How long should it take to clear black algae

[joecus]

Thanks Burfle,

Please help. As some of you know, I ran out of taylor r0013. I am no longer losing cl at night. During the day, cl goes to zero. Here's my Here is my dilemma, The strips show my cya at zero. My last known reading with the Taylor kit was about 70. I believe my stabilizer is gone. I have 40 lbs 3" tabs on hand. I have a box of Pace Clear shock treatment, (99% sodium dichloride) and about 2 pounds of “chlorine stabilizer (2,4,6 Trihydroxy-s-triazine). Should I go buy “bromide”? Or do something with the stuff I already have? Please get back to me, my son wants to use pool and I don’t know if I should let him.

[PoolDoc]

I'm getting confused; I don't know whether you are talking about the spa or the pool. Please go through the thread, and list the number of the posts (yours and other posters) that refer to your SPA. I'll split them off into another thread. (For example, this is post #45.)

[joecus]

Sorry about that. I'm talking about my pool. I'm losing CL during day only. I have the items listed above, tabs, stabilizer, and shock. I switched to BBB and I have this leftover. I suspect I have no stabilizer due to the daytime CL loss and the test strips stating it’s zero. I’m hesitant to use tab, stabilizer, and shock that I already have. I’m hesitant because I don’t trust the strips. I cannot get a good cya reading because I ran out of the Taylor Kit, r0013. I ordered more but it has not been delivered yet. The last Taylor cya reading was 70. This was 2-3 weeks ago. The strips are telling me there is no cya, which would make sense. I don’t know if my stabilizer can drop that much, so I am skeptical of the strips. If you tell me, cya can drop that fast, I need to add stabilizer. Should I use what I have on hand or go buy bromines?

[PoolDoc]

The only two ways I know for stabilizer to disappear are to drain the pool OR to experience a major 'slime-out' with algae and bacteria.

As best I can tell, you haven't drained, and you haven't had a slime-out since you last tested. So?? I don't know.

Possibly, either your original tests OR your recent ones were wrong. But the lack of chlorine loss during the night, with chlorine loss during the day, suggests no CYA, but also no residual ammonia from a 'slime-out' eating the stabilizer.

I don't know where your stabilizer went, but it seems to be gone. Go ahead and use what you've got, and the tabs you've got.

[joecus]

Hi everyone - I just got back from a short vacation. As many of you know, I order some Taylor refill. I ordered from "yourpoolparts.com" As of today, I did not get them. I contacted them and they said they ran out (the site showed "in stock"). The said they would mail them asap. Buyer beware of this site.

[joecus]

Hello everyone, brief history, last year I used tabs/shock for almost entire year before switching to BBB. This year, I had an algae problem and used many gallons of bleach to get rid of it. After the algae cleared (losing very little cl at night, almost all during day), I thought the loss of cl, during the day, indicated no stabilizer. So, last week I used some 3" tabs. I contiued to lose almost all cl during the day. Today, I finally recieved the r0013 ( I ordered it from yourpoolparts.com on June 26), So, here are my numbers;
cya 100 or more
cl 1.5
tc 1.5
alk - 50
ph =7.2

I've also notice a foul smell mostly when I jump in, not cl smell. I used algaecide a few weeks ago when I was fighting the algae.

Can someone tell me the best way to proceed short/long term from here forward, for both smell and cl? I really appreciate your help, thanks, Joe

[PoolDoc]

It's possible that you still have oxidizable residue in the pool -- chlorine + UV will oxidize things that chlorine alone may not. I would recommend the following:

#1 - do a stabilizer test on a 1:1 dilution of your pool water with tap water. (Fill a cup measure to 1/2 cup with pool water, add tap water to 1 cup, mix and test that as your sample.) Please check the test instructions, and make SURE you are doing the test correctly.

#2 - Assuming you confirm your CYA reading, add a SHOCK dose of chlorine, in the evening, using the Best Guess table to determine the correct dose.

#3 - Test this dose the following AM, and PM, and let us know the effect, if any.

#4 - Then, maintain a NORMAL chlorine level for your CYA level, again referring to the B-G table.

If your CYA is anywhere near 100 (or above), 1.5 ppm is not nearly adequate to oxidize goo in the water. Also to the best of my knowledge, even with very high stabilizer, once you have removed most of the 'goo' from your water, much of the chlorine consumption will occur in the day, as a result of photolysis AND UV enhanced oxidation of contaminants.