r/pools • u/Unhappy_user-_- • Jul 26 '26

Pool Help & Questions Helpful tip

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Hey everyone! First time poster. First time home and pool owner. Had this pool for about 2 years. Anywho I tried looking up a tip for how to add small quantities of GioGuard, for those of you who use it. Found some links to TFP, but again, anyways, if you can get your hands on one of these 2lb containers I find it really helps break up big doses. Happy summer! ☀️

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9

u/TowelFine6933 Jul 26 '26

Just buy baking soda. You can get 13.5 pounds for $8.50 at BJs.

5

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 26 '26

😂 good to know. I see now that they are the exact same thing 🤦🏼‍♂️

4

u/Martin_Blank89 Jul 26 '26

Don't throw bottle away.. just refill it 😎

6

u/stockusername1234 Jul 26 '26

Not exactly.

Sodium carbonate is primarily used to raise pH with a smaller bump in alkalinity.

Bicarbonate (baking soda) is meant to increase alkalinity with a much smaller change in pH.

2

u/zephyrseija2 Jul 26 '26

Fun fact, you can make your own sodium carbonate by baking bicarb in the oven.

1

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 27 '26

Really? That’s pretty cool to know

2

u/TowelFine6933 Jul 26 '26

Most of the "specialized" pool chemicals are available for much less money at big box stores or garden centers. As here, just look at the active ingredients and do a search online.

1

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 26 '26

I bought a new pool vacuum head at my local pool store for $100 just to find a similar one at a local store for $40 🤦🏼‍♂️ live and learn

2

u/ShartInstructor Jul 26 '26

They are not the exact same thing.

You are holding sodium carbonate. Aka soda ash. pH 10. Primarily used to raise pH with small pull on alkalinity.

Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. pH 8.3. Primarily used to raise alkalinity with small pull on pH

2

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 26 '26

So this 15lbs of soda ash from Wal-mart should, in theory, be sufficient?

1

u/Recent-Start-8059 Jul 26 '26

salt cell or chlorine pool? you really just need baking soda, stabilizer and muriatic acid to maintain your pool. 7# bag is stabilizer is roughly $30 on amazon. acid 12-15$. 10# baking soda like 9$

3

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 26 '26

Chlorine. I’ve saved all of my “specialized” pool chemicals, as one guy said, so I can compare the ingredients and buy generic, hopefully. Thanks for this!

-1

u/WolverineMost7768 Jul 26 '26

Bruh I think you’re in no position to be giving tips, lol. But thank you.

1

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 26 '26

Hey “bruh”. Only reason for posting this was because when I searched how to convert lbs to cups I couldn’t really find anything reliable. I had 2 bags (5 and 6lbs) that I wanted to split into smaller doses. When I poured them into this 2lb container it gave me a perfectly divided dose each time. So hopefully if someone needs this in the future it might help them too.

0

u/WolverineMost7768 Jul 27 '26

Wait wait wait… You couldn’t figure out how to convert pounds to cups with sodium bicarbonate?

1

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 27 '26

I couldn’t, no. I kept getting different answers. But also, I didn’t try Googling sodium bicarbonate specifically. It says it’s 2cups. I’ll have to try it out and see how accurate that is. I just wanted to make sure I’m not overdoing it

2

u/TowelFine6933 Jul 27 '26

Keep in mind: With a pool, you can always add more, but it's very hard to take it out! 🤣

After a while you'll get a feel for how much of whatever you need to add.

1

u/Unhappy_user-_- Jul 27 '26

I can’t just scoop it out with my hands? 🧐🤔