help with adjusting please

[poolhelp101]

i put more of the pool magnet plus in this morning hoping to help the stains, which i probably messed up and read you wrong and shouldn't have done that. but i thought that was to do and should do that while the ph was low, but anyway that's what i done and the pool is completely cloudy now and i can't see the bottom at all. so have i messed up?
ch 3, ph 6.8, ta 140. i havent' put the tablet in yet, should i still do that?
do i add bleach now? and aerate now?
thanks for helping and please tell me what to do now?
i'll eventually get it right!

[mbar]

It is ok that you put more pool magnet in. It will just take some time to clear up - it will clear. You can put the puck in - just make sure you keep the filter running 24/7. Turn your return jets up - it will raise your ph while lowering your alkalinity. Remember POP. Let the pump run for at least 48 hours. If after 48 hours the water is still cloudy, take out the puck, turn the pump off over night and let the water settle so that the percipitate can drop, then vacuum to waste. You can also put a skimmer sock on the skimmer basket (the puck goes under the sock), this will catch smaller particles. You can cut off the top of panty hose and use this instead of a skimmer sock if you don't have one. Do this during the 48 hours you keep the pump running. Keep me informed

[poolhelp101]

Thanks once again. I am so thankful to you for guiding me and being patient with me and all my questions! I just put the puck in and put the panty hose over the skimmer basket. I can only turn one jet up to bubble...is that going to be sufficient? or do i need to try to get the others too also, don't know if i can though. you didn't say whether it was okay to add more bleach or not but you had said earlier not to let the chlorine get low, which it is around 3 now, so i added one 3/4 gallon. i just hope that was the right thing. another question too, when the time comes to vacuum the pool you said to vacuum to waste, is that a must? i loose so much water doing that and then i am going to have to put more well water in and i'm afraid i'm going to be back in the same shape as i am now. Thanks again!! and let me know!

[mbar]

You don't need any more bleach right now. Since you have only a cya of 20, you should keep your fc at 2 right now. You don't want to have high clorine because that is what drops the metals out of the water. There is a "best guess chart" sticky at the top of the chlorine forum. You will have to check your chlorine every day though, because the chlorine will get used up more quickly breaking down what is causing the cloudiness so it can be filtered. You should keep your chlorine no higher than 5, and the puck will keep adding chlorine continueously. As for vacuuming to waste, you don't have to. especially if you keep the pantyhose on the skimmer while you vacuum. As for adding more well water - if you have enough sequestering agent in the water - which you do, then the new water will mix with the sequestering agent and bind any metals that are introduced. Just make sure that you do use a maintanance dose throughout the summer. Try to get as much aeration as you can - this will speed up the process. If possible I would try to get more aeration - you can hook up a piece of hose to a return jet and have it shoot water in the air and land back in the pool. Just be sure you watch the ph and keep it between 7.0 and 7.2 while doing this. I know all of this is confusing, but it will become second nature to you after doing it for a while Just remember, the less you put into the water, the less you have to deal with. Once you get your water in balance it is much easier to keep it that way as long as you check on the pool once a day, till you know how your water acts, everyone's pool is different - but once you learn the "reasons" you are using the chemicals it makes it easy to see what your own pool needs. Read the stickys at the tops of the forums and it teaches you what each value of the numbers you take mean. Don't worry about asking too many questions - that is how all of us on this site have learned

[poolhelp101]

the pool is starting to clear up but it is still pretty cloudy. CL 3, ph 6.8, ta 150, and my cya is 50 not 20. so i need to keep my cl at 5, is that right?
theres no way to make my other two jets aerate to lower my ta, is there anything else i need to try to do to lower it and increase my ph?
please advise and thanks so much for your help.

[mbar]

Since you have a cya of 50, you can take your chlorine up to 6, and even higher if you want to. You can take it up to shock levels (which for you would be 15-20) if you do it slowly - you have to watch to see if any stain starts to form, if it does that means that you need more sequestering agent. Your ph is low at 6.8, you need to get it up to at least 7 with aerating. You may want to invest in a pool fountain since your fill water is high in alkalinity. Here is a link to what I am talking about.
http://www.intheswim.com/shopping/dept.aspx?deptid=1257&GCID=C14163x040&e5=Y&e6=swim ming-pool-fountains&keyword=swimming-pool-fountains&s_kwcid=swimming%20pool%20fountains|7349 26481

You can find other places that sell them if you just google pool fountain.
Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any other questions you have

Just another thought, what is your calcium level? What do you mean you can't get a reading? High calcium with high alkalinity can cause a lot of cloudiness, plus sometimes it causes stains too. It's just good to know where the stains are coming from.

[poolhelp101]

i don't know what my calcium level is. when i try to test for it, the test water does not change colors at all. i plan on getting to the pool store soon to see what results they get(i live 40 miles away from a pool store that tests water).