Changing over to BBB and a little scared

[gonefishin]

Congrats on the new pool. I've no doubt that, with the advice from poolsolutions, that you'll have an easier time managing your pool than your builder did. I'd also venture to guess that it may look a little better too


hope all went well with your transition
dan

[Watermom]

dm3216 -- Go ahead and just start using the bleach. The fact that you've been using cal-hypo doesn't affect it at all. In fact, some people, including moderator Poconos, use a combination of cal-hypo and bleach. You are right to try and keep it at shock level for another couple of days. The key to killing algae is to SUSTAIN the high cl readings instead of letting them yo-yo up and down.

Welcome to the forum!

[waterbear]

B-B-B sounds pretty good to me. However, last night I used my last 2 lbs of calcium hypoclorite (powder super shock) after battling algae for the last 3 weeks (pool was constantly green). I don't have a good test kit -- I use the dreaded 'strips' and probably will keep using them for the rest of the season (closing pool in Sept). I ended up emptying about 25% of my 16K IG pool. So last night I gave it the 'shock' and today the water finally appears to be under control -- I estimate the FC to be just below 15 ppm (but can't really verify this with the strips). Anyway, if I'm planning on using bleach from now on, can I start it tonight to keep the pool in 'shocked' state (and at normal level) for another day (I mean after using the calcium hypochlorite? Any good advice is greatly appreciated...

The best advice I can give you is to go to Walmart and get their 6 way or 5 way test kit for under $20. You will need accurate testing results whether you use sodium hypochlorite (bleach) or calcium hypochorite (bags of shock) and you MUSt know your pH, TA, CYA and possibly calcium levels if you want to maintain your pool and actually kill the algae that has taken hold of it instead of just teasing it and making it angry!
A decent test kit is the FIRST tool that you need. The Walmart kit is the best one you are going to find for under $20! Once you get it ask how to use the 'shot glass method' for testing high clororine levels.

As far as whether you can use bleach right after the cal hypo, the answer is yes.