so low? Is that ok or? Should I bring the PH down some. How much muriatic acid do you recommend I start with?
Is my CH and TA okay as is?
What should I do to adjust before starting SLAM?
Thank you all!

 

[zea3]

Did you run the pump for 30 minutes before pulling a water sample to test? If you did use poolmath to add enough chlorine to reach 10ppm and test it again in 15 minutes and report the result here. Its very important to retest in 15 minutes and not wait longer.

 

[zea3]

To answer your other questions your CH is fine, TA will change with pH reduction. Use poolmath to drop pH to 7.0, circulate and re-test. It may take a few rounds of MA to bring the pH down.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

The pump was probably running for 20-30 minutes before I tested? Should I test again? Or add chlorine?

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Should I adjust the PH before starting to SLAM?

 

[zea3]

Do the 15 minute chlorine test first and we'll see where to go once you have the results.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Thank you! Heading out to do that now!

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

15 minute test results
FC 3.5
CC .05
CYA could see the black dot with it filled to the top
CH 175
TA 66
PH 8.2 or higher(8.2 was highest reading)

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

What do you suggest?

 

[CraigChing]

Sounds like zea was having you test for ammonia. You should probably start reading this

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Do you think I have ammonia? My ph is really high not low and my CC is low at .05 not high.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Should I treat for ammonia?

 

[CraigChing]

I don’t have a lot of experience with this, I’m opening on Saturday and monitoring threads like this because I expect to lose a lot of CYA myself. For me, though, it’ll be a good thing as I’ve been battling an inherited pool with high CYA for the last couple of seasons.

You could follow the advice in that link and continue adding chlorine and testing to see if you can get FC to hold. If it is ammonia though, don’t add CYA until you can get FC to hold

 

[CraigChing]

You might find this post interesting as well until the experts get back to you It Can Happen to Anyone - Zero Chlorine, CYA-->Ammonia

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

After reading another past post on here about ammonia, I am going to treat for ammonia every 30 minutes testing until my chlorine stays above 5ppm. The hen I will just SLAM as normal.
Just wondering at what point should o try to lower the ph? And will I need to raise the CYA eventually?

 

[zea3]

Go ahead and lower the ph, then start your ammonia remediation. You can test as often as every 15 minutes if you wish. Once the chlorine holds you can add CYA and start the regular slam. Do not add CYA until all the ammonia is gone.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

How will I know all the ammonia is gone? The FC stays above 5?

 

[zea3]

You keep raising FC to 10, checking in 15 minutes and when you test with 6ppm or more the ammonia is gone. Ammonia consumes FC very quickly, so when chlorine holds longer the ammonia is gone.

 

[Ilovemylife1129]

Ok thank you!!!