We have had this pool for 4 years and have done pretty well with just the Intex salt water thing (SWCG) and manual vacuuming with a Catfish pool vac. The original pump died this year and we replaced it with a 1000 gal/hr Intex pump. We use a solar cover and the pool gets nice and warm as soon as the first heat wave hits!

We are having a lot of trouble with algae. I have been reading the forums a bit and it's clear that we need to get a real test kit and get on top of the chemistry.

I'm looking for any advice about combating algae with the least amount of chemicals and advice about which automatic pool vac is best for our little pool. Neither the Catfish nor the plain ol' mesh skimmer catch these little particles...they stir up when I vacuum and then settle right back down. SIGH.

Thanks--