Finally saw the FC/CYA ratio hold up through a brutal heat wave

Started by Alan Pierce · · 2 replies
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#1
We had about ten days straight over 95 here in Marietta and I was bracing for the usual algae scare, but this year I actually kept CYA at 35 ppm instead of letting it creep to 60-70 like it has in past summers, and held FC around 6-7 ppm with my dosing. Every single morning the FAS-DPD test came back within half a ppm of where I left it the night before. No green tint starting in the corners, no hazy afternoon bloom.

Felt like the first summer the CYA is sunscreen for your chlorine analogy actually clicked for me in practice instead of just on paper. Low CYA means a smaller dose of FC does more work killing stuff, so I wasn't chasing my tail. Forgive the chemistry lecture, but after years of overcorrecting I finally just trusted the ratio and it held.

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#2
this is making me wanna actually test my CYA instead of guessing, i just dump a capful of stabilizer in every few months and hope for the best lol. phoenix heat has been brutal too but ive just been throwing more liquid chlorine at it when it looks off instead of tracking any ratio
#3
Alan, I'll push back a little on the "trusted the ratio" framing, only because what actually held it together was you testing every morning and catching drift before it became a problem, the ratio's just the target you were aiming at. Swamp_tyler, that capful-and-hope approach is exactly how CYA creeps to 80 without you noticing, mine sits around 30 to 35 all season because I actually test for it instead of guessing, there's a calculator on here that'll show you how fast stabilizer stacks up if you're curious. Worth the ten bucks for a decent CYA test kit before Phoenix heat makes the decision for you.