Sick of Algae!

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I think that tells me my TA is high. I need to lower my pH right? CYA is higher today for some reason, I didn't add anything to increase it. And I need to add some LC to increase my FC a little bit. Is that right?
 
jdfreeman said:
FC - 5.5
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With CYA of 50, your target is 6-8. Dose enough that, when you test, your FC is in range. If you need to dose higher, so you are range when you test, do that. If your CYA changes, look up your range again with this...Link-->FC/CYA Levels This is your #1 objective if you don't want algae again..
jdfreeman said:
pH - 7.8
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Any pH in the 7s is just fine. pH will always rise on its own, no need to raise it. Us muriatic acid to lower it.
jdfreeman said:
TA - 280
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The ONLY impact of a high TA is that your pH will rise faster. As you lower pH with muriatic acid, it will lower TA also. When pH rises on its own, TA does not rise. If you find your acid additions are very often, then read this...Link-->Lowering TA (Total Alkalinity) with Aeration; quickly.
jdfreeman said:
CYA - 50
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Keep your CYA between 30 and 60. If you are using a lot of liquid chlorine, then raise it to 60 and that will help. CYA will degrade over time, so check it weekly or at least every 2 weeks.
jdfreeman said:
CH - 70
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CH doesn't matter in a vinyl pool without a heater. You can even stop testing it if you want. If you every have foaming, and you have never put anything in except chlorine and muriatic acid, then raise your CH to 120-150. If you are unsure on the foaming, post up a picture here. I doubt you will ever encounter foaming.

Congrats!
 
Thanks! I added about 40 oz. of 11% LC around 4:45 this afternoon. I just checked and the FC is 7.5 which is in range for CYA of 50. And that was with a few hours of sun left in the day. Do you typically have to add LC every day? What is a normal week look like adding LC? Do you test for FC every day?
 
Test fc every day. Dose up to 10 tonight. See what your daily demand is tomorrow by testing at the end of the day. Then you will know how you need to dose to stay in range when you test. If you use 5, you will still be safe. Demand is highest in June/july.
 
jdfreeman said:
Thanks! I added about 40 oz. of 11% LC around 4:45 this afternoon. I just checked and the FC is 7.5 which is in range for CYA of 50. And that was with a few hours of sun left in the day. Do you typically have to add LC every day? What is a normal week look like adding LC? Do you test for FC every day?
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I use roughly (normally) 22-26 oz of LC per day. A gallon a week or 5-6 days how I figured it out. Obviously when I add sanitizer for CYA increase it does change. With my CYA at 30-40 that is. how big is your pool? I see in your signature 26,000 or so gallons or so. Curious what size your pump is as well, my little secret recently was the "turnover of water" per Hayward on gallons and the hours it takes. It sure seems it has helped with everything. Although I question why "Crud" still don't circulate and filter out during those 8-10 hours after a vaccum as well.
And your logs always show "in X amount of hours add LC that's interesting. I can't figure out why yours shows that it's rubbing a crystal ball it seems. 😂
 

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PoolStored said:
Turnover of water is a myth

Turnover of Pool Water - Further Reading

www.troublefreepool.com www.troublefreepool.com
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I just stated that to the $1000 robot cleaner and $200 one and they didn't believe me. Told them get back to work and skimmer sock was proof of what they missed. 😂
this after a vaccum to filter. Pump on or off in my 1 year experience so far it's a given.
 

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jdfreeman said:
I’ve never used a skimmer sock, is that typical? Is it needed?
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Not necessary, but it certainly helps. These are a cheap solution. If you have a skimmer basket, put these over the top. Put a rock larger than the suction tube inside the basket. Check them DAILY!!! Don't want to burn up your pump if they get full of crud. Skimmers socks are a pain to clean. These are disposable...I run them all year and change out every couple days. More frequently in pollen season.

Link-->
 
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It looks like I’m using anywhere from 10-13.5 ppm of FC per day. These are pushing 100 degree days with sunshine all day. It’s hot! I’m still trying to figure out amount of LC to adjust because it says 10.5% on the container but it’s likely closer to 13%. Based on a 10-13.5 usage of FC per day I have to add almost 2 gallons of LC a day to keep it in range where algae doesn’t grow. Does this sound right? It was a lot of work and money to SLAM and it looks like I need to babysit the pool daily to make sure algae doesn’t grow. Is this just the way it is? Or is there an easier way to keep algae from growing?
 
If you are absolutely sure you don't have algae, and you can keep your FC in range every day, raise your CYA to 70. Do it in increments of 10. Try 60 and see how much improvement you get. There is a "hump," seemingly between 60 and 70 that is noticeable WRT chlorine demand reduction.

I knew what I was doing, and never let the pool get away from me, and I ran 70-80 CYA to lower chlorine demand.

The only downside of running at 70 is that slam gets harder at 70, and replacing around 10% to get back to 60 if you need to slam is the only downside of running 70.
 
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I had to get more chlorine today but I tested my FC about 12:00 and it was 2. The LC I’m buying says 10.5% but the store says thats what they guarantee but it’s likely 12-13%. According to pool calculator, to get my FC up to 10, I needed to add almost 2 gallons of 11% LC. Knowing that is probably too much, I added half of that, 1 gallon. Checked FC after 15 min or so and it was 8. So 128 oz increased FC by 6ppm. I added 24 more oz but have not checked FC but I assume it’s around 10 now.

How would you raise CYA? Maybe I should try bumping to 60? Use tablets or shock? Or can you add CYA only?
 

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