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[CarlD]

Please don't drain the pool...leave at least one foot of water in it. Above Ground pools use the water to hold the liner in place. And, if it's a round or oval pool, the water pushes out on the walls as part of the support. You may want to stake the wall supports with guy lines and tent stakes to keep them from falling inward with less water.

[Traxl]

Thank you for the advice. The pool is 4 feet deep, and has approximately 1 foot in the ground, to make the deck height level with the back door of the house. With this, should I keep the water level a foot above ground level? I am currently at 2 feet of water in the pool.

[CarlD]

I wouldn't drain the water. I'd follow the other advice to fish as much gunk out of it as you can and hammer it with chlorine. You'd be surprised at how effective it is. If you go to poolsolutions.com, our sister site, click on "Pool Guides" on the left, then click on "Can you kill algae with household bleach? (A demonstration)" you'll see a series of pictures of a pool brought from a science project/swamp to pristine.

[Traxl]

I stopped the draining at 2 feet, grabbed the water hose and a brush, and cleaned off all the algae I could from the pool sides. Once the debris settles, will remove as much from the bottom as I can using the vacuum head and gravity feed on the water (shouldn't remove more than an inch or two more.)

When all of this started, I put AquaChem Algae Eliminator Max in the water, with 2 pounds of Shock PLUS. After that, I added 1/2 a bottle of Sink & Sweep. When the flocculant didn't appear to work, I took a sample in to the local pool store, who said I ad high phosphates, and sold me a bottle of phosphate remover, and said to put 5 bags of Shock PLUS in the pool with the PhosFREE, then run for 7 days backwashing every other day. All this did was make the pool more cloudy, and eventually, the algae came back.

I'll start refilling tonight, and once I can run the pump again, will begin the recommended 1 1/2 gallon of bleach treatment. Once I get the algae in check, is there any particular order I should add chemicals, i.e., Borax & Muriatic Acid, Stabilizer, Baking Soda?

Thank you both for the help, it is most certainly appreciated!

[Watermom]

Post some good testing numbers when you get your kit and then someone can make a recommendation based on that.

[CarlD]

When all of this started, I put AquaChem Algae Eliminator Max in the water, with 2 pounds of Shock PLUS. After that, I added 1/2 a bottle of Sink & Sweep. When the flocculant didn't appear to work, I took a sample in to the local pool store, who said I ad high phosphates, and sold me a bottle of phosphate remover, and said to put 5 bags of Shock PLUS in the pool with the PhosFREE, then run for 7 days backwashing every other day. All this did was make the pool more cloudy, and eventually, the algae came back.

Oh, No! I HATE what I'm going to have to write! Virtually everything the pool store guys told you and sold you is WRONG and won't help. Sorry in advance!

Had you merely poured in several gallons of Liquid Chlorine (12.5%) you would have probably had a far greater effect. What you need to do is KILL the algae, and chlorine is generally the best thing for that. Regular bleach works just as well but you need 50% more of the 8.25% to get the same effect.

[Traxl]

I was beginning to think the pool store guy was leading me down a path that would be expensive and not necessary (should have trusted my gut), thank you for the confirmation.

PoolDoc originally recommended 1.5 gallons of chlorine per night to clear up the algae. What I was able to source is the 8.25% bleach, so does this figure still stand, or should I go with 2 gallons?

My intention is to add Borax to the pool per this thread. Understand that I need to get the algae gone, and chlorine and stabilizer in check beforehand, but thought this would be a good time to go through the process, before the family has started using the pool.

Thank you again for the advice!

[PoolDoc]

Do NOT use the bleach!. Using bleach now may cause a variety of problems including stains.

It's unfortunate, but you did not mention either Sink and Sweep or Algae Eliminator Max in your list above. The listed chemicals weren't ideal, but would not have been a big problem If you'd listed Sink and Sweep or Algae Eliminator Max, I would have posted a quick response to encourage you avoid using those. Too late now! What you need to know, going forward, is that the Aqua Chem | Pool Time products are among the worst on the market. Many items in those lines are products you should NEVER use, either because they are highly diluted or because they will actually do things you don't want. A further problem is that, because the AquaChem | PoolTime products go as far as is legal to avoid identifying ingredients, you don't know what's in them this year OR whether the 2014 "Sink and Sweep" is the same as the 2012 "Sink and Sweep". As a result, having used this product successfully in years past does not guarantee you'll be successful with it this year, since it may not even be the same chemicals as it was before!

"Aqua Chem" | "Pool Time" Sink and Sweep is a mystery goo product made by ChemTura, also known for the BioGuard
'premium' line of dealer-only chemicals. Sink and Sweep has no identified ingredients appearing on either the label. The MSDS does reveal that it's "cationic", that is that the big part of the ion, when dissolved, is positive. This is significant, which I'll get to below. It is marketed as an 24 hour floc; reviews on Amazon (link) suggest that it may actually work . . . if you use it correctly.

"Aqua Chem" | "Pool Time" Algae Eliminator Max is currently a 3% copper algaecide; but it may have been something else (Amazon review)

We do NOT recommend either of these chemicals. But, since you've used them, you have no options. If you turn on the filter, or stir up the water too much while filling, you can actually make things much WORSE. So do this instead:

1. Stop filling for now. Add NO other chemicals. Tonight, post information what kind (make/model/sand, cartridge, or DE) filter you have.

2. Get several quarts of polyquat -- see this page for info http://poolsolutions.com/gd/polyquat.html Polyquat is a cationic algaecide that shouldn't react with the Sink and Sweep. You may be able to find it locally; if not order from Amazon. Links to Amazon on that page.

3. Tomorrow -Monday- evening, continue filling, but -- to avoid stirring up the water -- put the hose in the largest bucket you have, and place the bucket on the bottom of the pool.

4. Hopefully, by Tuesday PM, the algae will be dead and settled on the bottom. If not, go ahead and add a quart of polyquat.

5. Once the pool is fully, start the pump and filter. Immediately hook up your vacuum and begin slo-w-wly vacuuming the debris on the bottom. Have some one watch the pool return: if the vacuumed debris begins shooting back into the pool, STOP IMMEDIATELY.

6. If the settled debris passes through the filter, turn the pump off, and use your vacuum hose to set up a 'siphon' vacuum and vacuum the debris out onto the ground.

Good luck!

7. Remove as much from the bottom as possible. The problem with flocculents, like sink and sweep, is that with overdoses or if the formed particles go through the filter and are broken up, the floc can begin act in reverse, to make it HARDER to remove the dead algae.

[PoolDoc]

Re-reading some of this, it's not clear to me: was the Algae Max and the Sink and Sweep added BEFORE, or AFTER you drained?

[CarlD]

Just a note from me:

Ben's advice supersedes mine: Follow HIS advice, please--he's more on top of the subtleties of chemicals I do not buy and do not use!