New to the Forum

[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!