Got my 234 today...and boy do I need help! (newbie alert)

[klondrie]

pooldoc, I haven't received my test kit yet, have they been sent out yet?

[gonefishin]

ok...some time has elapsed...


Here are the second set of numbers...

FC - 18 (0.5 old)
CC - 3 (1.5 old)
TC - 21 (2.0 old)

PH - 7.3 (7.3 old)
ALK - 270 (290 old)
Cal - 250 (280 old)
Cya - 25 (0.0 old)
temp - 64 (64 old)

Since the first set of numbers (old numbers) I have kept the chlorine numbers up (though it seems a little too high...it won't go down). I have kept the pool vacuumed and clean...also running the filter every other day for 8 hours or more (is this too much...too little?)

I've also added 3lbs of stabilizer (cya). Which brought it up...but not as high as I was thinking...should I add more to be above 30?



The last four days I've added 1 gallon of muriatic acid and am running my pump sun up to sun down. While running the pump the discharge is facing up and to the right so it aerates rather nice.

But the TA numbers really haven't changed all that much...and neither has my PH. I was going to add another gallon of muriatic acid over the next four days (1/2 gallon every two days). Is this too much or too little. I was planning to just follow this schedule until I see the desired effect. Then if the PH drops too much...I would cut back. But it hasn't changed...should I add more...or just stay the course with the 1/2 gallon every two days? Is it ok to turn the pump off at night (it's kind of noisy).

Is the Cal anything I should be concerned about? Seems rather high...but I don't know how to actually interpret that (so much to learn)

I can't thank you (all) enough for the information here. I think I've read nearly every thread in the forum that's available. I am learning...thanks so much!

dan

[Sigrid]

Hi Dan,

The only thing I can help you on is the alk. I just got through aerating for weeks, and it wasn't until I posted to the forum that I found out my pH wasn't *quite* low enough. Once I got it low enough, the alk dropped fast--from 190 to 100 in 2 days.

I'm not sure what your test kit looks like and my pool is 33K gallons, so don't add the same amount of acid I did. I discovered that I needed to add a gallon to lower the pH from 7.4 to 7.2. Per everyone who responded to my post, the pH needs to be at about 7 for the alk to gas off via aeration. With my test kit, I got it to 7.2 (light orange), and then added another 1/2 gallon of muriatic to get it to a lighter orange, which I'm guessing was about 7. I never did get it into 6.8pH territory. Once I did that, the aeration went quickly.

Use the calculater to figure out the right amount of acid for the size of your pool. Something I learned, however, is that the calculator is based on I think 31% muriatic. I had to add WAY more than the calculator said to drop the pH, and got worried I was putting too much acid in. I finally read MY bottles of muriatic and found they were only 13% concentration...

The other thing I learned to speed things up is that more bubbles are better. I had two returns I could plug things into to make bubbles. Had a fountain in one and a piece of pvc pipe jammed in the other that made about a 4' arc into the water. Also, I was aerating 24/7.

I'm sorry I can't help with the calcium, CYA and chlorine levels (although with your CC level, you need to add more chlorine, just not sure how much). This forum is great, so I'm sure you'll get answers to everything.

Good luck!

[waterbear]

Your calcium levels are just fine....don't lose any sleep over them as long as they stay under about 400 ppm and you get your ALK down to under 150 (around 100-120 would be even better)

[gonefishin]

hey hey

I added some more muratic...which finally dropped the PH. Then after a day and a half of areating...the TA dropped from 270 to 180. Looks like just more areation...then I'll see where I'm at


thanks! this wouldn't have been possible without this site

dan

[ShelleyAnn]

I'm no expert, but I believe running your pump/filter for only 8 hours, every other day, may not be enough. If you've got beautiful clear water with that, then just ignor me, and let me know how it's working and I may switch to that!

Shelley

[gonefishin]

Thanks for the comments Shelly

Right now I'm running the pump about 16 hours a day trying to aerate the TA to a lower number.

So far this year the pool has been very clear. But...the water temperature was in the low 60's most of the time. I don't know if this helps or not. Also...the pump only has one speed...high. So it's running at full speed the whole time.

As time goes on...I suppose I'll find out if this is enough or not. But I figure I'll be running it nearly every day...turning it off at night once we start using it

thanks,
dan