New to site and pools

[savdoc2]

Hi,

I have been reading and hopefully absorbing all the knowledge you have to share. Sorry if I am posting this in the wrong place, move if necessary.

We have a 24', 54" high AG pool. We have not opened it yet but plan to work on it this week. This is our 2nd year with the pool and last year I followed most of the dealers recommendations. They sold us the Frog system (actually a private label version of it) and we didn't know any better. I am not planning on purchasing a replacement mineral cartridge this year since I have been reading here and at PoolSolutions. I will leave the cycler in place just not insert a cartridge.

I am planning to just use bleach. Is there anything special that I need to know when comparing prices?

I have pre-ordered Ben's testkit, but likely won't have it before we open the pool, though swim season is still weeks away. I will look for a drop kit to get me by. Of course, the dealer only uses strips.

Last year I had a difficult time keeping my pH up. It was a struggle all year. It liked being around 7.0. We also had an algae problem. The dealer sold us that the mineral cartridge would help us use less chlorine, but we used a lot. I can't tell you how many bags of shock that I dumped in - and the dealer told us to only use chlorine shock every 4 weeks. My guess is that the pH problem caused the chlorine problem.

So, my big question is what all should I have on hand for opening?

Also, since I will be using bleach, do I also need a chlorine floater or something like that. I have read that people are also using pucks or sticks. Do I need these things too. My limited experience with pools is from 25 yrs ago and I don't remember a lot.

TIA, for all your advice.

[aylad]

The first thing you really need to do is to test your water with a drop-based kit and post your results, then it'll be easier for us to tell you what you need to do. I would keep a box of baking soda (for raising TA), a box of Borax (for raising pH), and if your CYA was low last year, a container of stabilizer to be added to raise it. However, I wouldn't add any of that stuff to the pool until you've got a good set of test numbers. People use the trichlor pucks or sticks for raising CYA, but if you already have a low pH problem, the use of these is only going to compound it, so I'd add it via CYA granules instead of through trichlor.

Janet