Help on startup

[ScottS]

Welcome to the site.

You started right by removing all of the debris and junk from the pool.

It is suggested to try to test at least 3x's a day while shocking the pool to get rid of algae. Morning, mid-day, and evening. Usually when shocking it is best done in the evening to let the FC work overnight. However, in your case you are fighting algae so you need to keep your FC level up as much as possible.

If you haven't seen this chart it will help you out a bit
----
Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm
----

With your stabilizer level at 0 you should be shocking at 10ppm. Keep the FC level at 10ppm until you clear the algae. If you can't test 3x's a day test it as often as you can. More is better in this case because if the levels fluctuate a lot the algae is harder to get rid of.

You should probably add some CYA to get some into the pool. You can put some in a stocking and hang it in front of the return to the pool. Add under the recommended amount because you can always add more if needed. Generally speaking you shouldn't backwash or vacuum to waste for about a week because the CYA takes a while to disolve. I am not sure if this applies to you though with a cartridge filter system as I am not sure that they are backwashed like sand filters. I am not familiar with them so I am sure someone else will chime on that. If backwashing applies I'd hold off on the CYA.


Good luck and be VERY persistent. If not you will learn how persistent the algae will be