WHite water mold- new pool owner

[sweepmeup]

My I-pool installed in mid July, heater on Oct 11th. I heated it to 84 and used 4 times before noticing quite large tissue in the middle of the very CLEAR water. floating. I used a minnow net with a skimmer sock and scooped and scooped. I found White ( spider mite looking ) creatures floating on my water-they have antennas and legs 3-4 on each side- coming in a variety of sizes- LUCKY ME ! They were their before my Oct 1 water change also-IDK if they have anything to do with my problem. Is this DANGEROUS ?
I have turned the SWCG and HEAT OFF and have been growing WWM inside a clear class jar on my window sill.
Then I found YOU "PF"- for 5 days been reading through the forum with my puffy eyes from crying/sobbing SMH. in disbelief. My #'s are: @ a Temp of 70 F
TC- 3.0
FC-3.0
CC-0
PH-7.8
AD-2
TA-145
CYN-90
TDS-4,400
salt-not tested
Ran through at the "pool store" computer yest. They said to ADD 5.8 Oz of M.ACID- so I bought a gallon, also borax, and baking soda. Have "NOT" done anything yet. :/
I'm going to vacuum and brush now and will wait patiently for a reply.
As far as re-testing I only have 6 way aqua chem strips, salt and copper strips too.
But, I will run a sample back to the pool store tomorrow. taylor kit 2006 is in my amazon cart-havent bought it yet in case you advise me to BUY something additional. THANK YOU very very much. SWEEPMEUP

[CarlD]

If "CYN" is stabilizer then your problem is obvious: You need to shock your pool up to a FC level of about 20ppm and hold it there till everything in your pool is dead. What you describe sounds more like a hot tub than a pool: 1500 gallons, 6'x8'. I would start by adding a quart of bleach--8.25%--to your pool, and having the water tested.

Meanwhile you need to get a better test kit. If there's a WalMart nearby, look for the HTH 6-Way drop test kit, and pick up a gallon of steam distilled water. You can dilute the pool water with the distilled water to double, triple or quadruple the test kit's chlorine reading. 3 parts of distilled to 1 of pool water will mean that "5" on the tester really means "20"...which is where you need to be.

As for the borax and baking soda--not appropriate. Baking soda with a TA of 145 is about the worst thing you can add. Borax raises pH, but borates in it inhibit algae. Muriatic acid will lower pH but at 7.8 it's tricky to lower it in such a very small pool. So that was pretty bad advice.

[sweepmeup]

CarlD, Yes, CYN is stabilizer-And my "I-pool" is almost like a hot tub- no jets accept for the normal return from pump- My doctors wrote a prescription for 85 degree water for Hydrotherapy 20--30minutes 2-3 times a day. I'm disabled with complex regional pain syndrome. A nerve issue- Do water aerobics and stretching, stationary swimming from a rubber band with a belt around my waist. And use some therapy equipment. Have kept off the 25 pounds I lost in April. so thats good and Noticed my balance has improved greatly. Not my pool. But me. :) *chuckle
Anyhow, I did my maint vacuum/brush/skim. had some dark debris on the bottom/ the water had quite a bit of stuff throughout it. couldn't change filter today- have to buy waders tomorrow with the test kit and distilled water. Only my filter is running 24/7 at the moment. But, gosh this water is no clear I can read off the bottom- Will do the bleach- I'm grateful for your reply. SweepMeUp :)

[CarlD]

What you need to do is get the chlorine level up to 20 and keep it up until the water clears, and the chlorine doesn't drop more than 2ppm overnight. We recommend testing it 2x to 3x/day, vacuuming every day as well.

[Watermom]

I doubt Walmart will have a 6-way test kit at this point. Go ahead and order the Taylor K2006.

[sweepmeup]

Carl, I will be vacuuming everyday- Watermom, thanks, I'll do that now. :D

[sweepmeup]

2006 kit ordered- they had 2 left :D
Walmart is out of their kit Carl suggested-in the meantime- I found my old 5way aquachem kit- exp 2011. so I know the chemicals arent good-But I could buy the OTO and PHENOL-RED reagents and test with that kit ? couldnt I ? using CarlD's distilled water method (for getting to 20ppm shock level) and it would keep me OUT OF THE POOL STORE for testing. While I wait on the 2006 kit.
My old kit was in my house in the plastic box-so my colors look great !

[CarlD]

Yes. Or you could get a simple, new OTO/Phenol kit. If you can, try to find one that goes to 5ppm not 3. Leslies stores sometimes sell the Taylor version of the OTO/Phenol kit, the K-1000 and that goes to 5. If the phenol red reagent is the R0014, that's even better as it neutralizes chlorine and allows accurate readings when the chlorine is higher (Higher FC levels cause pH levels to read higher than they really are).

[Watermom]

If your chlorine level is above 5ppm (or above 10ppm with a Taylor kit), the pH will read falsely high. So, if you need to test pH while the chlorine is high, dilute your sample -- half pool water and half distilled water. Then test and interpret the results as usual.

[sweepmeup]

OOPS!!! my husband helped me unload my super-wally-world purchases @ $156 bucks and~~~~I asked him to pour 1/2 of a 2 qt bottle of bleach in the pool. When I walked in the garage I saw the bottle in the recycle bin-
He had poured ALL 2 QUARTS in my pool :( WHAT to do NOW ??

As far as the R0014 at walmart Carl, they only had AQUACHEM replacements and 3 way kits. And only 1/2 of an aisle devoted to pools- in FLoRIDA. hmmm, so now my PH is 7.8 and I did the distilled formula you told me to do ( this kit went to 5 ) Chlorine is a little darker yellow at the 5 line. - I know I'm over 20 ppm.....My pool is covered-SUN doesn't shine on it. It is crystal clear though.
I'll do another reading in the morning. please advise o.O - And I screwed up BIG TIME !


Just read your post watermom- I'm on it- thanks..PH is still 7.8 with the 1/2 & 1/2 test

[Watermom]

Nothing you can do about the bleach now that it is in the pool. Adding 2 quarts of 8.25% bleach to 1500 gallons of water would have added about 27.5ppm of chlorine. Don't worry -- it will come down on its own.

[sweepmeup]

Sigh-oh thank you Watermom. I was just reading about http://store.pinchapenny.com/product/suncoast-chemicals-chlorine-neutralizer?s=120 on their site- and if I don't have to go there that is great :D

[CarlD]

Well it SHOULD kill all that white mold and those spider things!

[sweepmeup]

LMAO !!!!!! Carl, yes, yes it should. I'm lololing so hard right now

[sweepmeup]

Well, I have Been working hard on my pool, keeping it clean, & testing 3 times a day. Also, shutting down the pump in the morning to let sediment fall before vacuuming, brushing and skimming-then turning it back on for the night.
My PH dropped to 7.6 :D watermom the chlorine is still unreadable- getting less and less blackish sediment. very clear water. Waiting on my K2006 & waders- I need to change that filter- have 7 of them. 60 degrees is tooooo cold to change them- It would probably put me into a flareup- If that happens i'd be down and out for a few weeks.

I have a QUESTION: Is the TSP ( trisodium phosphate ) the red box. Is it a good/safe filter cleaning product ?? I read POOLDOCS ( Bens) post on it. Want some other input. Thanks.
ALL is well CARL, EXCEPT: my SPIDER ALIEN FRIENDS FROM hell
They are now skipping on top of the water-Not as many, But~~~~ I have taken up a collection jar, as they are a little bigger and more defined. i.e. ( legs and antennas) I plan on dumping them on a black napkin and taking a photo, S@@N. UGH ! As long as they reside walking on my water, I won't be doing any hydro-therapy. I'm very upset about this. And am thinking of taking pool down if they don't DISAPPEAR. 7 years of saving for this. But, I will give it more time. :/ Appreciate any comments.

[CarlD]

If you cannot get a chlorine reading then you almost certainly are seeing it consumed faster than you are adding it. Not sure what to suggest on the filters. Usually Intex filters can be washed and reused several times, but if you cannot get them out because of the water temp...you'll need someone to do it for you under your direction. But you don't need to change them until they clog up and the flow slows down.

[Watermom]

I am sorry but I'm unfamiliar with TSP so can't offer you any advice in regards to its use. Hopefully someone else will have some knowledge about it.

[CarlD]

I am sorry but I'm unfamiliar with TSP so can't offer you any advice in regards to its use. Hopefully someone else will have some knowledge about it.

I don't either.

[sweepmeup]

THanks- going out to do pool business now- Carl my chlorine is still HIGH - 20 ppm or better. filter flow is fine-
I get the K2006 and waders in 3 days. My filters are fine- I just LIKE to change them alot- 1/2 as much to vacuum up today in just the corners and the surface aliens are not many 10-12 maybe > o.O Thanks for answering you 2. have a great night- I'll update you :)

[CarlD]

Do you have a pressure gauge on your filter? I'm guessing not, but if you do, you shouldn't change/clean your filter till it goes up 5psi from when it's clean. You can soak the filters in electric dishwasher detergent, which doesn't suds, then rinse them off and they should be clean and reusable.

[sweepmeup]

no pressure gauge Carl. But the dishwashing detergent idea is GREAT ! Will do that. and all seven of my filters have been rotated/cleaned about every week for the past 4 months- they are all in good shape. today the sock in the skimmer was clean- I change them and wash them everyday.
Have a quick question I meant to ask days ago-
After doing all my maint today ( which took about 1/2 hour ) not bad. vacuum/brush and skim.
How long should I wait after turning the pump back on to do another water test ???
MY guess is a couple hours :) thanks in advance...

[CarlD]

Generally, our recommendation when someone is battling an algae bloom is to run the pump 24/7, and not turn it off for more than a minute or two.