conversion

Keep pouring in the bleach and try to keep the bleach level up to 15ppm as much as you can. If you are beginning to see the bottom it won't be much longer before the water clears completely. I didn't do anything to balance my water until I stayed at 15ppm for a couple of nights. Then I changed my filter (I have a cartridge filter) and balanced my water.
If you are planning on using bleach, then you will need to add stabalizer to help with the chlorine loss during the day. Check out Ben's best guess CYA chart, it has been a great guide for me. And Borax and baking soda if you need them to balance your water.
I promise you will be so glad that you did this. I spend a lot less time caring for my pool now and a lot more time enjoying it!

Yes I am finally beginning to see the bottom. It really is amazing how quickly this is working, at least for me. I plan on ordering the kit, since my local Wal-mart is new. Just got a Super Wal-mart and it is only about 2 weeks old. They are not restocking pool supplies and they don't have any of their test kits. My local Kmart is all out too. I did find one at Lowes for now but do plan on getting the better one. Is the one from Leslies pools the same?

as far as getting funny looks at wal-mart,the clerk( at sam's) asked me if i was over 18,and said young people were doing something with the bleach in relation to drug usage or manufacturing drugs illegally. does anyone know what the process is? i bought 9 gallons of bleah that time. thanks jennifer

I have no clue what drugs they are making but I got the same age question when I went to buy bleach this AM. I bought 19 bottles cause I started my conversion today and I'm just about to go to Sams club to buy more cause I bought out Wal-mart. People definetly look at you funny with 2 carts full of bleach. Hee Hee Hee I jus smile at them and leave them wondering!!! :)

Hey there Chalk,
congrats on your conversion; sounds like it's going "swimmingly"..(lol)

since you said that you are planning on replacing your filter, consider filling it with Zeobrite instead of sand...
less backwashing ( i hear), better filtration, lasts longer, & you can grow plants in it when your finished with it :D

Hey, I just read the first post of this thread and that you had purchased "ultra" bleach from wal-mart. I think this is the floral scented bleach that I once bought by mistake. I also think I read on here somewhere to use "regular" so as to not add stuff you don't need.

Happy swimming!

Ultra means that it is 6% bleach rather than 5.25% like regular bleach. I think you can get ultra and regular both with various scents and as diwilson said above, you don't want the scented stuff.

I don't think it's recommended to add liquid chlorine through the skimmer. Better to add it in the deep end by an inlet and have it go through diluted.

I always add bleach through my skimmer while the pump is running -- never a problem.