Little stringy things all in the pool.

[Mom22]

Hello, I have put the borax and bleach in twice now, last night and a few hours ago. My ph is at a 7.6 and my chlorine looks slightly darker than 3.0. I couldn't get the other test kit yet, because they only had test strips at walmart. All I have right now is the jed 2 drop kit. Thank you for helping me.

[BigDave]

Good, glad the pH is in range.

We're going to need a CYA level to proceed. You probably have some CYA from the Filppin' Frog (and metals too). I just have no idea how much. The Wall Mart HTH 6-way drops kit has a CYA test, but, the kit we prefer is the Taylor K-2006 (NOT available in stores). You can find it the testkits page here: http://pool9.net/tk/. If you purchase through that page, the forum gets some coin to keep the lights on.

It's especially important for small pools to have accurate testing because with relatively small amount of water compared to the usage they get, they get out of hand quick.

Before we go much farther, is draining / refilling the pool an option?

Have you purchased replacement chlorine cartridges for the Flippin' Frog? Don't, if you haven't.

As a trial user, you'll have to copy the URL then paste it into your browser after you log out of the forum.

Here's another URL: http://pool9.net/cl-cya/ to copy and paste that describes the basis for the method of pool care we teach here.

[PoolDoc]

. . . membership upgraded.

JED OTO / phenol red drops kit? That's good.

Add chlorine till you are DARK yellow, even orange tinted yellow. If it IS biofilm related, that may likely clear things up. If it's something else, like cottonwood seeds, then it will help but not clear it up.

Is there any plant near the pool that dropping fuzz or seeds or such? (I looked up your address in order to process your registration, and you've got a LOT of different kinds of trees near by. We see quite a bit of tree-related pool problems, from pine rosin, to cotton wood seeds, to pine needles in impellers, to falling bugs and caterpillars!)

[Mom22]

There are crepe myrtles, pine, dogwood, mulberry, and all kinds of trees surrounding. All of that stringy stuff is just sitting on the bottom of the pool unless I stir it up. I was thinking of getting a hose and trying to siphon it out. I will put that bleach in just to be safe. Thank you.

[PoolDoc]

There are crepe myrtles, pine, dogwood, mulberry, and all kinds of trees surrounding.

ARRG-G-H! Glad I'm not maintaining that pool! I *hate* "crap myrtles": they poop in pools about 350 days per year! Blossoms, seeds, leaves, twigs: they are ALWAYS shedding something. Worst pool plant, EVER!

Read this page on cleaning Intex pools: http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php/24535

[Watermom]

I, on the other hand, LOVE my crepe myrtles! They are beautiful. But, mine are in the front yard away from my pool!

[PoolDoc]

Trust me, if they sneak around to the back, and take up residence near your pool . . . you'll come to hate them, too!