My pool's green! Help!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - My pool's green! Help!

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:13:46 PM EDT

I've shocked it twice, used all the bioguard I could find, vacuumed it daily for two weeks, it's still green!
What to do? Any useful suggestions from the ARFCOM Army?

18'x4' round above ground.

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:14:36 PM EDT

[#1]

IM incoming

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:15:46 PM EDT

[#2]

Your IM box is full I sent my phone number in an email, Bob

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:21:52 PM EDT

[#3]

Wolf, I'm at work, can't call, thanks anyway.
e-mailed you, too.
Also emptied my IM box.

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:21:56 PM EDT

[#4]

Invite some friends over and shoot the sumbitch fulla holes. I did that to my dishwasher once and it felt so freakin' GOOD!!!

Wolfpack, you're a good man.

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:26:34 PM EDT

[#5]

Too much chocolate/mint icecream? Scared me, well, not shitless, but pretty good.
Wait, you said "pool", not "poop"? Nevermind.

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:38:55 PM EDT

[#6]

Woflpack, you are the man!
So you few who read this know, he just called me at work on his nickel to help me out.
Thank you doesn't seem adequate, but will have to do for now....

Thanks again, wolf!

Tim

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:40:40 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
Woflpack, you are the man!
So you few who read this know, he just called me at work on his nickel to help me out.
Thank you doesn't seem adequate, but will have to do for now....

Thanks again, wolf!

Tim

View Quote

Tim, how about shring with us the secret knowledge, I have green pools also.

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:46:36 PM EDT

[#8]

Drain it. LOL, he suggested algaecide made by Applied Chemical called Silvertraine. Also a pool conditioner to prevent/slow evaporation of the chlorine. He also told me that he would rather swim in algae than algaecides. At the price I'm paying for the chemicals I am approaching what it would cost to refill the pool........
Wolf said that once algae takes it's very hard to control, and that refilling may be the best alternative.

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:51:03 PM EDT

[#9]

Hielo, send me an IM if you want some advice on the phone, Bob

Posted: 6/28/2003 2:54:42 PM EDT

[#10]

P.S. I just went and looked, I messed up the name of that algaecide, it is made by [b]Applied Biochemists[/b] and is called [b]Silvertrine[/b]. It's nasty stuff to algae but it works...I'd rather not swim in any algaecide too much though. Also guys who have moved into a house with a pool, drain it! You don't know who was in it or who was pooping, peeing, bleeding or spitting in it. Kinda gross when you think about what you could be swimming in.

Posted: 6/28/2003 4:27:12 PM EDT

[#11]

Oh Poolman....You are the greatest.

[:D]

Posted: 6/28/2003 4:42:06 PM EDT

[#12]

In my limited experience as a poolman, I found that keeping the pH right was the best way to keep algae in check. Around here in SC, the pools are always very acidic. You can add baking soda to fix that problem. As a last resort, I covered a pool for a couple of weeks and that completely killed the algae.z

Posted: 6/28/2003 4:54:54 PM EDT

[#13]

Arent poolmen the scum of the earth? [:D]

Posted: 6/28/2003 5:22:40 PM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
Arent poolmen the scum of the earth? [:D]

View Quote

You gonna start that [b]again[/b]?

[img]http://photos.ar15.com/ImageGallery/Attachments/DownloadAttach.asp?iImageUnq=3288[/img]

Posted: 6/28/2003 5:43:45 PM EDT

[#15]

I heard that too...

[:D]

Posted: 6/28/2003 5:50:18 PM EDT

[#16]

It could be Scherinikofs (sp?) radiation.

Posted: 6/28/2003 6:21:23 PM EDT

[#17]

Does hi Ph promote algae or low Ph promote algae?

Bob

Posted: 6/28/2003 6:31:16 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Does hi Ph promote algae or low Ph promote algae?

Bob

View Quote

Neither really, it is best to have the ph balanced somewhere 7.6 to keep the chemicals most effective. If the ph is too high you will get calcium deposits from the water being hard like you have on your shower door and the plaster stains ALOT easier. If the ph is too low you will strip all of the copper out of the heater and copper pipes and it will discolor the plaster while ruining the heater.

Muratic acid lowers ph and soda ash (Arm and Hammer baking soda) raises it. If you don't know how much acid to add to bring the ph down add it in at 1/4 gallon intrevals every few days till it is at an acceptable level then check it once a week. A high swim load will lower the ph so be careful to take that into consideration.

Also a higher ph is better than a lower ph, but try and keep it around 7.6

Posted: 6/28/2003 6:42:45 PM EDT

[#19]

Thanks for the info!

It seems every year that the chlorine comes up just fine, but we have to load in the soda to raise the Ph every day for a week before it stabilizes. Algae hits around the first week of August regardless of chemical levels. Then we sock it with algaecide but it never seems quite right after that. Maybe draining it is a viable option after all.

Bob

Posted: 6/29/2003 1:48:53 AM EDT

[#20]

This winter I got lax about treating the pool.In spring after 2 days of 70 degree weather I had a instant swamp.It took me algacide,lots of chlorine and about a month to get it clear.I actually used algacide twice,a couple of weeks apart.I made sure my chlorine level was always high.

As the algae died and fell to the bottom I would vacumn it up.This would stir things up and it would look like hell again.Between vacuming and the pool filter it took a long time to get those little critters out but now it's crsytal clear.

Posted: 6/29/2003 6:39:16 AM EDT

[#21]

If it's green, then just go take a nice piss in it and it should change to blue. Or you could go down to the pet store and get a 5 gallon bucket of Oto's (Otocinclus)and they should be able to keep it clean. I just dont see what all the fuss is about...[BD][:D]

Posted: 6/29/2003 8:09:31 AM EDT

[#22]

TimJ,

Keep the chlorine high, have the water checked by a pool supply company, put some algacide in it and brush daily. If you have a sand filter, do NOT backwash it. As it collects the algae, it actually becomes a better filter. Add some clarifier. Keep brushing and keep the chlorine high!

It will get better!

Good Luck!

Merlin

Posted: 6/29/2003 5:03:42 PM EDT

[#23]

Even after you get the Algie under tow and everything about right,people jump in the pool and bitch about the chlorine being too strong!

And hah that ain't it the PH is too low(burnning there little eyes)!

So at ten PM you close the pool and adjust the water,bam same old thing over and over till labor day week-end then you get to close the monster down for the winter!

Bob [:D]

Posted: 6/29/2003 6:22:53 PM EDT

[#24]

I've never used any type of algicides or other chemicals in my pool. Super shock it before winter shutdown, and the water is crystal claer when uncovered. Hell, I put so much chlorine in before the winter, that when I took the cover off and set it on my lawn, I burned a perfect 30 foot round circle on my lawn last week. (I hope the lawn comes back to life)

Now of course, after a day or so of the sun hitting the water when the cover comes off, the water turns green.

I uncovered and started to fill with the proper level of water last week. Crystal clear water. 2 days later, the water was puke green. Super shocked the whole mess, set up the filter, ran it for 24 hours, removed the filter element, hosed of the D.E., re-charged it and went swimming this weekend in crystal clear water that tested perfect on a test strip.

I think that algicides put another part into the equation that doesn't need to be there. Now of course, I am not a pool man, but it work for me.

Posted: 6/29/2003 7:13:39 PM EDT

[#25]

Don't know if it is the climate but other than occasional scrubing on areas that the Kreepy missed I dont have a real problem with algae. Course I run my filter 4 hours a day in winter and 8 in the summer.

Posted: 6/29/2003 7:30:45 PM EDT

[#26]

I agree with wolfpack about the PH level. But we have to use an algaecide here. I like to use products from In the Swim. These folks have great buys on all chemicals and great service. I get coupons all the time for five or ten bucks off of an order. If I order something and it is not in stock I get another coupon for ten dollars off. The item usually shows up a few days latter anyhow.

[url]http://www.swimmingpoolsupplies.com/[/url]

[url]http://www.swimmingpoolsupplies.com/catalog.cfm?dest=product&deptid=32&productid=55&storeid=11&requestTimeout=500[/url]

Posted: 6/30/2003 1:26:36 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
Woflpack, you are the man!
So you few who read this know, he just called me at work on his nickel to help me out.
Thank you doesn't seem adequate, but will have to do for now....

Thanks again, wolf!

Tim

View Quote

I wanted to add too that Bob (Wolfpack) is Da MAN!

Having just moved in and not being familiar with the pool, I knew enough that the pool maintenance guy I was paying wasn't doing JACK.

So I saw this thread a few days ago, and IM'd Bob about my pool, and he immediately responded with his phone number.

I called him and he got me on track, especially today when I woke up to find a film of algae on one side of the pool.

The problem was the pool guy wasn't doing ANYTHING to the pool, to include adding chlorine tablets to the floater.

Bob coached me as I was in the pool supply store buying the chemicals, and now I'm firing the pool guy.

Thanks Bob! .... Chris