New pool owner - are these products useable?

[elenae]

Hi,

We just moved in a new house with a pool and had a baby 4 months ago, so we're trying to do minimal work to keep it in check while doing the early parenthood madness too.

The pool is colored plaster - looks like a blue stone finish. It has been resurfaced 2.5 years ago, with the filtration system and the little water vacuum cleaner that moves around the bottom several hours every day.
The pool is an odd shape and has a higher 'spa' small area; the filtration system can pump water through the spa which comes down a little water fall into the pool.

Before ending the (very expensive!) pool service we had, the guy came and gave us some tips. He said:
- the plaster is new, so there shouldn't be a lot of problems with algae. In this area there are yellow or green algae so if you ever see them on the wall brush them off, they should come off easy. Algae in this area should only be a problem in spring and autumn.
- never use a floater chlorinator, it will stain the pretty color plaster.

Sadly, he finally came to tell us these the day when I received the Floater Chlorinator and 3'' tablets from Amazon (they don't allow returns on hazardous materials so I'm stuck with these).

Can we use the floater/tablets in some way in our pool? Maybe tie it to some ducky that moves around on batteries to not stay in one place? :-P Any tricks that might help?

Here's the list of things I had bought from Amazon to try to do pool maintenance:
Kem-Tek 311-6 Pool and Spa 60-Percent Concentrated Algaecide, 1 Quart http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Kem-Tek Pool Floating Tablet Dispenser http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Poolmaster 18100 ABS Curved Pool Brush, 17-1/2-Inch http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Kem-Tek Super Shock Quick 5-Pack http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Kem-Tek 326-6 Pool and Spa Ultra Clarifier, 1 Quart http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Kem-Tek 099 3-Inch Chlorinating Tablets for Pool and Spa, 3-Pound http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Arm & Hammer Clear Balance Pool Maintenance Tablets, 16 Count
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Can you please advise which ones of these products I can safely use in the pool that we have, and which ones to return/discard?
Sorry for being so misinformed, but there is a lot of misleading info out there and this forum seems to finally contain some honesty :-)

Also, I can't use the search functions on the forum yet (new account) so I can't figure out if others have already been asking this, but: what's a simple k-steps maintenance plan that a newbie can blindly follow? I'd love to just order things from Amazon instead of running around to different stores.

Thanks a lot!
E.

[Watermom]

The most important thing you should buy is a good test kit. The one we recommend is the Taylor K2006 or 2006C which you can get through the test kit link in my signature below. (You won't be able to buy it locally.) Whether you can use a floater with trichlor tabs (and some of the other products) depends on your testing results once you get the good test kit. The test kit is a little pricier than some you can buy but is definitely worth buying. It will make your pool maintenance much easier. (And, with a new baby, easy is good, right?)

--You don't need clarifier.
--The Arm & Hammer is just expensive baking soda with clarifier added. You are better off to just buy regular baking soda. Again, you don't need clarifier.
--The algaecide is ok but you actually don't need algaecide if you just maintain proper chemistry. I never use algaecide in my pool.
--You will need a brush. That one is fine.
--Whether or not you can use the shock depends on your water testing results. Once you get the good kit and provide results, we can help you determine whether or not you can use it.
--Same for the chlorinating tablets. Depend on test results.

Get a kit and then post some good numbers and someone here can help you go from there. Also, when you post your numbers, tell us what kind of size of filter you have and how big of a pump you have.

As far as searching, until your registration is completed, you'll have to log out first to see the rest of the forum. Also, instead of using the forum software's search feature, it is better to use the one that is linked in either mine of PoolDoc's signatures. It will give you a lot better results.

Welcome to the Pool Forum!

[elenae]

Hi again,

Thank you the useful info! I waited to get the test kit and it finally arrived. Here's our numbers:
Alkalinity 180-190ppm (I think we need 80-100ppm, so we need to drop it)
Ph titration test: 5 drops to get to 7.4
Chlorine: FC 34ppm, CC 0.2ppm
Ca hardness 325ppm (does this seem off? I thought it correlates with Alkalinity somewhat, I probably misread it though)
Cyanuric acid: 70ppm

One of these tests (Ph?) requires me to correlate with size of pool, I'll try to measure that this afternoon and add the pump/filter info too.
Will respond with those numbers later today.

[CarlD]

Hi again,

Thank you the useful info! I waited to get the test kit and it finally arrived. Here's our numbers:
Alkalinity 180-190ppm (I think we need 80-100ppm, so we need to drop it)
Ph titration test: 5 drops to get to 7.4
Chlorine: FC 34ppm, CC 0.2ppm
Ca hardness 325ppm (does this seem off? I thought it correlates with Alkalinity somewhat, I probably misread it though)
Cyanuric acid: 70ppm

One of these tests (Ph?) requires me to correlate with size of pool, I'll try to measure that this afternoon and add the pump/filter info too.
Will respond with those numbers later today.

The numbers aren't bad. TA is a bit high, so read up on how to lower it as you have a concrete pool.

Your FC is VERY. high and you need to let it come down but it will kill and metabolize all the bad stuff on the way so that is ok.

Save your FC chems and only do the 10ml version of the test, not the 25ml version. Being within .5 is close enough.

[BigDave]

Two things:

We just moved in a new house with a pool and had a baby 4 months ago,

One) I'm sure this doesn't have to be said but when I read your post my heart skipped. Never, ever allow a small child anywhere near the pool without your eyes watching 100% of the time (try not to blink). In terms of fatalities worldwide, water is the most dangerous pool chemical there is.

Ph titration test: 5 drops to get to 7.4 ... One of these tests (Ph?) requires me to correlate with size of pool,...

Two) I'm unclear about how you performed the pH test. Did you get 7.4 after five drops of the red stuff?
Did you get 7.4 after five drops of the red stuff and five drops of the Acid or Base Demand test reagent? If you did use the A/B Demand test, which one?

[PoolDoc]

membership upgraded . . .

[elenae]

Hi Watermom, thank you for the reply.
I tried posting an answer but I can't see it yet, maybe because of moderation.

We measured the pool, it is 20k gallons: 19k and some for the pool and over 750 gallons for the spa, but the water is on the same system.

The filter is the CCP420 Pentair: http://www.amazon.com/Pentair-CCP420.../dp/B007E4W5VM
Booster pump: Pentair LA01N http://www.amazon.com/Pentair-LA01N-.../dp/B0039POBW6
Pump SQ1152L which might be this one: http://www.amazon.com/DynaGlas-Pump-.../dp/B00A4MX99S