New pool owner-algae and general questions

Algae problems in swimming pool water.
Green (cloudy) water or slimy pool walls.
Black algae. Mustard algae. Pink or white pool mold.
morethanmyself

New pool owner-algae and general questions

Postby morethanmyself » Mon 12 May, 2008 08:42

Ok, this is probably going to be the longest post, but I'm completely pool-illiterate. I checked archives and found lots of good info, but not my exact situation. Admittedly this is our own fault for leaving it, but no changing that now. We bought our house in October last year, it has an above ground pool, 11000 gallons with sand filter. Through neglect the pool became filled with leaves and debris over the winter (the tarp the previous owners left us was useless and blew off repeatedly). We got all the solid gunk out with the leaf bag and finally got the pump working again and vaccuumed. This was all done in water we couldn't even see into because the algae is so thick! We took a sample to Leslie's and our numbers were:

FAC: 0
pH: 7.8
TA: 20
CH: 50
CYA: 0

$300 in pool chemicals later (we had nothing to start with because the people we bought the house from left us a couple of bottles of Baquacil maintainer and I think it was going to be more expensive to shock to clear with the Baquacil than to start over with chlorine). We are the proud owners of:

condition
alkaliinity up
chlor brite
algae control
hardness plus
pool magic + phos free
(tri or di, I can't remember) chlorine tablets and floating dispenser

We started out by putting the condition in. The instructions said into the skimmer (please keep in mind we're completely pool illiterate and don't laugh too hard at us) and I thought they meant the mesh leaf skimmer, so we spread it through that into the pool water. Now that I've read up a bit, I realize they meant the actual water intake- so how bad is that?

Waited 4 hours per instructions. Then added alkalinity up- 7lbs waited an hour then another 7lbs.

The next morning the pool was looking a bit better and then we added 3lbs of the chlor brite to shock it. Immediately the pool looked better. We waited 4 hours and then added the algae control and it was even better. During the shock and algae control we had some really nasty algae/foam stuff, we just were careful to keep it cleared out of the water intake. Oh, and we've been running the filter almost non stop since we got it working Saturday and the sand is brand new.

So now the water is a cloudy bluish/green/greyish color, the foam is gone. You still can't see the bottom, but it looks *much* cleaner than before. The pool supply company's instructions didn't say to keep adding shock or anything and the next instructions are for the Hardness Plus and then the Pool Magic.

But, I'm wondering if I need to actually need to keep shocking it or wait to add the other stuff until it's actually clear. Also, I've been reading that the chlorine that we got from Leslies (shock and tablets) contains CYA- since ours was 0 is that something I need to worry about?

Finally, did we get taken for suckers by the pool store? I about had a heart attack when my husband said it cost $300! We haven't opened the Hardness Plus, Pool Magic or chlorine tabs, so if there's a cheaper alternative to what we're using we could take those back.

I'm so sorry this is long, I tried to give a complete run down of what we have and what we've done, but if you guys need more information LMK and I'll be happy to do the best I can. We don't have a test kit so I can't give current exact numbers.

Thanks!!
Kimberly in North Carolina


muss08
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Posts: 332
Joined: Fri 07 Mar, 2008 20:56
Location: Maryland

Postby muss08 » Mon 12 May, 2008 11:21

First- get a pool kit!! I suggest the Taylor K 2006. DO NOT TRUST THE POOL STORE! Quite often their testing equipment isnt cleaned between water samples so samples can be easily tainted. You can get Cyanuric Acid (conditioner) from home depot or lowes. You can use liquid bleach as your source of chlorine (clorox will do). Regular baking soda can raise alkalinity. Muriatic Acid (again- home depot or lowes) to lower pH and alkalinity. Much cheaper than pool store chemicals. If you're shocking the pool dont bother with the algaecide. That's more for maintenance later. CYA (conditioner) should be around 30-50ppm. Your trichlor or dichlor tabs have CYA in them so if you use those your CYA will continuously rise. Need to get your alkalinity up to around 80ppm. pH down to 7.4-7.6. First get a couple gallons of bleach in the pool and add some of the alkalinity increaser you have(no point in waisting it). You are also going to want to get more conditioner in. Putting directly in the pool isnt going to hurt but i suggest putting it in a sock and placing the sock in front of a return to let it dissolve. Brush to allow the filter to grab all the particles just watch your pressure and backwash as needed. Keep the filter running until the water clears. Yes you need to keep shocking it until the FC level holds overnight. THis means everything is dead. But first you need the test kit!
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Emi...

Also new pool onwer

Postby Emi... » Mon 26 May, 2008 13:21

I feel so luckt that I am not alone! I am also a new pool owner and well so far I uncovered my inground pool 16x 32 and I have a very clumpy green algae infestation. So far I have only purchased 52 dollars worth of chemicals - mainly the algaecide and schock (oh and lube).

I was only able to pour algaecide. I was afraid and decided not to pour the shock because i was not able to turn on the sand filter Hayward S-200.

I am currently doing some research on the difference between filter, rinse and backwash and am feeling overwhelmed. I am not sure what to do first but below are is the steps that I think I am supposed to take - hope someone can help me.

1) Remove leaves with basket
2) Brush walls of pool to remove algae
3) Is there a checmical I can use to gather the algae together so that I can remove it easily and preventing much of it from going through the filter?
4) Remove the valves in the pool
5) Replace with eye balls
6) Shock the pool (or do this after filter?)
7) Place valve of sand filter to filter or backwash? ....not sure....I believe under normal cicumstances I would start with the filter but I know that I have clumps of algae that will clogg the filter so do I go straight to backwash?
8) Go back from bacwash to rinse to filter and continue ?

Well I guess this is all I have and as I continue my research my pool is uncovered and algae sits. So far it is now uncovered for 1 night and one day.........help????????????????????????????

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