I am a newbie here and with pool

[raptureready1953]

Ok Here I am, back with the results. Free chlorine...ok, had to look at colors. .. to me there was no colr change, if there was a color change it was in the ideal range?

Total active bromide..same, very little color change.

Ph Test between 7.6 and 7.8 that was between Ideal and add acid. OK here is my problem of not understanding...acid and alkaline? do I add soda for high acid, or do I add soda for alkaline? I dont get it and I feel dumb.

total alkalinity was 200 ppm, and have no idea what that means or what to do with it.

Water hardness was at 350 ppm....

Stabalizer, ok, it said to fill to line with pool water, then to the next line with the stableizer till you dont see the black dot when looking down into the tube, well I got it filled all the way to the top and still saw the black dot.

CYA, I did not see anything on my card for that. thanks in advance for all the help. Going to go read the stickies. thanks.

[Watermom]

Do you have a number for FC instead of just ideal? We really need a number.

Just ignore the bromide part of the tester. You have a chlorine pool - no bromine.

Your ph is OK between 7.6-7.8. As far as when to add baking soda, that is when your alk is low. Don't feel dumb. We all had to ask the same type of questions when we first started.

Your alk is a little high. Read the sticky at the top of the alk forum about lowering that. Not critical right now. Get everything else stabilized first and then worry about it.

Water hardness is OK at 350, but I wouldn't use any cal-hypo to chlorinate with since that will increase it further. Just stick with bleach.

Try your cya test again. Add pool water to the first line, then add cya test reagent to the second line. Mix and let it sit a couple of minutes. Then, hold the tester at waist level and look straight down on it from the top as you slowly pour the sample in. As soon as you can't see the black dot anymore, stop and read. If it never goes away, then you have less than 30 ppm of cya in your pool.

Hope this helps.

[raptureready1953]

Hi
FC was 0.6 to 1.0. will redo stablizer test...and report back in a few. Thanks so much.

[raptureready1953]

ok redid the stablizer test...still see the dot even at waist height... so what does that mean? the numbers are foriegn to me, what do I do? I put bleach in the pool and stirred a few min. ago. How often does one pour bleach into the pool? Stablizer, what is it and where do I get it? Thanks again everyone.

[raptureready1953]

Got the chlorine ok. between 3 and 6. But I still do not know what stablizer is , where to get it. Those pills said that they were stableizer? I dunno. What will happen if I get in the pool without stablizer being ok? Thanks again for the help. Ph still says add acid? Isnt that dangerous?

[duraleigh]

from an earlier post

CYA is stabilizer. Your test indicates you have virtually no stabilizer as well. 1.5 lbs should bring you to 40ppm and will help you hold chlorine during the day. It will take a few days for the stabilizer to be effective in your pool.

Go swimming. Lack of stabilizer will not hurt you. Get it at Lowe's/HD/WalMart.

You need to read all the "stickies" posted at the top of each forum. It will explain much of what you need to know...including muriatic acid.

[duraleigh]

You have no chlorine in your pool. I suggest you add one small jug of Clorox immediately. (If you add it in the day, it will disappear in a few hours)

CYA is stabilizer. Your test indicates you have virtually no stabilizer as well. 1.5 lbs should bring you to 40ppm and will help you hold chlorine during the day. It will take a few days for the stabilizer to be effective in your pool.

Meanwhile, after the initial dose of 1 gallon, try to keep your Cl in a 3-6ppm range and your pool will stay nice and clear.