Quote Originally Posted by karenib View Post
Here is our reading from the pool store, we have a fiberglass pool.

TC = 5
FC = 5
Ph = 7
TA = 25
Calcium hardness 185
CYA 80
total dissolved solids = 600
Boy! Do I HATE pool stores! Nowhere did they give you a metal read-out. TDS=600? So What? TDS is one of those scare-tactic measures, like Phosphates.

You have a very, very low TA, a fairly low pH, a surprisingly high (but manageble) CYA

My suggestion? Raise your pH to 7.3 to 7.6--use Borax. Raise your T/A to 80-100--use Baking Soda. Or, use Washing Soda (in the Arm 'n' Hammer YELLOW Box) instead of both Borax and Baking soda.

I think you need to shock your pool up to 20ppm--green may be metal, but with no metal read-out it's more likely algae. Your FC is the MINIMUM for a CYA of 80, but I think it's too low--the scale is vague--for CYA of 60-90, use an FC of 5-10 and shock to 20. You, at 80 are at the higher side, so FC of 8 or 9 should be your minimum.

Pool stores always come up with expensive solutions to problems. Try the basics first.

And, if our metal expert disagrees with me, she'll merely tell you to use a metal sequesting agent, but before you shock the pool.