green water and shock

[Guest Gary]

opened the pool this year, 17000 gallons in ground, and am having a time getting it clean. The water looks green, the girl at the pool store tested the water and said that I needed to reduce the alkinalty. So she sold me the minus stuff. I put all that in and it is still green. So I think I need to shock it, well something new happened. I added the powered shock to the pool direct ( no mixing) like I was told and low and behold it started to foam to the surface, covering the pool area with a thin white layer of bubbles that looked like soap scum. Now I am at a loss. I don't want to go to the pool store again, I don't think the girl there could grab her butt with both hands. I am worried that I might damage the pool. So what next? Please send email direct. Help!

[Guest Brian E.]

Make sure the ph/alk is not too bad...find out where they sell Sun brand chemicals, near you, buy an algaecide called SUN ALGAE CRUSH,, shock the pool with your normanl amount, an hour later add the CRUSH and let the filter run for a day, the CRUSH basically also acts as a clarifier to, so when the shock, the algaecide, and the clarifier ingredients work together you should see results very fast, next day check pressure because you may have to backwash....by the way, what kind of surface do you have, vinyl, fiberglass, concrete?, if vinyl, just make sure you mix it, especially if it is calcium hypochlorite, if its lithium based then don't worry about it, stay clear of all those 4-in-1 shocks, they create more problems than they solve,