Pool Newbie Turning slightly green

[dgramenz]

There may be a thread already but I was having dreams last night that my pool turned into a swamp so want to catch this before it gets too bad. It is getting a green hue to it. We have a 18'x48' Intex salt water. I dont have the good test strips but this is the it says.

PH - 7.2
FC 5
cya 180
PPM Stablizer 0 - i have tried bringing this up with no luck

I put some stablizer in a sock and hung it this morning.

I also run the filter 24/7 is that good or bad?

What can i do to get it clear again! Thank you!!

 

[Razorhog]

First - Welcome! Second - there are no "good" test strips! Get yourself a TF100 or Taylor K2006 test kit. Do not add stabilizer based on test strip results! Take the sock out now! What have you been using to sanitize? Pucks, powdered shock, liquid chlorine? Let us know.

 

[Rollercoastr]

Welcome! I'm hoping that you meant CH is 180?

 

[dgramenz]

I took the sock out. I have just used the boost on the salt water system. The alkalinity is high - have been struggling to get that down. Its showing 180 according to test strip.

 

[Rollercoastr]

What we're confused by is that CYA is stabilizer. You listed CYA at 180, which is painfully high, and then "stabilizer" 0...

 

[dgramenz]

Sorry i am just learning the abb - cya is 0 - the TA is 180

 

[Rollercoastr]

ah, ok. TA at 180 is much easier to manage than CYA at the level, so that's good news. Maybe you can put the sock with CYA back in, but the next problem is that we can't rely on test strips for any degree of accuracy. Have you ordered a kit yet?

 

[dgramenz]

I am going to order the kit today but it will take a few days. My boyfriend is going to bring a sample to the pool store!! sigh. He doesnt trust what i am doing lol. I told him dont buy anything from them just get the results.

 

[Rollercoastr]

Definitely add a SpeedStir. The extra geek/swag factor can help convince witnesses that you're serious. (oh, they're fun and convenient to use too)

Don't say bleach. You can type it here, but when speaking to friends, BF and neighbors, say: "I need to boost the sodium hypochlorite level." Avoid "CYA" too - it sounds like we're covering something. "hmmm, I'm not wild about this reading on the cyanuric acid"

 

[dgramenz]

LOL!! thank you

 

[dgramenz]

Sounds like we needed to add salt. PLus they said hardness is low-need to add Calcium up and Combined chlorine concentration is high and to add proteam multi magic shock.

 

[mknauss]

You do not need the Calcium Up -- you have a vinyl pool. Low CH is not an issue.

Use bleach instead of the shock. It adds either cyanuric acid or calcium. Of course, if your CH is low you could use the shock - is it Cal Hypo? Bleach is cheaper, however.

You need a test kit to get this right -------

Take care.

 

[Fingaling]

Did you add stabilizer? You mention you tried to bring it up. If you added enough to bring to a certain level you should just assume it's in your pool and chlorinate and slam based on what you added.