Deanna's swamp

[star21fish]

Sorry....I haven't been back. This was our last week of school and to say it has been insane is an understatement.
My water has zero stabilizer. I am going to put a tablet in the floater.....I know that won't add much, but I have to take baby steps after my experience with it. You wouldn't by chance know how much stabilizer each tab adds?
How much cal hyp do I need to add to bring it to 15ppm?...It is 65% available. I have been adding tons and I may be just wasting it. I ordered a good test kit from the link on here, but I just have to wait on it to get here. My ph was 7.2
2 weeks ago. Today my FC is .5 and my ph was 6.8. I know my free chlorine is way to low....like I said.....this week = insane. I added some soda ash and now I'm waiting on it to circulate so I can retest. The sun is getting off the pool so as soon as someone has a sec to tell me how much cal hyp I'm back at it again. GOOD NEWS...the pool looks so much better. I can see all the steps now, but not quite the bottom. The water is now a pretty aqua color instead of the swamp green. When I backwashed a little bit ago the water coming out was disgusting and brown, but that is good right?
I am not going back to the pool store until I have pics of a sparkling pool: ) They already have me pegged for a lunatic. I don't know everything about a pool, but I do know more than her. I do realize that liquid chlorine and bleach is the same thing. I have a front load washer and you can only put 1/3 c in the dispenser, so I put 12% in my white clothes. My washcloths smell so much better!

[aylad]

Believe me, I know what you mean about the school week--next week is our last but I've spent all day today in assemblies at 2 different schools, and still have a banquet to attend tonight.

Regarding cal-hypo, based on 12K gallons, each 2.5 oz should raise your Cl by approximately 1 ppm. 12 oz should raise it by 5 ppm. Not sure how much stabilizer one trichlor tab adds, but I think there's a post somewhere around here about it--I'll see if I can locate it.

The fact that the backwash water looks nasty is a good thing--that stuff came out of your pool!! Keep up the good work, and just think how it feels when you can show off pretty pool pics to your local store!

Janet

[star21fish]

Thank you so much for responding. I just realized there was a calculator that would have told me that instead of bugging everyone on here with questions. I hope you enjoy your banquet.

[aylad]

You are not bugging anybody--that's what we're here for!! Let us know how it's going...

By the way, in post #8 in this thread http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthr...richlor-amp-PH, a Canadian poster on here called "giroup" explains how much CYA is in one trichlor puck.....your pool is roughly the size he uses in his calculations, so I guess the bottom line is you can figure approximately 2 ppm of CYA per trichlor puck you use.

Janet

[star21fish]

Thanks....I'm still plugging away..using that POPP.....haha. I just have to keep remembering how bad it was and how much work the filter is having to do. I think I can see the bottom today. I'm not sure if my eyes are playing tricks on me or not. I know the steps are looking cleaner and cleaner and I can see all of them clearly. I'm just about ready to hop in and vacumn. That is pretty amazing since one week ago I wouldn't hardly put my hand in thinking something lurking in the water was going to reach up and get me. I can't wait for my test kit. I tested this morning and it was "hot" pink ( I use free chlorine DPD reagent) but I don't have a color chart) I had the cheap OTO in my hand and put it back.....arrrgghh. So I'm pretty much guessing at chlorine levels. I shocked it to 15 last night before dark and it was still very pink this a.m. so I added my best guess to get it back to shock levels. The pool is about to be in full sun and by 5 it won't have any. Talk to you soon....and thank you again. I was very close to adding the banish before

[aylad]

Just think--what the Banish would have done for you is to create another demand on your chlorine--NOT what you need right now!

Hang in there, try the best you can to keep it at 15 until you get your test kit, and it'll all be worth it in the end!!

Janet

[Watermom]

That is pretty amazing since one week ago I wouldn't hardly put my hand in thinking something lurking in the water was going to reach up and get me.

You must be my twin sister. That's the kind of thing I would be afraid of!

[star21fish]

You must be my twin sister. That's the kind of thing I would be afraid of!

lol...yep and my hubby has had a fabulous time making fun of me for it! I got him back though....he wouldn't just grab a tree frog that was on the side last night..he tried to throw it out with the net.....lol

I have fabulous news! My pool water looks good enough that I can tell I need to vacuum(it's not even really bad considering where I started). I can even see the middle clearly. I think I finally made it. I am getting in today as soon as the sun eats my FC a little. I got my test kit today as well.
FC=6
CC=0
assuming I did the tests correctly.
I am testing ph this afternoon.
So....after brushing sides and bottom and vacuuming......how should I proceed? Do I need new sand? or a filter cleaner? I so do not want the green back......ever.....I need to work on my stabilizer too...I plan on adding that with a floater and tabs.