Mustard algae (yellow algae) is rare and persistent, but don’t fret. By following a few simple instructions, you can scour away this microbial menace, and keep it from coming back.
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⏰ Timestamps:
00:00​ - Introduction to How To Get Rid of Yellow Mustard Algae
01:04 - What Is Mustard Algae?
01:50 - How To Get Rid Of Mustard Algae
02:08 - #1. Wash Your Bathing Suits
02:28 - #2. Clean All Pool Equipment and Accessories
03:15 - #3. Brush And Vacuum Your Pool
04:20 - #4. Test And Balance Your Water
05:07 - #5. Triple-Shock Your Pool
06:12 - #6. Keep Chlorine High And Brush Your Pool Again
06:54 - Pool Care Video Course
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Mustard algae wear, yellow algae, it's rare, but it's persistent. You can scour away this microbial Menace with just a few simple steps. So, let's dive in Rachel, quick disclaimer when it comes to pool care. Everyone has a different way of doing it, but we here at some University, have our way of doing it, based on all of my years in the pool industry and the research that we've done here as a team.

The bottom line is that we all just want to help you take care of your pool and, of course, if I missed anything in this video or you think I missed anything, feel free to leave a comment be happy to address it there. So, let's get into it in this video we're gon na be talking about adding chemicals to your pool to get rid of mustard algae, and so therefore we need to talk about safety, which means chemical resistant gloves, always wear them. Chemical resistant, goggles, a mask and an apron you'd need to get it because it's important safety first mustard algae is is rare, but it happens generally in the southern climates and it doesn't really look like algae. Sometimes sometimes it can look like pollen or can look like sand and it likes to stick to things it comes from outside of the pool.

It's not something that grows in the pool you have to introduce it to the pool, and the real is that it is chlorine, resistant, mustard, algae likes to attach itself to all different kinds of things and it can live outside of the pool. So what can it attach to? Well, your pool floats your pool equipment, your bathing suits yeah. Sometimes you go in the ocean with the same bathing suit and then you get into your pool, you might get yellow algae doesn't happen all the time, but it's possible. Ok.

So, let's talk about the ways that we can get rid of mustard, algae or yellow algae. You know you got it! That's why you're watching this video, I assume, unless you're some sort of masochist and just like to listen to a guy talk about getting rid of mustard algae in a swimming pool, so getting rid of mustard algae. The first thing you want to do and the weirdest thing is to wash your Bay suits. I know I know, and you want to use a color safe bleach.

The bleach just adds that little extra disinfectant to really kill any yellow algae that is living in your bathing suits. Next, we are going to clean all of your pool equipment. We're talking about floats anything, that's going to be introduced into the pool beach balls floats pool equipment, even everything needs to be completely sanitized and we're going to use bleach or a bleach based disinfectant. So I know Clorox makes a spray that you can use like a multi-purpose spray that has Clorox bleach in it.

That's really good, if you don't have that lying around, but you do have some bleach. You can mix ten parts of water to one part of bleach and that'll, be you could put that in a spray bottle spray down your equipment, wipe it down spray down your pool toys. Your floats that way at least we've protected the pool from getting mustard algae reintroduced. Okay, now we're gon na try to get as much of the yellow or mustard algae out of the pool before we go ahead and throw a bunch of chemicals at it to kill it.
So what we're gon na do here is you're gon na need a brush. Now, if you have a concrete pool, I recommend getting an algae brush, which is a metal brush. If you have a fiberglass pool or you have a vinyl liner pool, you're gon na want to get a vinyl pool brush something with thick thick bristles, like I said before, yellow algae likes to cling and stick and dig itself into different parts of your pool, and So you're gon na need to brush that and get it in the suspension and anything that you can't get with a brush. You can even try vacuuming, but if you're gon na vacuum it - and you should vacuum it manually - you're not gon na - be able to use a robotic, cleaner or any sort of automatic pool cleaner, because it's just gon na blow right through you're gon na want to Use a manual vacuum and when you do you want to set your filter to waste, you don't want that coming right back into your pool, you want it to exit out of your pool if you need more information on how to vacuum a pool.

There's a little card and you can watch that video we're about to add some chemicals so make sure you get your safety gear on and before we add any chemicals. You always want to test water. Make sure at this point that your pH and your alkalinity are balanced. We're gon na be adding a lot of chlorine through shocking method, and we want to make sure that your pH and alkalinity are balanced so that that shock is crazy, effective.

Okay, we test the water, you can test it with test strips. You can use a liquid test kit, you could bring it into your local pool, store and have them check it. No matter which method you use just make sure that you get your pH and alkalinity balanced. You can use pH, increase or decrease her, and you can use a plenty increase, sir, and you want to do this and you want to at least wait if you're gon na add, if you need to add any chemicals, so you're pulled to balance the water wait About an hour retest, it make sure you're at the right level and then we're gon na shock the shove-it.

This is a method that I've used a bunch of times to get rid of mustard algae and it's called the triple shock method. This is what you're gon na do for every 10,000 gallons of water, that your pool has you're gon na add three pounds of calcium hypochlorite shock. Now the calcium hypochlorite shock that you use the higher the percentage of calcium hypochlorite as the active ingredient, the stronger that shock is gon na be now you want to wait until it's dark out before you do any sort of shocking to your pool, any sort of Chlorine addition, because the Sun will burn off one part per million of chlorine every single hour. And if we add that, in the middle of the day, you're not going to get the highest amount of chlorine to kill that yellow algae.
And so, if we wait till nighttime and let that pool system, the pool, filter and pump run overnight, mixing that shock in making sure that you've brushed it really good, so that the nothing is clinging to the walls. It is killing the mustard algae. That is what we want if you have any questions about shocking the pool again, here's a card to go watch that video okay at this point - we've triple shocked it the next morning. Hopefully the yellow algae is gone now.

What you want to do you want to keep your chlorine high. You want to make sure that the pool is still balanced. You added a lot of shock, so get it retested make sure your pH and alkalinity are in balance. Keep the chlorine high keep the chlorine at around five parts per million if you can and keep brushing where you saw that mustard algae and at this point it's been a couple of days, you haven't seen the mustard algae come back.

You've killed mustard algae, you've gotten rid of it very, very good. If it comes back, you know what to do now now, quick plug. If you have any more questions about taking care of your swimming pool, you can go to some university comm, slash, pool care handbook. That is our product.

It's our fully Illustrated handbook or fully Illustrated ebook and video course that teaches you everything you need to know about. Taking care of your swimming pool, whether you're, a newbie or you've, been doing this a while you've had your pool for a while. It's helpful, it's a good resource. You can just jump to it right away or you can learn a bunch of stuff about taking care of a pool and, if you're watching this video - and thank you very much for watching this video, you get a discount code.

If you use a discount code video, you will get 10 % off at checkout, just go to some university comm, slash, pool care handbook all right! That's it! If you have any questions or you think I missed anything in this episode or this video. Please leave a comment below I'd, be happy to address it and also, if you want more information on taking care of your swimming pool or hot tub, you can go to swim university comm. Thank you so much for watching. That's it happy swimming.


50 thoughts on “How to get rid of yellow mustard algae in a pool | swim university”
  1. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars billybrooks1 says:

    Yellow gone. Added it a month ago. Haven't seen it since

  2. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars judy thornburg says:

    Thanks for the video

  3. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Creative Newborns says:

    How much shock is that for a 15 x 48 pool? 4,440 gallons, Thanx! Are you in Ottawa ?

  4. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Tim Quesnelle says:

    Thank You! This really works! I tried a lot of products and liquid chlorine, did not work. Did what is described in this video and bye bye Mustard Algae! I don't ever leave comments but this one is well deserved!

  5. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Rachael Schexnayder says:

    You freaked me out when you said my name in the beginning!!! 😂😂

  6. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Robert Moriarty says:

    I had my pool chlorine up to 10 ppm, Ph was normal, etc. And the mustard algae persisted. Then, I used an algacide and it worked great. Even at low chlorine levels. Only cost about $40 for the whole summer. I also put my pool toys, equipment, bathing suits, etc. In the treated water so I wouldn't reintroduce the algea. This is in Northern Illinois.

  7. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars MR.random57 says:

    Get saved by jesus so you can go to heaven and tell people about jesus also tell them to get saved by jesus
    .
    ..

  8. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jolene Weaver says:

    5000 gallons

  9. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Common Sense says:

    I hate that cartridge filters don't capture this algae. Such a garbage design

  10. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Uncle Timmy says:

    Ya know… once you get goin you seem to be very much in the know about your pool stuff and I gained a little knowledge here today so… sorry for my smartass sarcastic comments earlier. I’m just in a hurry to get rid of the mustard stuff.

  11. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Uncle Timmy says:

    University??? What team? You and your mom’s cats? We’ll tour your campus later if we have time. I’d like to see all this. But for now…Get on with the factual, scientific info that WILL SOLVE the algae problem. No guesses or opinions accepted during this test of knowledge and actual success rate.
    Get to the business part FIRST and THEN try the comical person audition tryouts. Or don’t??? Option B is the correct answer here. At least study up and practice in front of a mirror or something. I hear it helps. Go figure.

  12. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jolene Weaver says:

    Is it same as silt Are you in Barrhaven ?

  13. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars shirlee riddle says:

    Thanks for the insight. I have done exactly/exactly/exactly as you have indicated and I still have yellow mustard on the walls. I have brushed and manually vac'ed and still can't get rid of the stuff on the walls. Can you help?

  14. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Kathy Cacicedo says:

    I have an 8 foot poly stock tank pool – only about 625 gallons can you tell me how much shock to put in for such a small pool?

  15. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Joe Rogans Forehead Wrinkles says:

    No product recommendation for how to prevent it from coming back?

  16. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Nick Martin says:

    Doesn’t work

  17. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Mark Mollan says:

    Thanks for video! Quick ? If mustard algae is chlorine resistant, why are we using clorox and chlorine shock to clean the pool and pool toys/tools? Are you in Orleans ?

  18. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars LoniZeppelin says:

    When can we go back in after doing all of that

  19. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Julia Wilkison says:

    When I brush the mustard algae it just clouds all over. When I vaccum it same thing. My alkaline and PH are perfect and my chlorine is extremely high and I can't get rid of it. Please help!

  20. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Manuel Batrez says:

    So it's resistant to chlorine, but bleach will kill it?

  21. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Burntshocker says:

    I thought I was seeing DE on bottom of it pool. Now I think it’s algae. Pool is crystal clear but sandy piles on bottom. Driving me nuts. I’m gonna vacuum it up then clean out my filter. Now waste multi port on my de filter

  22. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Socrates Vela says:

    My pool is cloudy but I can barely see the bottom of my above ground 18' round. Is that mustard algae or green algae? I've heard, mustard algae does not cloudy up. My pool is balanced and my chlorine is 20 ppm, but still cloudy.

  23. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Nick Martin says:

    If it’s chlorine resistant how does shocking chlorine work?

  24. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Aloha 449 says:

    Didn't work. However Stop Yellow killed it in it's tracks. Disclaimer, we've been having a lot of rain here in north-east Florida and anything on the pool screen gets rinsed into the pool. Service area Barrhaven??

  25. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars junbug1029 says:

    I get in the pool and take a chlorine tab, with gloves on, and rub it over the algae. Then we shock the pool. Works every time.

  26. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Hola! Shane Welborn says:

    Rare,, hell I get it all the time.

  27. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sean Wanlass says:

    This triple shock method stained my pool plaster really bad. I diluted one pound of shock in a 5 gallon bucket of water , mixed it well. White blotches all over blue plaster. I can’t brush the stain out. 🤔🙄

  28. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Daniel Mason says:

    Definitely seems like i do.. I can run the filer over night .. Turn it off ..vacuum.. Rebalance pool .. Leave it sit over night. Come out the next morning and all looks great … Switch the filter to recirculate and within minutes … You can see piles of algae acclimating on the pool floor… And just keep building up in more and more spots .. In an hour the pool floor is patchy throughout .. And that's without filtering… Just recirculate.. Which leads to to believe that even tho im sure its in the filter as well … Its still in the pool…. Just weird that if a leave the pump off workout recirculating .it'll take about a day and half before seeing any major accumulation…
    Will that 3x shock method also take care of whatever is in the sand filter and plumbing ?
    Or should i pull the filter and clean out the sand adding if needed ?
    20k above ground pool with skimmer and floor drain… I replaced most the pipes before opening the pool this year as alot cracked over the winter.. But never investigsted the sand filter as it was brand new last year..

  29. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Paris Caldwell says:

    Should I mix it around so it's broken up and floating? Or is it fine just sitting on the bottom of the pool? Thanks!!

  30. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars John Rodi says:

    What about adjustments based your CYA?

  31. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Courtnie Cox says:

    I just installed the PoolRX into the skimmer (from your site). Within 24 hrs, I'm seeing this. Thought it was sand from the sand filter but it's not grainy. I thought going to a mineral system was supposed to prevent this ("eliminates all algae")??

  32. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Amanda Siekbert says:

    I have a serious yellow algae problem in my intex 15×33 pool. Not 1 single vacuum has picked up the algae 😩 it just blows it all around. I don’t know what to do to get it OUT! Help!

  33. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Stigz Stigz says:

    Don’t brush!!!!! Use liquid chlorine 3 jugs then a cap of yellow treat per 10,000 gal. Then you do a 8 count pour of Muriatic acid for best results!

  34. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Chelsea Christopher says:

    If I have a dolfin do I need to take it out the pool and clean it?

  35. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Aaron Sevy says:

    If you get yellow algae you are going to have big headache with your pool. What was talked about in the video was kinda a yes/no/maybe type of answer. I think he did a ok job, but yellow alage is something that you have to be very careful dealing with it. Its manageable just know that once you have it your pool will always have it period.
    algae to many times to count. Ive work for a couple different company's and was the go to guy if a pool had this type of issues. The answer that was given in the video was a text book, but if it dosent work for you hit me up might have some ideas you can try.

  36. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Scott Zwart says:

    When I used a lot of shock my pool turned purple. Why

  37. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Greg Huddy says:

    After treating, will there be songs of dead algae on pool floor? I've treated twice (first your method, second with yellow out/ shock) and there's now more gray goop on the bottom than ever before. Is this still algae… Or is it by chance dead?

  38. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Matt Dub says:

    If it’s chlorine resistant, how would washing with bleach kill it?

  39. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Dorothy Garcia says:

    I have an above ground pool intex 12×30 I drained it. Can I just clean the liner and all other items with Clorox bleach and it solve the problem or do I still need to refill and shock it to kill the Mustard Algae?

  40. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Jeannine Morelli-Cary says:

    My pool is balanced with the chlorine on the high end. I am brushing my pool twice a day and cant keep up. When I brush I make a yellowish cloud. My pool is 18×36 vinyl and I am Upstate NY. the water is clear enough to see the bottom of the 4' end but cloudy at the 9' end. Is this Mustard algae?

  41. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Slobodan Djordjic says:

    I have a sand filter, I have no waste setting. I have closed, backwash, rinse, and filter. Any recommendations on what I can do ?

  42. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Ma Sa says:

    Two questions – No mention of mustard algaecide. When do I use it? Also, I have a cartridge filter – it's colored mustard yellow! wont hose off. what do I do?

  43. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Stanley Keith says:

    What is a clear algae, looks like clear slim floating in the water. My wife gets it with a leaf skimmer with a fine mesh. I think we got it. Saw it last summer when we were into swimming about a month. What is this jelly looking stuff ? Are you in Nepean ?

  44. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Sammie McC says:

    10' x 30 SummerWaves Pool with Filter… How to do this process on that? Yikes!

  45. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Anesha Deweese says:

    Does this work for salt pool? I have an above ground 24'. Thank you 😊

  46. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Robin Luich says:

    This stained my pool liner,and it doesn't wipe off. Its very clean in parts of the pool then big patches of brown stains .
    This stain is now part of my liner. You cant feel it at all

  47. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Doug Neal says:

    The water is super cloudy. Will this take care of clarity as well or do I need a clarifier? What about yellow out? Service area Kanata??

  48. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Garry Larmour says:

    Fantastic video! keep it up, some vids are sooo boring to watch and enjoyed yours. I have a 10×24 Intex pool, and mustard algae. I believe I have conquered the worst as my pool is crystal clear today. BUT!I have it floating on the surface maybe do to put algeacide into it? I have been skimming it off but it spreads as I do this. What else should I do. Thanks.

  49. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Batte Mann says:

    I have spots of an odd, very light colored substance on the bottom of my 6,000 gallon vinyl pool that kind of looks like sand. The water is crystal clear and balance (because of your videos) It doesn't stick to anything and turns to "dust" when I even touch it with my pool brush. Do you think this may be yellow algae? Service area Ottawa??

  50. Avataaar/Circle Created with python_avatars Swim University says:

    Do you have mustard algae (or yellow algae) in your pool? Service area Nepean??

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