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tabbikat86

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  1. Well have you thought about leaving the filter on the whole time you are gone? You should probably use an algaecide too, that will help inhibit growths. And I'm not an expert but I would probably double shock my pool, to help ensure that chlorine will still be in the pool when you come home. And last thought, do you have a cover? I'm sure if you do, the cover will help keep out bugs and debris, but help keep chlorine in the pool b/c the sun will not be beating down on the water. That is just what I would try, although there are some people up here who may be able to give you better answers. hope this helps though:)
  2. Although I do not know why Intex does not suggest that their 4000 gph pump be used on pools smaller than either 16 or 18 feet, I can't remember. I would check into it. I figured it was because the suction was so strong it was too much for the smaller pools, but i would call intex.
  3. Where did the "105 cups to get to 31" come from? IF you are referring to chem geeks chart for shock level at 80 ppm, in actual practice shock levels above 20 ppm are often quite sufficient. Your normal maintenance level of FC would be in the 6-10 ppm range. I would shoot for about 7-8 ppm. 1/2 gal of 6% ultra bleach will raise your pool about 6 ppm and you will not be waiting until the FC is at 0 ppm to add it so you will not need that much at one time. You will be chlorinating nightly or every other night most likely so you will not be adding that much chlorine at one time. Perhaps a quart or less. If and when you need to shock you will need about 2 gallons or so of bleach IF your FC is starting at 0 ppm. If you just have a bit of CC to get rid of less will most likely suffice, perhaps a gallon or so. If you use more concentrated pool store chlorine that is typically 12.5% then your amounts will be about half. NOT a lot of chlorine at all. Not sure where the 105 cups of chlorine came from. That would be 6.5 gallons of chlorine! assuming you are referring to 6% bleach that would raise the chlorine in your pool about 75 ppm, more than twice what you need and probably three times more in actual practice! 6.5 gallons and a 105 cups are virtually the same. 105 US cups = 6.5625 US gallons. I came up with that method by using what clorox the company told me. 1/8 a cup per 100 gallons. which would be 6.875 cups, or for my calculations, 7. That would bring it up to 2 (i thought...). So I figured to get to 31, I would have to use roughly 15 times that amount, and 15 x 7 cups is 105 cups, or 6.5625 gallons. But now I see that is wrong...so thank you!
  4. so would I need to use more chlorine? 105 cups to get to 31? thanks for the info!
  5. And one more thing if I do need to do a partial drain/refill, how much should I let out to get my cya levels where I need them. I was thinking with a cya level of 81, maybe I would need to drain half of it and refill it to get a cya reading of around 40.
  6. I forgot to post my levels...duh, well anyways here they are: CYA: 81 Tot Chlorine: 0 Free Chlorine: 0 pH: 7.6 Tot. Alk: 176 (high right?) Calcium Hardness: 69 (but I have a vinyl pool so I don't need to worry right, b/c the levels are low and not high?) TDS: 450 Those darn test strips...i bet my alkalinity was perfect the other day when the strips said it was low and I added a 0.5 lbs of alk increaser...well thanks!
  7. First of all I have an easy set intex pool that is 18 x 4 ft, it holds 5500 gallons of water, I am using a 2000 gph filter pump that uses the B filters. I was on the aqua chem system that uses dichlor 1 in tabs (the whole system included balance products, sanitize, shock, and algaecide. I've been reading a lot of posts on here and was told that the dichlor then bleach method would probably work...and I was using test strips (i know not accurate) and it had my cya levels as around 40, but I took it to the pool store and I trust their results over the test strips and my cya level is at 80. From all my reading that is not good, although the pool store said it was normal... I'm ready to switch to bleach...but it seems like I will have to use a lot of chlorine. I was using this link http://www.troublefreepool.com/pool-school/chlorine_cya_chart_shock to determine how much chlorine and I believe I got that link from Nitro's approach to water maintenance...although it was talking about in hot tubs, I figured it was roughly the same. So my question is do I need to do a partial drain/refill? I really don't want to because I'm only keeping the pool up for maybe a month-month a half. I go back to school in August and it takes first priority...I won't have time to keep it up while I'm in school. And how much bleach should I use? The clorox company gave me this: use 1/8 a cup of unscented chlorox per 100 gallons of water. I figured that probably would bring you to 2 and if I need to shock it to 31, I would need to use about 15 times that. Which at 1/8 a cup per 100 gallons is roughly 7 cups in my for my pool...so to shock it I would need 105 cups? Does that sound right, or am I wrong? Please help, and thanks:)!
  8. I have an easy set intex pool and my friends mom has an intex pool with the metal frame. In my pool I'm only supposed to fill it up to 80% capacity but in her moms pool you can fill it up to 90% capacity...so a 4ft pool with a blow up ring is probably only about 3.5 ft. I bet that one w/o a blow up ring is probably a little deeper. I don't know how to answer your other question...not sure but good luck!
  9. Well I have an intex easy set pool so I imagine the liner is fairly similar. Mine also bleached in one spot but it didn't actually bother me. I have an idea but it may involve a lot of work...so maybe you'd prefer doing it when you take it down or let the water out. There are very many shades of sharpies now...go to walmart and see if they sell the colored ones individually and if they don't I know they have large multipacks with a array of shades...there is a blue that is kinda similar...you could color the little diamonds (thats whats on mine) or whatever it is back in...im sure it would be less noticaeble and if you let it dry im sure it would stay up there...we have names written on pool floats and they never seem to wash off. I am not sure if this is what you were looking for but I couldn't think of any professional way to do this...but I thought if I was in your shoes this is the first thing I would try...goodluck!
  10. Richard, The OP stated that they had a pool and not a spa! In fact, an Intex easy set that holds a bit of 5000 gallons. Even though this pool does use the type B filters the filter is still undersized for a pool this big! The methods you listed are for spas. Chlorine is probably the best choice for this pool. What kind of filter should I be using? The pool actually came with a 1500 gph pump, and I bought this one of of craigslist...it was only 500 gph more but it realy does seem to work, although it runs 24/7. The sand filters don't really seem worth it to me b/c they don't filter small particles...i was thinking about getting intex's 2500 gph pump or their 4000 gph pump (i really want that pump...my pool holds almost apx. 5500 gallons...the whole pool would almost be filtered in an hour! and it also uses the b filters). I am also not trying to buy something extremely expensive...my pool has a blow up ring around the top...who knows how long it will last. thanks!
  11. I know walmart had some floats for under $5 and some pool toys for $5 or less. BigLots also had some for around the same price...maybe a little cheaper. If you have a Dollar General or Family Dollar I would look there...I bought floats and toys for around $1-3 and maybe a couple for $5. And lastly check out your town's Dollar Tree (ya know the store where everything is only a dollar) I found some pool toys and floats and noodles for all only a $1 a piece! Good luck
  12. Hydrogen peroxide is used as an oxidizer with biguanide (PHMB--Polyhexamethylene biguanide) systems such as Baquacil, SoftSwim, and Revacil. It is not used as a stand alone sanitizer in the U.S and the only EPA approval for its use is with a biguanide sanitizer. The peroxide is NOT the sanitizer, it is merely an oxidizer. The biguanide (PHMB) is the sanitizer Concentrations high enough to be a primary sanitizer in the water would be irritating to any bathers to say the least! Peroxide is also not compatible with chlorine as the two tend to destroy each other. It is more compatible with bromine systems but is still not as good a choice as a chlorine based oxidizer or MPS for bromine. Biguanide systems generally work well for a few years and then succumb to pink slime and white water mold, both bacterial. When this happens often sanitizing the pool with a high dose of chlorine is the only answer after draining and refilling. Biguanide is the most expensive sanitizer method of the three EPA approved primary sanitizers, chlorine and bromine being the other two. It is also not compatible with either chlorine or bromine. As far as bromine goes, it is not the best choice for an outdoor pool since it cannot be stabilzied against loss from UV light like chlorine can. Also, you do not want to use anything containing copper, Copper stains pools and causes green hair. Period. Thanks for the info on peroxide in pools. I had seen advertisement for these systems you talked about but didnt know that they use peroxide. the 20% algaecide that i was using was a polyquat algaecide...i think but it doesnt tell you that you will have results in 24 hrs and the algaecide plus uses 3.3% copper and 96.7% other ingredients (polymeric polyacrylate and gluconate stabilizing agents) and it did work in 24 hrs...but i have heard about the negatives associated with it...i was just desperate! but thanks again!
  13. Thanks for the links! I had already saved one of them and I think its pretty cool that you replied...I've heard about you from other posts...lol! I use the dichlor tabs...but my stabilizer according to my test strips hasn't gotten high enough yet...my pool has been up for over a month....i thought about buying stabilizer and just putting extra in there so I could switch to using bleach...but i also wonder if my test strips are right...but thanks again.
  14. So I was reading the back of some of my pool chemicals containers and one stated that you could not use the chemical if you used hydrogen peroxide to sanitize the pool. I tried googling the topic but only found out that people use it because it is less toxic and that it doesnt have adverse effects with the chemicals already in the pool. Does anyone know how to use this method and/or know the pros and cons associated with this method. I have a 18 x 4 ft easy set intex pool with a 2000 gph filter pump that uses the b filters. I currently am on the aqua chem 4 step system (balance (which includes the alk increaser, ph up and down, calcium increaser), chlorinate (which i used the 1 in tablets, but im considering switching to the 3 in tablets...or the new dual layer 3 in plus tablets), shock (i mainly use the shock plus but have recently had to use shock plus xtra blue...contains algaecide) and algaecide (mainly use the 20% kind but just bout the expensive algaecide plus which contains copper b/c it says results in 24 hrs). Thanks for all the help!
  15. Well no one has responded...so I tried to take it my own hands. I felt maybe this experiment of mine could be useful. I found on a post earlier about chlorox in pools and they had listed a 1-800 to chlorox, so I called it. The information that they gave was to use an 1/8 of a cup per hundred gallons and then to mix all of the bleach into 2 gallons of water. Which in my 5500 gallon pool is roughly 7 gallons...so I figured to "shock" it or superchlorinate it I should double that...so I put 15 cups of bleach in the pool. I also didnt have a 2 gallon bucket so I slowly poured the bleach into the pool...walking all around it b/c I don't have a deep end. I then took my skimmer net and walked around the pool several times...making a whirlpool like effect to mix it in better. My chlorine levels are way up now...and I will check again in the morning and then the afternoon. My next question is should I still use the 1 in (i think tri-chlor tabs) chlorine tablets or will that cause a reaction...although even with 8 tablets in the floater today (my all time high) it still did not increase the chlorine levels? Thanks for any info...and if you have no info well maybe my experiment will help!
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