Desperate for answers on Mustard Algae

[poolrx]

John,

I dealt with Mustard algae 2 years ago. The pool store made things 100 times worse! This forum saved my bacon. I have a 17,00 gal AG pool with a DE filter.
This is what I did:
1st you need your stabilizer level at at least 30 otherwise the sun will start destroying your chlorine as soon as it comes out. Closer to 40 would probably be better. Keep you chlorine b/t 10-15 at all times(use calculator to determine). Add 1 quart of POLY- Poly[oxyethylene(dimethyliminio)ethylene(dimethyliminio )ethylene dichloride] 60% algacide immediately and then another qt in 3 days. Leslies Poly 60 is "Step 4 algae preventer" (link= http://www.lesliespool.com/shopping/...ProductID=8110). I don't know if POOLTRINE 60 is the same! Seems awefully cheap to be true? Do not use yellow out. Trust me! (Or copper for that fact) Only use the Poly 60.
Get your PH as close as possible to 7.3-7.6. If you go too low add a little Borax to bring it back up. Don't worry too much about alkalinity is should stabilize around 100 when you ph stabilizes.
Vacum to waste- not through your filter. Keep in mind that most tap water has a high PH so if you need to add water you may need to compensate with the Muriatic Acid(use small amounts). Also rain has a low ph and a significant amount can lower the PH in the pool. Add Borax to compensate if needed(use small amounts). My algae was gone in a week and has never returned! I use 4oz of poly 60 every Sunday and add about 4 gallons of bleach per week to keep my cl level around 5ppm(stablizer is still around 60-was at 120 when the pool store got done with me-thats another story. My pool has been beautiful ever since. I thank Ben and this forum everytime I go swimming This should work if you can keep your cl level up throughout the day. Try to keep your filter running as much as possible to keep the water circulating and vacum as much of the algae as you can out of the pool. I would probably wait a few days after the 2nd dose of poly 60 before swimming.

Good luck, Joe

[ytngt]

poolrx,
I have attached a pic of the active ingredient in pooltrine 60. It looks to be the same as the POLY ingredient you posted above.

I see no reason to pay $22 a quart when the pooltrine in $4.83!

[poolrx]

poolrx,
I have attached a pic of the active ingredient in pooltrine 60. It looks to be the same as the POLY ingredient you posted above.

I see no reason to pay $22 a quart when the pooltrine in $4.83!

Nice! Thank You. I guess they are clearing house at Leslie's. That is the stuff

[CarlD]

That's a GREAT price! I cringe at paying $19.95 a quart and wait till it's $15/qt or less and buy a bunch and they go in my basement. But under $5 is amazing!

[haze_1956]

I received my Pooltrine 60 from Leslies yesterday. It's Polyquat 60%!

I see they also have a Polyquat with a Leslies label called "Algae Control" for $23 a quart.

They are probably liquidating the Pooltrine 60 from stock.

[CUTURHAIR]

I think I will try to get a quart of Polyquat 60 today and throw in. Things are looking much better. I am still getting a very small amt. of what I would assume is DEAD algea at this point, and it could be coming from my PoolBuster Max CG, that is sucking in, and coming back out, not staying in the filter bag, even tho it is the extra fine bag. I have made sure that I am AT 15 PPM, almost around the clock since this thread started, and have vac'd almost every day, and brushed on the other days. Tomorrow, I am going to vac to waste. If I do vac to waste tomorrow, I will add the polyquat to it after the vac to waste. Will that be too soon, since I added CYA to the pool on Saturday (if memory serves!)? My CYA is up in the low 30 range. I will recheck when I get back from vacation and see if that needs to go up a tad more. I only lost .5ppm of chlorine last night, and there was a grub worm in the pool this morning that could have been responsible for that loss. If I don't vac to waste, I will just use the poolbuster tomorrow and Saturday morning, before I leave town for the week. I don't want to chance losing any stabilizer if it is too soon to vac. to waste?

Thanks,
John

[duraleigh]

Hi, John,

Sounds like your on the home stretch. Just a reminder....don't give up. Keep that Cl right up there 'til your water looks like you want it to.

I have never been a big proponent of vac to waste. I think a lot of it depends on your filtering capacity. I am lucky to have a huge filter.

If you have gotten this far and you feel like your filter is doing a pretty good job....I'd let it do the work. Of course simply vacuuming in the "filter" position is very helpful.

Good work, John. Keep your Cl up.

[poolrx]

John you don't have to vaccum to waste. I suggested it b/c a. the algae clogs the filter much faster and b. Mustard Algae is very resilient and getting out of your pool reduces the risk of reoccurances. You would be suprised how little adding an inch of fresh water affects the pool chemistry(at least in my pool). Since you have been having a problem with the ph bottoming out it may actually help to add fresh water.
Also should have added some more detail regarding vaccuming. By vaccuming I mean to get out the large deposits sitting on the bottom. I would only vaccum long enough to get them out. I would angle my return so that the flow of water would push everything to one side. Don't be afraid to add the poly 60 as it has no negative affect on ph, cl, etc. I have had great success with it the last 2 years.

Good luck and enjoy your vacation, Joe

[poolrx]

I think I will try to get a quart of Polyquat 60 today and throw in. Things are looking much better. I am still getting a very small amt. of what I would assume is DEAD algea at this point, and it could be coming from my PoolBuster Max CG, that is sucking in, and coming back out, not staying in the filter bag, even tho it is the extra fine bag. I have made sure that I am AT 15 PPM, almost around the clock since this thread started, and have vac'd almost every day, and brushed on the other days. Tomorrow, I am going to vac to waste. If I do vac to waste tomorrow, I will add the polyquat to it after the vac to waste. Will that be too soon, since I added CYA to the pool on Saturday (if memory serves!)? My CYA is up in the low 30 range. I will recheck when I get back from vacation and see if that needs to go up a tad more. I only lost .5ppm of chlorine last night, and there was a grub worm in the pool this morning that could have been responsible for that loss. If I don't vac to waste, I will just use the poolbuster tomorrow and Saturday morning, before I leave town for the week. I don't want to chance losing any stabilizer if it is too soon to vac. to waste?

Thanks,
John

John,

With an inground pool you pump should have a bypass valve that allows you to pump the water directly to waste before it reaches the filter. You don't want backwash your filter since you recently added the stabilizer(unless it is clogged from the algae. Is it DE or sand.

[waterbear]

Check my mustard thread...I used sodium bromide and kept the FC above 12 and had good luck. Before treating, I kept the FC above 10 for about a week, then added 4oz per 10gallons and added 1 galon bleach per 10k to kick the stuff into action. Then kept hitting the pool with clorox for 4 or 5 days to keep the levels above 12ppm...which BTW was alot more clorox than i thought it would be because the SB eats clorox like crazy. I seem to have kicked...no algae in sight for the 3rd morning....

I walked TundraSQ through the sodium bromide treatment because he had already put it into the pool when I started helping him. It really is more of a last resort measure when cholrine just doesn't seem to work. It isn't any easier or faster....you are just substituting bromine for chlorine. Polyquat is a good addition if the chlorine isn't working, also. The main reason that chlorine alone won't work is that the levels are allowed to yo-yo up and down from not putting it in often enough or perhaps from not having an adequate CYA level to protect it from the sun. HIt it hard and hit it often and brush, brush, brush and chlorine will usually do the job!