Pool a little Green, help

[CarlD]

Ok, here's what I think is happening.

By my calculation (W.A.G.--Wild-A-bsurd Guess) you should have an FC somewhere in the range of 30 and a CYA around 20...roughly. You are nowhere near that.
You have between 13,000 and 13,500 gallons. 1 gal of bleach would add about 4.4 ppm of FC, and each pound of shock should add (roughly) 5ppm of FC and maybe 3 or 4 ppm of CYA
Hardness is very, very, VERY high.

I think either you have misread your test strips, which is VERY easy to do (For example: TC = FC + CC. If your FC is higher than your TC, you should be VERY suspicious--the TC tabs on strips are notoriously inaccurate).

Or...that algaecide with all its ammonia has used up all your chlorine.

Or both.

With new pool owners the best thing to do is keep it very, very simple.

Watch your pH, your FC and TC/CC (either), and your stabilizer levels.
Add Bleach to raise FC, Borax to raise pH, Muriatic Acid to lower pH, and CYA powder or liquid to raise CYA.

That's it. You can add a little polyquat, preferably just after you backwash.

You may want to take a sample to a pool store. They probably will get better results than you will until you get your K-2006.

Carl

[PoolMatt]

TY, I did read the the FC incorrect the bottle shows two sets of numbers for the FC check, FC and Bromine I read the one for Bromine. FC was around 3. I have added 1.5 gal of chlorine and 2 lb of Shock so lets see what happens over night. CYA is now between the 30 and 50 the bottle shows I need CYA between 50 and 100 says must be at least 30 PPM. Both things I have say I need FC to be between 1 and 3, I just checked and both FC and TC show 10.

Confused now.

[Watermom]

You do NOT need CYA between 50-100. Too high and creates a whole new set of problems. This is gonna be really difficult with test strips. I hope you'll be able to get a good kit. At the very least for now, can you go to a reputable pool store and ask them to test the water including CYA. Just don't let them talk you into buying a bunch of stuff.

For now, don't add any more shock until we find out what your CYA level actually is. Just use bleach for your source of chlorine. Like I said above, without good numbers it is hard to help. Until you can get some better numbers, just do this:

-- Go to Walmart and get a cheap OTO/Phenol Red kit (yellow and red drops).
-- Every evening, add 1.5 gallons of plain, unscented 6% bleach unless your chlorine is really dark yellow. In that case, just add a quart or two.
-- Also, run your pump 24/7 and backwash as needed.
-- Test your pH and post results.

Don't worry about having your chlorine up to 10ppm right now. With algae, it won't stay there long. Also, ignore the bromine reading. This is a chlorine pool.

Hope this helps. I'd like to be able to help you a little more accurately, but without a good kit, it is very difficult.