softswim to chlorine

i've used softswim for several years. the last couple of years we have had pink slime or mold in the pool for a good portion of the summer. it seems to be very hard to get rid of. i am getting ready to uncover pool and am going to switch to chlorine. the pool was drained pretty low for the winter.i have a 21' x 4' round AG pool with a sand filter. i know i need to get new sand for the filter. should i change that before i start adding water to the pool? or should i let filter run for a while first? any idea on how much chlorine i should add to start it up or do i add shock to start it up.

Good morning,

Keep reading all the posts in this baquacil forum. There is a lot of info that will get you started. Download mwsmith2's calculator to figure your bleach usage. I'm fairly sure you change the sand last, but I'm not a baqucil guy....others will be along to help you through the process. keep reading.:)

The way we did our pool (18 x 36 inground) - there really was no scientific method. We dumped in about 6 or 8 laundry scoop size cups of Cal Hypo (Calcium Hypochlorite, commonly known as "shock"). Then we put several pounds of stabilizer in an old pair of nylons and tied it to the ladder (it dissolves very slowly over a couple days). Then we filled up the skimmer with Chorine pucks (tri-chlor).

The pool immediately turned a sort of yucky yellowish color. We hit it with several more scoops of Cal Hypo the next day. By the end of the day, it was already turning sort of a light green to clear green color.

By the 3rd day, it was almost 100% clear. So I can't really say that we did any exact measuring at all - it was basically hit it hard with lots of chlorine for 2 days.