Opened for first time with old loop loc mesh cover green swamp

[Spensar]

Hi
... the pool opened dark green..I've gotten it to light green now 10 days later with 20 gallons of liquid shock, some algecide, soda ash and I just tried some stabilizer and pool perfect...why not..

The algecide, and perhaps the pool perfect, likely used up chlorine that could have been whacking algae instead. At its simplest, going green to clear is getting the chlorine up to a shock level and keeping it there until the water is clear again. I suspect that the chlorine level over 10 days fell fairly low at times and the algae got a chance to bounce back at bit. It takes a surprising amount of chlorine to kill off all the algae. You are correct that the algae is using up the chlorine going in.

Do you know how much water is in your pool? http://www.poolforum.com/zxq/BleachCalc262.exe is useful to calculate the amount of bleach required to get to a target chlorine level.

[Gretzky99]

So the chlorine tablets aren't fighting the algae? I need to use more liquid shock daily? I'm not sure if it's 8ft or 10 in the deep end so it is probably between 20 and 30,000 gallons.

I couldn't figure out the calculator. It said I need one gallon of bleach to get it up to 3ppm?? which is the ideal level?

[Watermom]

The ideal chlorine levels depends on how high your CYA level is. Take a look at the Best Guess Chlorine Chart in my signature below for more about that.

[Gretzky99]

I don't know what the chart is supposed to do. If I don't dump something else in there my readings won't go up from zero or zero - low.

[sabres07]

My advice to you is this.....read all the stickys in this forum and take the time to really understand the chemistry of a pool and how each number affects the other. Once you understand that, just follow the BBB method. Get a good test kit (Taylor 2006c) and whack away with the chlorine. It's simple but difficult at the same time until you understand the process.

[TomC]

I too have a loop-loc mesh cover, this is my 2nd season with it. My pool has been a swamp both times I opened it. Previously I had a regular solid winter cover, held down by water bags. I got tired of pumping off the cover, and cleaning off the leaves. That's why I went with the all mesh cover. Do not replace your old cover with an all mesh cover. There are 2 other loop-locs you can buy, one has a couple of mesh panels that let water through, the other is a solid cover with a pump. Either of these will prevent your pool from turning into a swamp over the winter.

Tom