As Newdude said - the ph test is inaccurate at fc levels above 10ppm. This is why ph is adjusted to 7.2 before beginning slam.
FOLLOW UP REPORT- Now
Is it “acid magic” or “magic acid”? There’s apparently a big difference.
I just rabbit holed Acid Magic and the website read suspiciously like the weak MA jug. They tried their best to claim to not be MA, but the Manufacturer Safety Data Sheet says otherwise. The strength was of course redacted as a trade secret.
Lol, I have.Ph is mostly for swimmer comfort. If it's far out of whack it may mess with the liner or equipment, but it's almost a non issue for clarity. It's an easy target for the pool store to throw you further out of whack. But. They have PH up *and* PH down. Here. Take 4 lbs of each. That'll be $137.
Anywho, focus on keeping the FC at SLAM level. The more often you can add, the better. Seriously, aim for 2 hours each. (But the best you can do is ok too, it's just going to take longer).
Keep the filter clean too and backwash as needed. What kind of filter do you have ? Sand filters take the longest to get everything out. They have tested the patience of everyone before you, so stick to the plan, have a beverage, and it will happen.
Acid Magic
Thank you for this. Now that I have a T-100 I mean a TF-100, I can watch that. I have no choice but to use it. 3 yrs ago I had pneumonia really bad and it damaged my lungs. I can't be within 4 feet of other Acid.
Look for the 15% version of MA. Kleen Strip is the brand at HD / Lowes (in the paint aisle) and it says 90% less fumes on the bottle. It's the same stuff and likely cheaper. It also may say green or eco.
My apologies, I'm cooking and didn't finish reply. My biggest problem was I slammed with a CYA above 90. Finally reduced to 80 and saw a little improvement. I've been at this and trying hard to follow the Slam process. I read here that a High PH can cause pool to be cloudy. I have vacuumed to waste every other day and backwashed also. The pool water is blue but cloudy with a white hue. I'll let ya know how this goes. Thank you for helping me!Ph is mostly for swimmer comfort. If it's far out of whack it may mess with the liner or equipment, but it's almost a non issue for clarity. It's an easy target for the pool store to throw you further out of whack. But. They have PH up *and* PH down. Here. Take 4 lbs of each. That'll be $137.
Anywho, focus on keeping the FC at SLAM level. The more often you can add, the better. Seriously, aim for 2 hours each. (But the best you can do is ok too, it's just going to take longer).
Keep the filter clean too and backwash as needed. What kind of filter do you have ? Sand filters take the longest to get everything out. They have tested the patience of everyone before you, so stick to the plan, have a beverage, and it will happen.
So the SLAM is really 2 stages. A kill the algae stage, and a filter it out stage. Milky means it's dead/ mostly dead, and you're in the filtering part of the battle. You keep the FC up because you don't want to lose any ground, but the FC will hold much longer, possibly even all day at some point.
Just catching up on this thread and didn't see an answer to the question about your filter. Are you watching it and keeping it clean too? I know when I did my (only!) SLAM when I first found TFP I had to keep backwashing my DE filter because it was filtering out so much dead algae it was constantly getting clogged up.