Quote Originally Posted by wposton84 View Post
Is that a plausible explanation of what's going on?
Absolutely!!! Don't know what your pool volume is, but I would highly encourage you to switch to bleach or liquid chlorine (if you can get it cheaper) to do your shocking, if not your regular chlorination. Plain, unscented houseshold generic bleach is what the majority of us use around this forum. While the cal-hypo breaks down into chlorine and calcium (fine until your calcium levels get too high, then you get milky water) and dichlor breaks down into chlorine and stabilizer (you've already seen the problems there), bleach breaks down into chlorine and salt water, both of which are welcome in the pool. If you'll post your pool volume, I can give you an idea of how much to use.....

And as far as your question about adding bleach to ammonia....I can't give you the chemistry behind it, except to say that it's not the same as adding straight bleach to straight ammonia. Don't know if the ammonia is different chemically than what we clean with, but I do know that in the water, there's no problem with it. My chemistry knowledge is really, really, really basic, although there are others here on the forum that can break that down for you if you really are interested,.......but make sure you're ready for a chemistry lesson!!

Janet