This is a fun thread to watch! Dont forget we are picture hogs.
Opening my pond (pool) again, but this year will be different . . . right?
- Thread starter goonerbilt
- Start date
I usually get muriatic acid at my local Lowes. Their pool stuff is usually in the garden section, so you can check there. Its the high powered stuff. During the lockdown, I couldnt get to Lowes, so I checked with Tractor Supply, and they had it...for curbside pickup! It was the watered down version, I think 10%? but thats okay, works just as well without burning your eyelashes off.
Where I live my "local" Lowes is 45 minutes away. But I do have a TSC only 25 minutes away 
. I love posting pictures, but didn't want to bore ya'll with them. Attached is a picture of the much lighter green with the "possible" pile of algae at the bottom. Ironically enough there is a pool store and a custom hydraulic hose in one store in my little town. The owners of the pool store are good ole' small town people and are well aware of TFP and are all on board with me following the TFP method and know I won't be buying any chemicals from them other than the boxes and boxes of chlorine and some muratic acid (which they were out of) In my pre TFP years I bought all chemicals from . . . big gasp . . . Walmart. Sorry
. I love posting pictures, but didn't want to bore ya'll with them. Attached is a picture of the much lighter green with the "possible" pile of algae at the bottom. Ironically enough there is a pool store and a custom hydraulic hose in one store in my little town. The owners of the pool store are good ole' small town people and are well aware of TFP and are all on board with me following the TFP method and know I won't be buying any chemicals from them other than the boxes and boxes of chlorine and some muratic acid (which they were out of) In my pre TFP years I bought all chemicals from . . . big gasp . . . Walmart. Sorry Attachments
SILENCE !!!!!! We will hear NONE of that !!!!!!!! Pic away, and pic heavy !!! (Please)
There are plenty of great pool stores around. Its the 'big box stores' that con people like sheep. Some of the mom and pops do also, but usually you will find the small town guy has been there for years and if he loses his custmers he is finished. All the new people just google the nearest box store and rarely find the little guy. As long as its priced reasonable ( i wont pay double but i will pay 25% more for friendly knowledgeable service) i prefer to buy from my pool store. Keep local people in business, instead of making HD and Walmart execs that much richer. You know darn well they dont spend it on their employees.
They also generally have much better quality stuff for sale, albiet at a higher price. The box store brush may be half price, but they dont care when you need a new one in 3 months. The little guy doesn't want to you coming back mad becasue he actually knows you when you return.
Very true, I'm actually able to buy 12.5% Chorine from the local pool store cheaper (per % of Chlorine) than the 10% chlorine at Walmart. So I don't have to handle as many gallons.
For those who are curious on the count so far, I have put a total of 5.2 gallons in my pool so far and still have 10.8 gallons waiting to support the SLAM
For those who are curious on the count so far, I have put a total of 5.2 gallons in my pool so far and still have 10.8 gallons waiting to support the SLAM
Update (with photos )
I can attest that the SLAM FC levels TFP recommends are legit to what needs to be held. My pool sat between 5 to maybe 12 PPM for a week while I was testing and guessing values with strips while I waited for my test kit to arrive and there was only a very slight noticeable change to it during that whole week. Then as mentioned above, Sunday (6/7) I started the official SLAM and have been holding those numbers and don't allow the PPM to drop more than 2PPM from my 16PPM target. Since then there have been visual changes in the pool daily and this is with only liquid chlorine, non of that pool store "cure all" Crud!
I could officially see where in the world I was vacuuming last night! It turned out there were still a couple of the spiky balls from the gum tree that have been able to elude the leaf net and vacuum this whole time. Man am I glad that tree is GONE now! As you can see in the picture it still has a nice copper green look to it (dang algaecides from the past!), but the clarity is coming along nicely and the green is fading sloooowwwwwllllllyyyyyy.
Here is a 24 hour visual change from yesterday morning to this morning (same time of day and same spot in pool).
Yesterday
Today
Overall look of the nice emerald green (excuse the mess, pool isn't open for business yet)
) I can attest that the SLAM FC levels TFP recommends are legit to what needs to be held. My pool sat between 5 to maybe 12 PPM for a week while I was testing and guessing values with strips while I waited for my test kit to arrive and there was only a very slight noticeable change to it during that whole week. Then as mentioned above, Sunday (6/7) I started the official SLAM and have been holding those numbers and don't allow the PPM to drop more than 2PPM from my 16PPM target. Since then there have been visual changes in the pool daily and this is with only liquid chlorine, non of that pool store "cure all" Crud!
I could officially see where in the world I was vacuuming last night! It turned out there were still a couple of the spiky balls from the gum tree that have been able to elude the leaf net and vacuum this whole time. Man am I glad that tree is GONE now! As you can see in the picture it still has a nice copper green look to it (dang algaecides from the past!), but the clarity is coming along nicely and the green is fading sloooowwwwwllllllyyyyyy.
Here is a 24 hour visual change from yesterday morning to this morning (same time of day and same spot in pool).
Yesterday
Today
Overall look of the nice emerald green
(excuse the mess, pool isn't open for business yet)
That's awesome! Yup, just keep at it, the more frequently you can test & re-up FC, the faster it goes, but just keep consistent!
Update after 3.5 days of SLAM . . . Clarity even better, I can now see the bottom on the other side of the pool and the green is starting to clear up! Pool Store testing on Copper showed 0.0ppm. While I don't believe that, it does make me feel as though its not likely to be astronomically high like I was afraid of. See my separate Copper discussion here for more detail if you wish.
Oh man, it looks like it's about ready to turn "blue" for you!! How exciting, keep upping the FC as often as you can! Good job!!
4.5 days of SLAM - You called it @splashpad - Clarity of water with blue tint is finally here. I can see its heads!!! Lost 1.5ppm last night on OCLT and only a bit of dead algae laying around to finish collecting up each day to achieve true TFP clear and be able to finish out my first slam! Once I reach final SLAM completion, I'll post the final update.
Now that the water is so clear, I can see the damage I have done to the liner over my many years of improper pool care. I've done all the no no's (floating pucks around edges year after year, if I need 1 bag of shock . . . I'm sure 3 or 4 bags will do it even quicker, if the dry shock, dry acid, dry base sit on the bottom it will slowly dissolve on its own, ect ect. On top of that I believe the pool was put up in 2006, so the liner is 14 years old too. But you can see in the pictures where the steps go the liner is more blue and crisper looking. Soooo, yep my bad. I can't tell if the greenish hue in the photos are from the washed out liner, my camera (doesn't look that green in real life) or what, but once I zoomed in on the quarter it looks perfect!
Update photos
Now that the water is so clear, I can see the damage I have done to the liner over my many years of improper pool care. I've done all the no no's (floating pucks around edges year after year, if I need 1 bag of shock . . . I'm sure 3 or 4 bags will do it even quicker, if the dry shock, dry acid, dry base sit on the bottom it will slowly dissolve on its own, ect ect. On top of that I believe the pool was put up in 2006, so the liner is 14 years old too. But you can see in the pictures where the steps go the liner is more blue and crisper looking. Soooo, yep my bad. I can't tell if the greenish hue in the photos are from the washed out liner, my camera (doesn't look that green in real life) or what, but once I zoomed in on the quarter it looks perfect!
Update photos
Very well done!! 
Now the hardest part will be keeping the FC up, be sure to finish out the complete SLAM Process! Once it's warm enough (might be?) and you verify FC levels are within/up to SLAM level for your CYA, you can swim!!! And enjoy it!
Keep up your daily maintenance, and pool ownership really is enjoyable, it's not hard, but it does take a moment of time and a bit of effort! But the rewards are CLEARLY visible! hahahaha!!
Now the hardest part will be keeping the FC up, be sure to finish out the complete SLAM Process! Once it's warm enough (might be?) and you verify FC levels are within/up to SLAM level for your CYA, you can swim!!! And enjoy it!
Keep up your daily maintenance, and pool ownership really is enjoyable, it's not hard, but it does take a moment of time and a bit of effort! But the rewards are CLEARLY visible! hahahaha!!
Keeping a pool up on a farm is most challenging. I have found out that my kids (who I made the mistake of telling them is safe to swim as long as the ppm is below 15) have been swimming in the pool while I'm at work. They have been testing it for me through out the day and when they do the test and it is 15ppm or below they go for a quick dip, then they would call me to tell me the ppm for me to tell them how much chlorine to add. Dang kids!
Then last night while I was vacuuming before adding my nightly dose to the pool, my 6 year old son comes out of the woods covered in mud because he got his 4-wheeler stuck in a mud hole. Unknowing to me, Mom told him "go ahead and clean off in dad's pool" and before I could stop him he was in!!! Big cloud of muddy water surrounded him. As I'm always the first one in the pool after a long day of baling hay while still covered in it I just laughed and decided to push in my daughters with him but I didn't realize one still had on her mud boots (another mud cloud). It's just another day or so of SLAM and the family was having fun in the pool - the whole reason we have them right!
Then last night while I was vacuuming before adding my nightly dose to the pool, my 6 year old son comes out of the woods covered in mud because he got his 4-wheeler stuck in a mud hole. Unknowing to me, Mom told him "go ahead and clean off in dad's pool" and before I could stop him he was in!!! Big cloud of muddy water surrounded him. As I'm always the first one in the pool after a long day of baling hay while still covered in it
I just laughed and decided to push in my daughters with him but I didn't realize one still had on her mud boots (another mud cloud). It's just another day or so of SLAM and the family was having fun in the pool - the whole reason we have them right!
Using TFP-care, it's a little vacuum and a little more chlorine, not a heart attack!! ROFL
Glad it's being enjoyed!!!!
Glad it's being enjoyed!!!!
I'm a new pool caretaker and for some reason this thread caught my eye from the main page. I enjoyed catching up on it. Amazing to see the difference that took place with only a bit (lot) of chlorine! No algaecide 
.
.
Final update! Turns out I was wrong, that green tint was still algae clearing up and nothing else. I used to think that was crystal clear and I could see heads or tails so I was happy. However, I still didn't pass the SLAM criteria so I kept going and boy am I glad I did!! Finally passed the OCLT on Saturday night. This is truly what "TFP clear" is. It has never been this clear and I could not be happier.
To anybody new reads this thread and is unsure of the SLAM method, I'm here to attest that it works and the only hard part to it is patience. But you MUST see it all the way through. It is worth it!
Pool is officially open for business. However water temp is now down to 63F due to the cold spell we are having . . . figures
To anybody new reads this thread and is unsure of the SLAM method, I'm here to attest that it works and the only hard part to it is patience. But you MUST see it all the way through. It is worth it!
Pool is officially open for business. However water temp is now down to 63F due to the cold spell we are having . . . figures
Look a that!! Very very nice! Sorry for the cold spell! At least the low temp will help it stay clean! heeheehee!
I'm afraid this new higher (much higher) standard of clarity might cause me to be obsessed with it now though.
Also, forgot to give final count. 6 whole days of slam, brushing every day, vacuuming on high on days 3 to 4, vacuuming on low speed for better filtering on days 5 and 6, and 11.5 gallons of 12.5% bleach (CYA at 40) in a 13k gallon pool to take it from the below picture (yes the boy and I were starting the process in the rain) to the final picture above.
Also, forgot to give final count. 6 whole days of slam, brushing every day, vacuuming on high on days 3 to 4, vacuuming on low speed for better filtering on days 5 and 6, and 11.5 gallons of 12.5% bleach (CYA at 40) in a 13k gallon pool to take it from the below picture (yes the boy and I were starting the process in the rain) to the final picture above.
@goonerbilt Thats exactly what will happen. Once you see what clarity and high standard you can have with your pool, you'll never be satisfied with less. Gorgeous pool!