Test Results - Please Review

[Jacob99]

I plan to go BBB once my levels are good.

So, I need to raise my CYA. I think I'm going to use dichlor which I plan to buy on my way home today. According to the pool calculator, I need 128oz to get it to 40. So, I would put 2 lbs per day right? After 4 days, I'll have my 128oz then I'll stop using dichlor all together and switch back to liquid chlorine.

Sound ok?

Should I be adding some Borax at some point since the dichlor will lower my pH?

[BigDave]

You'll definitely need Borax - your pH is alreday low

[Jacob99]

Went to Namco, Home Depot, and Walmart - no one has dichlor. They all have cal-hypo.

How about stabilizer/conditioner? That's straight CYA correct?
Will that lower you pH as well?
Is this where you hang it in an old sock in front of the return vs. dissolving in a bucket with the dichlor?
Is stabilizer/conditioner a better way to go than the dichlor?
I would continue to dose with liquid chlorine in addition to the stabilizer correct?

They have a stabilizer/conditioner at Namco but it doesn't list ingredients which scares me a little....

[aylad]

The stabilizer/conditioner is usually straight CYA. If you look at the ingredient label, it should say cyanuric or isocyanuric acid. If so, that's the stuff. You can either hang it in a sock in front of a return, or put it into the skimmer slowly, and let it dissolve on your filter (if you go that route, you can't backwash for 4 or 5 days because you'll backwash it out undissolved and have to start over). It dissolves very very slowly, so you won't be able to dissolve it enough in a bucket of water to broadcast it--although dissolving it in water as much as you can before putting it in the skimmer might speed up the process and will reduce the chance of it clogging your pipes. If you put it through the skimmer, don't bother to retest for it for at least 4-5 days--you'll just be wasting the reagent. You do need to dose with chlorine of some sort in addition to the stabilizer. All the stabilizer does is help protect the chlorine you put into the pool from being consumed by the sun. It will not significantly lower your pH. It is a weak acid. If you're happy with the liquid chlorine, then I'd just go with straight CYA and skip the dichlor. Dichlor will drive your pH down significantly, and the CYA won't.

[Jacob99]

How much should I put in at a time? Since my current level is 0, I would need 112oz which is 7lbs. 7bs sounds like too much weight for 1 sock. My current thought is to do 1 gallon of liquid stabilizer for that instant gratification, then I would only need about 4 lbs of the dry dissolving stuff. This should bring my CYA somewhere in the 35-40 range....

[aylad]

I would only put in enough to get to 1/2 of your target number. If you want to get to 40, then put in a dose to target 20. Let it dissolve, test for it (after a few days) and then add more. CYA is one of those situations where it's much better to creep up on your target number than to put it in all at once and overshoot it, since draining water is the only real solution to lowering it.

[Jacob99]

Okay, so I put in 1 gallon of liquid stabilizer just to get some in there in a hurry since my chlorine is getting eaten up so quickly. I took a bottle of water sampling prior to putting in the stabilizer. Looks like I have zero chlorine AGAIN! Hopefully the stabilizer I just put in will help.

My question, is it safe to put liquid chlorine into the pool after I just put in a gallon of stabilizer? Just don't want to create any dangerous gasses or anything.

Also, I need some Borax since my pH is only at about 7, according to pool calculator I should put in 169oz of Borax to get my pH to 7.5 but I only have a 76oz box, so I guess I should keep more of this stuff on hand. I think that'll only get me to around 7.2? For putting Borax in, do I mix it into a 5 gallon bucket and dump into the pool? How much of it can I dissolve at a time without it settling to the bottom?

Sorry for all the questions, still learning - but getting more and more knowledgeable by the day...lol.