New User from Suffolk County NY

[ImpalaRob]

Hi Aylad

I use test strips....... with that said I'd say i'm somewhere between30 to 100 on stabilizer as it fluctuates week by week, pool has full sun from 9:30am till about 6:30pm. I also just bought 3" tabs from Walmrt, just started using them 10 days ago and my numbers seem to have dropped. I seem to have a difficult time with these color strips, though my daughter zero's in on the color pretty quicky, which made me laugh last night after i read tips and tricks on your other site.

Thanks,
-Rob

[aylad]

If you've read through the sites, you know how we feel about "guess strips", and the fact that you say your CYA fluctuates from 30-100 is just more proof--test strips simply aren't reliable! Do yourself a favor and get a good, drop-based test kit and learn to use it. That's the only way you're going to be able to get accurate, reilable test results to treat the pool with. And if you're using trichlor tabs, it is critical for you to know your CYA level, because that's what your chlorine levels are based on--and if your chlorine levels are too low, you'll spend all your time and money fighting algae!!

One more thing--take a look at the ingredient list on those tabs you bought from WalMart--if they contain copper, then it won't be long before you start having problems with staining blonde/dyed/gray hair and fingernails green--as well as pool surfaces. When people complain about green hair and nails, and when the pool surface starts to be stained green, the culprit is the copper--not the chlorine, as some people mistakenly think. If your tabs contain copper, I wouldn't use them in my pool!

Oh--and get yourself a good test kit--did I say that already? We highly recommend the K-2006 in the link below in my sig--but wait until Amato Industries is the seller, because they have the best price so far.....

[ImpalaRob]

OK! Good to know, only used Walmrt stuff for two weeks now............. it was cheap compared to last years expenses in the $$$ ($39 for 21lbs of 3" tabs.... to good to be true? the chlorine stink doesnt even affect me, thats what I first noticed!)..... it wont hurt to toss it, but I'll check out the ingredients as you stated.

Being that I pretty much only have 4 GOOD weeks of pool use out here, I'll buy the pool water tester you recommend next season being that everything pool related seems to have a short life span........................ or do you disagree? bad water this season = bad water next season???? Newb here!!!

Regarding bleach as shock, home dpot and trget both selling 1.5 gallon or so for 2.99 at 6%, seems the best I can find here in LI locally. I figured since its lower than shock regarding sodium hydrochlorite (which i estimate should be 10-12% for shock) I used the whole 1.5 gallon to shock 24K tonight............. is this OK? Too little? Just right? I figured sufficient.

I'm already planning for the pool closing which I will do myself for the first time in late Sept, early oct. I'll be posting how I expect to close it regarding my system, I'll be looking forward to feed back. Also a looploc.............. searched here regarding this......... pros/cons....... the tarp has worked well for the past 5 years (two tarps so far... keep tearing), but the hassle of water on top of it each year kills me as I seem to drain half the pool to get this tarp off, regardless, these should be other topics.

Thanks All,
-Rob

[Charlie_R]

Regarding the tarps as pool covers -- how about putting your capped empty bleach bottles in the pool, as floats to keep the tarp from sinking into the water?

[ImpalaRob]

Charlie,

Last year I bought 4 8x2 air pillows, tied them up end to end and also tied them to posts in the ground. Within one week one pillow went completely flat, over the course of the winter one of my ties broke forcing the pillows off the the side of the pool. After all that effort, I still had a huge amount of water to pump off the tarp. I've also considered getting 1/2 hemp rope from work and zig zagging it over the pool tied down with stakes....... havent tried that yet. The one thing that has come in handy with the tarp is the leaf net as I have a alot of trees near the pool. These trees is the main reason I wont open the pool until second week of may and I close it by the end of sept.

[Watermom]

Someone (can't remember who) used to take a bunch of their empty bleach bottles and tie them all together to put under their winter cover. Might've been Carl, but not sure.