Help,not sure what this is on bottom of pool

[sisie5]

I need some advice,I have been fighting this stuff on the botton of my pool now for three weeks.Not sure if this is algae or what,however I"m about to pull my hair out,or should I say take the pool down.I have vacuum the pool everyday and the stuff is back the next morning,after I vacuum the pool get very cloudy.I take readings everyday,I have shocked my pool with tons for bleach.in the last three weeks I have used 20 gal of bleach.My arm and right hand is so sore from vacuum I'm to the point of giving up.Here is the pic and my readings today .Also can somene tell me how much bleach to add to shock.I have a 18x33 x4 oval above ground
FC-3.5
CC-0
TC-3.5
pH-7.8
CYA 40

[Watermom]

The volume of your pool is roughly 14,000 gallons. In a pool this size, each quart of 6% bleach will raise the chlorine by about 1 ppm. With a cya of 40, you need to be shocking up to 15ppm. Test morning and evening and each time, add enough bleach to get the cl back up to 15. Also, brush the pool daily and run the pump 24/7. When you vacuum, are you moving the vac head very, very slowly? If not, you just stir everything up and that can cloud your water.

[waste]

Sisie, just my guess from the pic, but all the shock in the world won't help your problem. I've seen the same distribution of 'debris' on pool floors many times, and it's a problem with the filtration (either the multiport or the filter itself). IMHO what's happening is that the debris is bypassing the filter and returning directly to the pool. If you'd post filter type and whether it has a multiport, I'll gladly give you my best guess as to how to fix the problem, pump size would help as well. Know that the great folks here want to help you with your pool and the more info we have, the better we can do so.

[sisie5]

Waste,I'll do my best to answer,First I had a swimpro 100 lb sand filter I believe 25 GPM.and a jacuzzi 2 Sp 1 HP pump,I didn't think the filter was big enough so I changed it.Now I have a jacuzzi 190L 200 Lb sand filter, and the same pump.I don't have a manual so here is whats on the side.it reads
Filter area 1.87 Ft
Height 29.5 in
Tank Dia 19 in
Filter 47 GPM
Backwash 28 gpm
Silica sand 200 lbs
Eff size 48 MM
Maintain 12 " clearance on side and 18" clearance on the top for maintenance
and service.
Not sure what all this means but was told I needed a bigger filter.Also I purchase 200 lbs of filtered sand,but it only held 150lbs.Now I'm wondering if I put the sand in right,not sure cause like I said I don't have manual.Here is a pic of the filter.Thanks for all your help and support.

[ernie57]

Sisie, just my guess from the pic, but all the shock in the world won't help your problem. I've seen the same distribution of 'debris' on pool floors many times, and it's a problem with the filtration (either the multiport or the filter itself). IMHO what's happening is that the debris is bypassing the filter and returning directly to the pool. If you'd post filter type and whether it has a multiport, I'll gladly give you my best guess as to how to fix the problem, pump size would help as well. Know that the great folks here want to help you with your pool and the more info we have, the better we can do so.

This looks like a picture of my pool. I would love to know what this 'debris' is. I have vacuumed to waste..tightened up the sand in the filter and it still returns within a few days. Brand new sand filter with 1 1/2 hp hayward pump for 30,000gal pool .Don't mean to threadjack but I'm really looking foward to an answer. thanks..ernie

[sisie5]

Oh by the way,the sand you see on the ground is the sand from the old filter.I was SOoooo angy I started throwing the sand.That was H.... getting that out,and to say the least just as bad trying to get the new sand in.

again thanks for all your help.here is pic of my pool on the first swim day.
cant wait to see that clear blue water again.

[les_smith]

I've got the same stuff in my pool. I added some DE to the filter. I didn't do it exactly right, but now that I've done the DE I don't seem to have as much sediment in the bottom of the pool. Here's the link to the thread where I was asking about what I did wrong when I added the DE.
http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=5376

It kind of explains the reason for the sediment. I think the sediment may be to fine and the sand filter won't catch it. That's my guess and that's why I added the DE.

[Unabomber007]

Nice pic. That's the exact same crap I have in my pool. I have a sand filter as well. Don't know what it is and my solution will probably be to throw my filter off of a building and go back to a DE filter. I've been battling that crap for months now.

[matt4x4]

That's the same stuff I fight every onset of fall, this stuff needs tons of shock 20-25ppm, AND DE in the sand filter to heplp grab it, if you flock once it's dead, it's relatively simple to vac up manually, however, the auto vacs seem to blow it around more than anything, BTW - the stuff in the pic is the live stuff, once you've killed it you'll get that light blue foggy water look - vac it up VERY slowly once dead (manually), you'll backwash at least twice over the course of cleaning the pool, this stuff is nasty and likes to stick around - even at 15 ppm.
Keep it at 25 ppm for 24 hrs, you'll kill it and won't have to replace your filter!

IT IS NOT DEBRIS, matter of fact, vac it up with DE, backwash and you'll see how green it looks, leave it in the pool, COVER if you want, it multiplies - dirt doesn't multiply....

[waste]

Matt, I was just comming back to refute my earlier post that cl wouldn't help ( ), after reading what you said here http://www.poolforum.com/pf2/showthread.php?t=5612. I'm just curious, where does this appear (part of country/ world)? If I've seen it before (Ct), I've misdiagnosed it as 'dirt' and paid it no mind, if I should be 'shocking the BEJESUS out of the pools, I'd really appreciate knowing.
Sorry for any 'bad' info I may have posted on this thread, but I did not know about this type of algae before I saw Matt's post above (though I don't think others had either, perhaps we can call it "Matt's Mud" or "4X4 algae" "