Looking for recommendation on shocking my saltwater pool

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L

LanierSpots

Member
Apr 22, 2024
7
Sarasota, FL
New guy here so be easy on me. I bought a new home in January with a saltwater pool. We have pretty much had nightmares with the construction of the pool as well as the house for almost 2 years of construction. I have found that the company who built the home and the pool are pretty much brain dead and are of no use. I have been taking care of the pool myself since we moved in, late January. Its been a learning experience but I have stuck with it and believe I am getting a better handle on it.

As of now, mostly I am brushing and use my vacuum weekly, adjusting high PH levels twice a week to 3 times a week using Muriatic Acid. I was having big issues with the FC for the first couple of months. I just could not get the FC to make sense then after reading here, I found out the the pool company never added any CYA. Zero. So after getting that going, my FC is doing much better and holding from 4-7ppm read with a Taylor test kit.

We use our pool a lot. 4 times a week at least. Some times more. I have not "shocked" the pool since I have had it. I am asking when and why would I need to to shock it and how should I go about doing that. My pool is a 7500 gal rectangle with a 8'x8' spa on the end. The spa overflow into the pool and I have a 4 foot wide waterfall that also flows in the pool. I am in Sarasota Florida and have a pool cage over my entire pool area. Nothing is really getting in there. I am vacuuming to pick up and sand or broken concrete from my brushing or the pavers that surround the pool.

7500 gal saltwater pool with spa
Jandy chlorinator running at 60% right now
From yesterdays readings with my taylor test kit
FC - 6
TA - 70
CH - 345
Temp - 86.5
PH - 7.6 (measured with digital tester)

CYA - 55 (measured with Water guru). I cant get that Taylor test to work correctly so Im using this thing to monitor CYA.
My CYA was at 0 a month ago. I used the Clorox stabilizer to slowly get to this point. I added some 3 times in a week and
this is where I am now









The only thing that we have had in our pool other than sand is I had a mouse swimming in it this morning when I woke up. He
got in under my cage door which I am repairing. Should I be "shocking" this thing and how do I go about it?

Thank you so much for your help.
 
LS,

If you follow the TFP Pool Care process and keep your CYA and FC at the proper relationship, you NEVER have to add Shock to your pool.

I have three saltwater pools, that I have owned for well over 10 years, and I have never added shock on a routine basis like most Pool Stores tell you to do..

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
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Properly balanced and maintained pools never need to be shocked. In 8 seasons I have never once shocked mine. Shocking is a pool store trick because they have you run too low a chlorine level so they can sell you magic potions that mask the problems you have when your chlorine is too low.
 
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Thank you guys so much. I just could not figure out why I would need to do that, unless there was some kind of accident. Ive heard that term for years but was just looking for a reason why I would need to do it. Im still working on things but this site has helped a ton.

I wish I could get, or trust, that black dot test thing on my taylor kit but it just seems to difficult to tell whats going on with my CYA
For now, I will trust the automation and get it tested occationally
 
LanierSpots said:
Thank you guys so much. I just could not figure out why I would need to do that, unless there was some kind of accident. Ive heard that term for years but was just looking for a reason why I would need to do it. Im still working on things but this site has helped a ton.

I wish I could get, or trust, that black dot test thing on my taylor kit but it just seems to difficult to tell whats going on with my CYA
For now, I will trust the automation and get it tested occationally
Click to expand...
The black dot test doesnt need to be that accurate. You just need to know if CYA is more than 30 and less than ~100. Anywhere in between is ok even if you mistakenly read it as 60 and its really 50. But i would trust the vague dot test over the water guru any day. 😉
 
LanierSpots said:
Thank you guys so much. I just could not figure out why I would need to do that, unless there was some kind of accident. Ive heard that term for years but was just looking for a reason why I would need to do it. Im still working on things but this site has helped a ton.

I wish I could get, or trust, that black dot test thing on my taylor kit but it just seems to difficult to tell whats going on with my CYA
For now, I will trust the automation and get it tested occationally
Click to expand...

They sell a standard solution of 50ppm. You could get that and then know what it looks like. You will be surprised because the dot does not disappear.

This is pre-mixed to be 50ppm. Just use it in place of pool water. Mix as usual with reagent then pour to 50 on the tube and you'll know what to look for.

tftestkits.net

R-7065 CYA Standard 50ppm (2oz)

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net
 
Last edited:
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PoolGate said:
This is pre-mixed to be 50ppm. Just fill your tube with the solution up to exactly 50 and you'll know what to look for.
Click to expand...
For clarity - you use the standard solution instead of your pool water. You still need to add an equal amount of
R-0013 each time you do the test using the standard solution.
 
When I test cya, I do not use the cap that came with the bottle.

I have found that squirting the reagent in to the test tube causes bubbles and is distracting.

I pout it from the test tube into the cylinder, glancing at the dot. When I think I have a reading, I pour it right back into the bottle, and repeat.

I will pour it back and forth several times, until I find I am comfortable with the result.

When I get 3 or 4 pours with the same result, I call it good.
 
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RLP said:
When I test cya, I do not use the cap that came with the bottle.

I have found that squirting the reagent in to the test tube causes bubbles and is distracting.

I pout it from the test tube into the cylinder, glancing at the dot. When I think I have a reading, I pour it right back into the bottle, and repeat.

I will pour it back and forth several times, until I find I am comfortable with the result.

When I get 3 or 4 pours with the same result, I call it good.
Click to expand...
It also helps to just fill it up to the decade lines instead of staring and adding drops. Its better because CYA-51 and CYA-60 require the same amount of chlorine so it doesnt matter if CYA is 51, 56, or 59 since they all get rounded up to 60.
 
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PoolGate said:
They sell a standard solution of 50ppm. You could get that and then know what it looks like. You will be surprised because the dot does not disappear.

This is pre-mixed to be 50ppm. Just use it in place of pool water. Mix as usual with reagent then pour to 50 on the tube and you'll know what to look for.

tftestkits.net

R-7065 CYA Standard 50ppm (2oz)

tftestkits.net tftestkits.net
Click to expand...


I totally see what you are doing. Yes I have been waiting for that black dot to go away. I will get some 50ppm sample and calibrate myself. LOL.

I get you guys dont like the Water Guru but I have compared it with PH, TA and FC with my tests with the Taylor test kit 5 different times and found it to be pretty close. It seems to track. The only thing that I noticed as my TA on the machine tends to be about 10-20 PPM low on the machine but it seems to be consistent. Not sure if there is a way to calibrate it. I have not dug into it much. I use it mostly because I am a gadget guy and like the updates. I am still using my test kit.
 
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