Dead Mouse

[matt4x4]

Wollfe, if your chlorine got eaten up that fast, you were probably on the verge of an algae bloom, you can usually tell when that's about to happen because your beautiful clear pool will feel just a little bit slippery on the liner - the sign of an algae bloom - chlorinate immediately.

[elsie]

Last year, in an effort to save small critters that find their way into the pool, usually during the overnight hours, I started keeping a good-sized rubber ball in the skimmer. Since then, numerous frogs have been saved (along with many bugs). More often than not, they hang onto the side or top of the floating ball until I can get them out in the morning.

Unfortunately, little tiny mice don't seem to have that same capacity; just recently several have succumbed. I always feel badly about that, but time marches on...

[Wolffe]

Yeah, I think I'd be a wee bit nervous if I heard thumping from the skimmer! "I need an old priest and a young priest. The power of Christ compels you!"

As for the Chlorine usage... the pool walls felt fine (I checked for that too). Still, I shocked it again and the next day it dropped back down to about 1.5-2ppm again.

Yesterday I picked up some replacement CYA test chemicals and my CYA level was far below 30. I dumped some more stabilizer in and I raised my CL to 4ppm. I'll test again tonight and see where everything stands.

We've already been swimming since the mouse "incident"... I'm glad it didn't freak out my wife too much. Thank goodness she didn't find it. She found our first frog and came running into the house yelling that there was an animal in the pool! I was expecting to find a dead raccoon or something...

[matt4x4]

Just an FYI that the walls won't feel slippery until it's way too late IMO. you can usually tell by touching the floor - there may not be anything visible yet.