Newbie needs help/advice

[waterbear]

TEst strips test total hardness (calcium and magnesium) not calcium hardness. You need to test for calcium hardness. Depending on your water makeup it is possible to have a very high total hardness but have a much lower calcium hardness. Also the strips have very poor resolution (the numbers on the color chart scale jump from 250 to sometimes 400, if you have a GOOD brand of strip, and then to 1000 ppm with no readings inbetween!) and the hardness colors are difficult to read with any kind of accuracy since they are such close shades of blue and purple.

[poolgal]

Ok last night I added CYA, then about 2 hours later I added 3/4 gallon bleach
this mornings test:
10am
FC 2.5
ph 6.8
alk 130

then I did the test strips
h 1000
fc 0
ph 7.2
alk 180
cya 0

so results = test strips are corrupt just like CarlD implied!

Just the fact that the pool is holding chl for the first time in days implies I'm at least on the right track now!

But I would also aerate my water and keep aerating it. With pucks, that's all I'd do, just keep pH between 7.0 and 7.2 and Alk should come down.

Ok I looked at the return jets and ours look like they don't move, and they point down. Any ideas on how to aerate the water with these type of jets? Or is this a case of "user error"? lol!

thanks!
Di

[poolgal]

Also the strips have very poor resolution (the numbers on the color chart scale jump from 250 to sometimes 400, if you have a GOOD brand of strip, and then to 1000 ppm with no readings inbetween!) and the hardness colors are difficult to read with any kind of accuracy since they are such close shades of blue and purple.

Yep totally! Just looked at the strips and the jump is considerable! From 400 it then goes straight to 1000. I'm trying to convince DH we need Bens kit! For all the $ we've spent on strips and crappy drop tests we could have bought Bens kit multiple times over!

Di