chemicals that aid conversion?

[KatieD]

Hi All,

Is anyone familiar with chemical products that are meant to aid in the conversion process? I'm not sure if we're allowed to post product names here or not, so I'll err on the side of caution and not.

Our pool supply company recommended this to us as a shortcut to conversion. It seems to be working, our water has cleared considerably since Friday PM, we are just beginning to see the drain today.

What seems to be different about this process from what I'm reading here is that we have so far had none of the goo others mention. We've been brushing daily and backwashing just for good measure, although our pressure has remained normal throughout.

We continue to see algae, which is the reason we began the conversion, although it's much better than it was and the water is definitely looking clear today, barely murky at all.

We began the process with very high bacquacil, 59ppm, it was 33 on Tuesday, and I'm just taking the water for testing in a few minutes to see where we are today.

Since we still have fairly high bacquacil levels, I'm wondering if our water would go back to green and we'd start getting the goo if we began adding bleach right now.

I also wish I could find out what exactly this conversion product is, so we could have some clue how it is effecting our overall chemistry during the transition.

We don't have a test kit yet, it's on order from Ben, so I don't have any numbers to provide at the moment, other than that our PH was 7.7 and TA 81on Tuesday.

[KatieD]

Answering my own question it seems that whatever the chemical is, it's not doing much of anything. No wonder we have no goo! We have no chlorine either!

The water tested higher Baq today than it did on Tuesday. I'm assuming that's because my husband took the water in the AM, left it in a hot car, and didn't have it tested until the afternoon, so the reading was inaccurate. I took my water today directly to be tested, so I'm guessing my test is more accurate.

Our Baq level is 44 today, from 59 last Friday, assuming that test was accurate, not much of a change for 5 days, we'll be here forever. So in goes the liquid chlorine as soon as the sun goes down!

Now to figure out how to test the water!