Starting over

[RedwingT]

I brushed some but not much. The bottom or sides didn't seem a bit slimy so I took a chance. The algae had just started and wasn't a huge issue, but started due to lack of me chlorinating as filling and stabilizing it from the start.

I will be adding chlorine as in the thread you mentioned at shock values. I plan on dissolving my 99% stabilizer and putting it thru the skimmer in 2 parts as soon as the water level is high enough. Once I get my chlorine level balanced I will start the SWCG. I know I need to test for pH etc. and I will, but I'm not anticipating any problems with those readings as I didn't have them before and I'm using the same water source. Fingers crossed my leveling (by eye) (shhhh) works!

[BigDave]

I'd suggest you add CYA by putting it in a sock and hanging that in front of the return. There's not much room in those Intex cartridge filters and the pleats may collapse.

[RedwingT]

I took your suggestion Dave and added to a sock and hung it. How long will it take until I start to see some results? I don't want to waste another CYA test. I think I read somewhere it will take about a wk before it actually shows up on the test? I added one lb. and it's probably half way dissolved at this point. Been chlorinating all day and just added enough to bring it up to shock for the night. I will be testing in about an hour. My pH was good and the FC was actually at 5 before I added more a bit ago. CC was at 0.5. (10ml tests) Going to make sure I am on top of this all day tomorrow with keeping the numbers at shock level.

I'm thinking of just sticking with bleach this year. I can't see buying 3 bags of salt for 3-4 more weeks of swimming.

[BigDave]

A week is good - don't bother testing until you've disolved at least 1-1/4 lbs. Total of 1-1/2 lbs. should get your pool to about 35ppm CYA and 2 lbs. to about 50ppm CYA. As Watermom always reminds: give the sock a squeeze now and again to help it disolve. Shock level for your pool with little CYA is 10ppm FC according to Ben's Best Guess Chart; when most of your CYA is disolved, it'll be 12ppm FC.

Your call on the salt - FWIW I think managing your pool with bleach for a while will give you a better idea how it reacts and make you transition to SWCG easier.

[RedwingT]

Added close to 1 more lbs of CYA. My pool is in full sun all day every day, so I thought if I could get it into the 50-60ppm It would be better? I hope it doesn't end up being too much! I can always pull the sock if you think it's going to be too much.

This morning my reading was: FC 10 CC 0.5
added 4 cups of bleach
added 3/4 lb CYA

3 hours later my readings were: FC 10.5 CC 0.5
added 4 cups bleach and stirred up the bottom of the pool.
Filter is running 24/7 and the pool remains covered since last night. More rain on the way and wanted to keep the sun off it as much as possible. The cover has air holes to vent along the sides and also in the middle, but those aren't doing any good as they are laying in the water.

Off to try and find some borax as I'm sure my pH is going to rise with all the CYA I put in.

[BigDave]

Added close to 1 more lbs of CYA. My pool is in full sun all day every day, so I thought if I could get it into the 50-60ppm It would be better? I hope it doesn't end up being too much! I can always pull the sock if you think it's going to be too much.

If your total CYA you've put in to this point is 2 lbs - Sounds real good to me.

Off to try and find some borax as I'm sure my pH is going to rise with all the CYA I put in.

The CYA shouldn't drop your pH by much - rain does that for me here on the east coast. I wouldn't try to move pH until it gets below 7.2 but it's better to have the chems you need available than to have to go find 'em after you need 'em.

[RedwingT]

Yes, total CYA is 2lbs that I've added. It is all dissolved so I'm just waiting a few days before I test for it.

I was on top of the bleach yesterday adding every cpl hours when needed. Uncovered the pool this morning and the bottom is crystal clear-no algae! YAY
Lets just hope uncovering on this beautiful full sun day doesn't help anymore to get started. FC 10 (from 15 last night) My CC is still at 0.5. The water looks excellent and I plan on testing and adding CHL every 4 hours today to keep it that way, as long as I don't have a pool full of neighborhood kids to deal with that is.

I'm not an early riser so can't seem to get my tests done before sunrise. So my plan is to cover every evening, hopefully that helps with my late morning tests. Plus leaves are starting to fall all around me, so that will also help with that.

I'm thinking of turning off the filter while they are swimming today to give it a break and ck the filter. It has been on 24/7 since I refilled on Monday. I've read a ton of reviews that say the pump is junk and quit after a couple of weeks and I don't want to be one of those statistics.

Thanks for all the help thus far, I'm sure I don't have it under total control as of yet, but am on my way!