Small Black Bettles in pool???

[grdnchik]

Hi There, How do you get rid of these small black bettles in your pool. They have a strong grasp on the pebble Tec and grout line, and worst of all they swim. Is my pool chemistry out of wack? I did call me nearst pool supply (leslies) and they said there is nothing they sell to get rid of these bugs except to keep scooping them out and keep running my filter for eight hours a day. They said this would eliminate any eggs. It is gross having bugs in your pool.


Elsa.

[Simmons99]

Don't feel bad - I spent $13K on a screen enclosure - jumped in the pool last night with the lights off and came face to face with the largest beetle I have ever seen I swear the body was wider than a quarter - I jumped out fast - I was even too scared to skim it out (what if it crawled up on me ) - It was gone in the morning

May be try upping your chlorine and see if that deters them?

[joliecharlie]

We have had Japanese Beetles, centipedes and millipedes in our pool this year. Local Farm Supply store told us to sprinkle Sevin Dust around the perimeter of the pool at least once weekly. Hubby did that last night and I just checked, no dead bodies in the skimmer or on the floor. Sevin Dust is not a problem for our dogs and cat, and it was easy to apply.

[dawndenise]

Hi Elsa,

Had the same problem myself in early summer in the first few weeks after filling the new pool. My chemistry was within all recommended ranges and I had the pump/filter on 12 hours a day.

A poster on this forum was writing about boatmen and backswimmers, so I asked him to describe the critters further, which he did; he was in OK and I'm in TX. Seems as if many areas of the country have these, as I believe another poster had them in IL.

Anyway, they're relatively harmless (a few do bite) and very resistant to chlorine (they laughed when I shocked the pool and invited more to the party). Best bet is to get a skimmer net and get a technique for flinging them up and out of the pool and then squashing them. Yup, if you don't, they'll crawl or fly back into the pool.

I had about 15-20 at one time. Managed to kill them all and have had only 1 or 2 since. Hopefully, it was just a seasonal thing.