Pool folks....mustard algae

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I had technical issues for about a month and was unable to backwash or rinse my pool. Mustard algae moved in. I have since fixed my issue and dumped 5lbs of shock (18.5k gallon pool) and 2 lbs of yellow out yesterday. I then brushed a good bit of the algae away. However, as of now roughly 24 hours later it is growing back. Any ideas other than going nuclear and dumping 20lbs of shock?

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1) Balance your pH
2) Put your pool into shock using liquid bleach or powdered shock
3) Brush your pool top to bottom
4) wait 24hrs and vacuum to waste
5) backwash your filter
6) continue to keep in shock until the algae is gone
7) brush your pool daily until the pool stays algae free
8) once clear hit it with floc to knock the algae to the bottom then vacuum to waste and take the chlorine back to normal level

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Check out troublefreepool.com SLAM process.

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This!!! You’ll have to know your CYA (conditioner) levels to know what your chlorine levels need to be. This goes for SLAM and for your every day chlorine levels also.

Just went through the exact same problem. Did you run your pool for 24 hours after adding the yellow out and shock? Then then backwash and shock again?

I’ve learned that you can never backwash enough….

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You got a pool over there?

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Pool and a pond. The pond would be good for you.

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Check out troublefreepool.com SLAM process. Follow their directions and your pool is on its way to clear water

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This is what I do. Algae will eat up the chlorine you have in the pool very fast. So you have to keep adding chlorine until the levels don’t drop overnight. It’s much cheaper and easier to maintain it properly than it is to shock it from time to time. I know this is easier said than done. Trouble free pool is an amazing resource. I get my liquid chlorine from Walmart bc they will deliver it.

Another thing I just remembered, items that have been in the pool can carry the mustard algae on them. So when you shock/add yellow out, put items like your brush/toys/etc in the pool to soak.

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Also, based on the test strips the FC is in an acceptable range

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The test strips can be unreliable. Even if they are accurate, the strip has NO IDEA what level of chlorine you need in your pool.

You need to know your CYA (conditioner) level to know what levels of chlorine you need. For instance, if you have a CYA of 30, your chlorine must be at a minimum 2, and ideally between 4 and 6 to be able to effectively sanitize your pool. These numbers are if you use liquid chlorine or pucks. If your CYA is 50, your chlorine must be at least 4, and ideally between 6 and 8. If not, you won't be able to fend off algae.

You can find this info out at troublefreepool troublefreepool chlorine and cya levels. Your test strips can tell you if you have chlorine between a certain level, but it can't tell you what your levels actually need to be.

That link I provided also lets you know how high your chlorine needs to be in order to SLAM your pool based on your CYA levels. If more people would follow these guidelines, they wouldn't have to worry about algae at all, and they would spend a whole lot less money on chemicals.

Just went through this. Had too much CYA in pool due to too many trichlor tablets in the inline chlorinator, so chlorine wasn't doing its job. I've since swapped to liquid chlorine.

Step 1 - order a good testing kit that takes into account Free Chlorine and CYA. I got the TF-100 kit.

Step 2 - buy a few buggies full of pure bleach or liquid chlorine depending on pool size. Just get whichever is cheaper.

Step 3 - troublefreepool.com and plug CYA and FC numbers in to SLAM calculator to get your shock level

Step 4 - plug that number in to the pool math app to get correct amount of liquid bleach/chlorine needing to be added for your pool size to get to that slam level

Step 5 - test and adjust pH before starting SLAM

Step 6 - start the SLAM. brush pool daily, run filter 24/7, backwash as needed, and maintain that SLAM level until problem is solved. It's best to add the bleach/chlorine at dusk so that the chlorine can work for a while before being eaten away by the sun during the day.

Keeping slamming until CC is at 0.5 or below, AND you pass an overnight FC loss test (1ppm or less), AND no visible algae

Took me about 3 days for my 35k gallon pool. Easy peasy once the analysis paralysis subsided lol.

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If you have a good test kit (like Taylor K-2006 or TF-100)

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I do not. Can I buy one at Leslie's?