slimy, gelatinous strings of goo ruin a good dip.........

[heyred52]

I actually found your site because of a posting by "Starfish", Cloudy pool/white stringy(snotty) stuff? (July 2011).

His discription is exactly what I am experiencing. I am unable to send a picture, but this sounds like the same stuff.

I vaccuumed this morning and will put the 3 gallons of bleach in tonight after sunset. More later. And thanks so much----I always feel very much alone and amateurish when it comes to the pool.....

[Watermom]

This forum will be a great resource for you. Keep us posted how it is going. We'll be here to help!

[heyred52]

added 3 gallons bleach at dusk last night.
took readings this morning: chlorine levels very high and Ph below 6.8

98% of the jellyfish-goo is gone and the water is crystal clear (a miracle after all my efforts/$$$$ last year!---THANK YOU!!!)

I have BBB ready await further instruction!

[BigDave]

6.8 is probably the lowest reading on your pH color comparator. I'd bring it up by adding a box of borax slowly in the skimmer with the pump running. Let it mix for a couple hours and read it again.

[Watermom]

Glad its much improved. Keep at it with the high chlorine levels. Order the good kit. Just saying that the cl is high doesn't really give you enough information. Also, as Dave mentioned, get the pH up above 7.0. Anywhere between 7.2-7.8 is fine. Don't wait days to do it. Add some Borax, let it circulate a few hours, retest, redose, repeat.

[heyred52]

Slime completely gone and water crystal clear.
Chlorine was completely gone yesterday so I put in 4c of granular chlorine (leftovers from last summer)
Ph reading was below 6.9 so I put in a total of 6 boxes of borax in the last two days.

This mornings readings: Ph 6.8, chlorine higher than 5 this morning (my tester only goes to 5)

So now how do I maintain what I have? Its been kind of hit or miss. Thanks.

[Watermom]

The best thing you can do to maintain this pool is to go ahead and take the plunge and buy the good Taylor K-2006 kit that we recommend. (See the testkit page in my signature.) Without it, you're going to constantly be saying exactly what you said in the post above, "my tester only goes to 5."

OR ---- I just looked at your information you put in the Pool Chart and see that you have the HTH 6-Way kit. Another option would be to purchase the FAS-DPD add-on kit that will give you the ability to test higher chlorine levels. The one you want is the K-1515 and is also on the testkit page.

Keep adding Borax until you get the pH between 7.2-7.8. After each addition of Borax, wait a couple hours, retest and redose.

Also, what is your CYA level? Are you only using bleach for your source of chlorine?

[waterbear]

with pH reading 6.8 or below and a pool that big (about 13k gallons) I would put in TWO boxes of borax right away, and keep monitoring pH every two hours and if still below 7.0 add another two boxes.
The fact that your TA was red initially instead of green indicates a pH that is probably below 4.0!
The low pH can damage your liner!
Once you get your pH above 7.0 post another set of test results!

[heyred52]

i put two boxes in a couple hours ago and another 3 gallons of bleach a minute ago. I'll test in the morning and get more borax, etc., Thanks.

[PoolDoc]

98% of the jellyfish-goo is gone and the water is crystal clear (a miracle after all my efforts/$$$$ last year!---THANK YOU!!!)

Don't stop, till it's 110% gone -- leave a little, and it will come back.

Consider adding 60 ppm of borates to your pool. This costs about $60 - 70 per 10K gallons, but makes your pool somewhat resistant to algae and such, and lasts till the water is replaced.