Which chemical to address first?

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Deltakilo7

Deltakilo7

Well-known member
Jul 16, 2020
58
Valparaiso IN
Pool Size
13500
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
Hello. I’m doing this by myself and you all helped me greatly last year. After reading many forum posts I’d like to ask which chemical should I adjust first? I’m thinking fix the CYA first but I don’t trust myself. Yesterday I removed the leaf net. (Did not use a cover this winter). The pool was terribly dark green and smelly but after adding 6 gallons of chlorine and letting it run all night it looks much better. Cloudy and light green. The FC before bed was 15. This morning it was 4 then 3 after a few hours of sun.
Here’s a pic of how it looks today. Shoulda seen it yesterday. Yuck.

Currently
FC 3
CC 1.5
CYA is zero
TA 180
PH is bright yellow, 8.2++
CH 2001DE98630-9E27-447E-8B05-3CE90F1AEE93.jpeg
 
Hey DK !!! How’d it go ? PH doesn’t get bright yellow. The chlorine OTO drops do, but not PH. That one is either various shades of orange(low) or various shades of pink (OK-high).
 
Did you have CYA when you closed? With no CYA your chlorine isn't going to last very long. How long after adding chlorine did you take the chlorine test? Do you have a more recent test?
 
Newdude said:
Hey DK !!! How’d it go ? PH doesn’t get bright yellow. The chlorine OTO drops do, but not PH. That one is either various shades of orange(low) or various shades of pink (OK-high).
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Hi there. Thanks for your comment. Yeah I know I misspoke. It was bright pink is what I meant. High. Well, it’s taking forever to clear the cloudiness and i think it’s because I was aiming for a target pH of 7.6. Now I think I should go for 7.2 or 7.0. Are you able to see my test logs? Why isn’t it clearing up? I’ve noticed that my liner feels like sand paper below the water line. Don’t know what that means and am afraid to ask.
 
P.S. I’ve been Slamming for 6 days now and it’s still cloudy. It’s a pretty blue but I can’t see the bottom. I test twice a day and log the results and my chemical additions. Am I linking my results from the Pool Math app so you can see? I don’t see it.
 
To SLAM correctly, you need to get some CYA into the water. Start with 40ppm and then raise your FC to 16ppm for the SLAM. Remember to test your FC frequently and re-top the FC back to 16 each time. That will keep you in the killing algae mode at all times which is what you need to get ahead of any more algae continuing to grow. Then it's a filtration game. Clean your filter frequently because it will clog in a hurry as it's filtering the dead algae. Keep an eye on your filter pressure gauge and when it goes up 25%, you know it's definitely time to clean it.
 
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Deltakilo7 said:
it’s taking forever to clear the cloudiness and i think it’s because I was aiming for a target pH of 7.6. Now I think I should go for 7.2 or 7.0.
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Let it be. At 10 or above FC the reading is invalid. For a CYA your target is a 16 FC. Any time below target will make the SLAM take longer. You really need to be testing/adding every 2 hours for the first day or two. But life gets in the way sometimes and that’s not possible. We get that. Just understand that it will take a lot longer to do the same job.
Deltakilo7 said:
Am I linking my results from the Pool Math app so you can see? I don’t see it
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Yes we can see the by clicking your profile. (y)
 
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DeanP66 said:
To SLAM correctly, you need to get some CYA into the water. Start with 40ppm and then raise your FC to 16ppm for the SLAM. Remember to test your FC frequently and re-top the FC back to 16 each time. That will keep you in the killing algae mode at all times which is what you need to get ahead of any more algae continuing to grow. Then it's a filtration game. Clean your filter frequently because it will clog in a hurry as it's filtering the dead algae. Keep an eye on your filter pressure gauge and when it goes up 25%, you know it's definitely time to clean it.
Click to expand...
Okay I’ve not been topping off the FC during the day but I’ll start doing that. Thanks!
 
The more times you can check and re-top it per day, the better. The key to the SLAM is keeping that FC at SLAM level as much as possible. If you only check it once or twice a day, especially in the early stages, you'll never get ahead of the algae. You'll kill some, but more will continue to grow and you'll be spinning your wheels. FC at SLAM level basically ensures that you can get ahead of the algae and kill it all (even if it takes some time) without losing any ground.
 

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I’ve been shocking my pool for almost two weeks and it’s still cloudy. There’s a rough buildup of something on the vinyl below the water level that’s very hard to brush off. When I first tried to vacuum in the middle it shot a white/grey cloudy plume back into the pool so I vacuumed to waste for about a half hour. I test FC often and try to keep it at 16. The last time I checked the CYA was 30 but I’m out of the CYA reagent and am having trouble getting any through Amazon or Taylor Technologies. I started out very hopeful because last season I was successful but now I’m getting discouraged. Any suggestions?
 
I have a sand filter, so not my area of expertise, but could you cartridge need replacement / cleaning? My thought process is, once that small particulate matter fills up every inch of the filter there's no more trapping it so its right back into the pool. My guess would be you would have to clean it multiple times until the cloudiness dissipates.
 
tensec10 said:
I have a sand filter, so not my area of expertise, but could you cartridge need replacement / cleaning? My thought process is, once that small particulate matter fills up every inch of the filter there's no more trapping it so its right back into the pool. My guess would be you would have to clean it multiple times until the cloudiness dissipates.
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Maybe but I’ve been cleaning the filter twice a day. That plume of debri cleared up after awhile. I’ll try cleaning it more often and I guess get a new one if nothing else works. Thanks.
 

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