What is Algae? Algae is small plant life which grows in pool water. It comes in green, yellow, and black. It is slimy in texture and Yellow and Black are the hardest to kill. Kill Algae by SuperChlorination There are 3 different stages of algae in which different amounts of shock are needed, there is: Light Green Dark Green Black Green (Creature from the Black Lagoon Green)
If you have a light green pool you need to double shock your pool in order to kill algae.
1 pound bags of shock treat up to 10,000 gallons of water so if you have a 10,000 gallon pool or less you will need to double shock it by adding 2 pound bags of shock. If you have a 20,000 gallon pool or less you need to add 4 pound bags of shock and if you have 30,000 gallons or less you need to add 6 pound bags and so on.If you have a dark Green pool you will need to triple shock it. So if you have a 10,000 gallon pool or less you will need to add 3 pound bags of shock. If you have a 20,000 gallon pool or less you need to add 6 pound bags of shock and if you have 30,000 gallons or less you need to add 9 pound bags and so on.
If you have a Creature from the Black Lagoon Green Pool you will need to quadruple shock it. So if you have a 10,000 gallon pool or less you will need to add 4 pound bags of shock. If you have a 20,000 gallon pool or less you need to add 8 pound bags of shock and if you have
30,000 gallons or less you need to add 12 pound bags and so on.Note: If you have a vinyl liner pool you should dissolve each bag in its own bucket of water before putting it in the pool. This will prevent your liner from being bleached out by the superchlorination. Also NEVER POUR SHOCK THROUGH THE SKIMMER IF YOU HAVE AN AUTOMATIC CHLORINATOR. We cannot stress this enough. Calcium Hypochlorite which is found in shock mixed with trichlor which is found in most chlorine tablets creates a deadly explosive green gas. And remember always shock at night. Chlorine burns off 1 PPM (Part Per Million) every hour in direct sunlight causing the chlorine to drop below breakpoint oxidation required to kill algae.
Floc Your Pool This is not a pun on words, Floc or Flocculant is a chemical which takes all small particles (like algae) in your pool and drops them to the bottom. This method however is more work and time consuming but gets rid of algae the fastest if done correctly. Just follow the directions for a cloudy pool on the back of any Flocculant product and instead of you vacuuming cloudy water you will be vacuuming green water. And never vacuum that through your filter. You the waste option to completely rid you pool of green water. After that you need to double shock just to make sure you got everything.
Algacide Normally algacide like pesticide is only a preventive and should be used throughout the pool season but there are some algaecides that contain b14 or metals such as copper or silver which can kill algae. These algacides may have to be added in large doses depending on the brand but mixed with shock can do the trick just as effective as just plain shock.
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