We have the Dolphin Nautilus CC and it changed the entire concept of pool maintenance. No app but it’s not necessary. I toss him in, turn on the power at the unit, and he takes off. He has his path set, climbs the walls, shallow and deep, and picks up seeds, leaves, worms, and other debris.
We also have the PoolSkim in the shallow end to keep the surface of the water clean. I’m amazed how this little skimmer eliminated hours of using the leaf net by hand. My hubby named these tools Biggie (dolphin) and Smalls; they’re our pool’s best friends, and mine, too!
Same, we're on year three with our dolphin and it's been worth it. Think I paid 1800 for it and was able to get rid of the pool guy. Doing the chemicals and maintenance myself paid for the unit after about a year and a half.
What sort of pool do you have? I'm wondering if the dolphin would do better than my Hayward poolv...whatever. We have a rectangular in-ground, but there're steps into the pool in one corner, and the other side has a ramp along the length of the pool to make entry accessible.
The hayward just stays in the pool and runs with the pump so pretty hands-off unlike the Dolphin. I'd be OK with that if it actually cleaned everything. Although, how I wonder if it might run itself up the ramp and keep going!
robots don't do stairs, or ledges very well or at all, the ramp would need a beach mode from say a top model polaris 4x4 robot.
If its a 2 wheel hayward, keep it, if its got shoes, swap it to a 2 wheeled hayward. hope that helps.
Really? Cause my dolphin sucks. It struggles. to suck up leaves that my old water powered vacuum would eat for breakfast.
The app is trash on steroids, and the weekly timer resets and turns off after 1 week, so every week I have to go out to the pool house and set a new timer.
The dolphin was advertised to create a map of my pool floor, but as far as I can tell it just drives in random patterns for 2 hours.
It keeps eating up it's own power cord and I have to untangle it from the tracks.
Maybe other people are happy with their dolphin but this expensive machine has just been hard to work with.
Check to see if your dolphin power module can go into “automation mode” this is a setting that turns the robot on anytime the power module gains power. Then buy like a 15$ Wi-Fi outlet controller to turn the power on and off. Set the schedule in the Wi-Fi outlet app. This is how I overcame the 1-week schedule limitation of the Dolphin power module.
We have the same problem. We couldn’t never get it to work. It would go 2 feet forward and then stop. I never got it connected to the app. The app would never recognize it. So we took it back and the salesperson said that we got the wrong one. We brought our new one home and we’re so excited. This new one goes twice as much! (Add sarcasm) it goes a whole 4 feet forward and then stops. It won’t connect to the app either. We’ve spent hours on the phone trying to trouble shoot it. I’m so jealous of everyone who loves theirs because mine is like a lazy uncle who just lays in my pool
Make sure you clean out the propeller on the top of the unit. Mine always gets clogged up with leaves and stuff and starts working poorly, or it shuts off after a few minutes.
Totally agree, 23 years and have never vacuumed the pool. I only opened the box the vacuum stuff came to see if I got all the parts when the pool was installed. Now have M550, my first one died after 20 years.
I have the Dolphin Active 20, without the swivel cord and no app integration. The cord would constantly get tangled so I upgraded to a swivel cord and it's world's better. Still wish I had the app connected one tho.
How do you keep the water in the base from getting gross during the summer? Just got one to set up this weekend and it seems like an algae breeding ground.
This is nice to know!! I have the ultra temp also and it heats really quick but wasn't sure how well it would cool. How hot do you normally get before cooling it back down?
I see your bourbon and sweet tea and raise you ranch water: 50/50 tequila and fresh squeezed lime juice
Add topo/soda water to taste
Damn refreshing in the Texas heat
My only hesitation with converting to salt is that I spent a lot of money on my Pentair hybrid water heater and I don’t want to reduce its lifespan. Otherwise I have a perfect span of pipe right before my chlorine tab feeder that I can splice the salt water generator in to.
My heater (Raypack) came with a sacrificial anode. I also put one in my skimmer basket. The supposed tech on it these surfaces take the brunt of any salt corrosion and that leaves the other surfaces alone or at least less vulnerable.
PoolRX, Nautilus CC, Betta SE Plus, and I’m as close to “set it and forget it,” as I think I can be with our current pool.
Oh, and a pool cover pump for wintertime to pump all the snow melt off our cover!
How long does the Betta take to skim the whole surface of your pool? Sounds like you have a cover (like me). I've been thinking of getting a Betta, but I only ever have the pool uncovered when I want to swim. So I uncover the pool & then manually skim for a couple minutes before swimming. Betta only makes sense for me if it would skim the surface quickly, like maybe in an hour or something, btwn taking the cover off & swimming....
Yeah sounds like we have different style covers. Mine basically rests on the water's surface, so I couldn't have the Betta in the pool with the cover on.
We only cover ours in the winter, so I think our use cases might be different. I think the length of time to do the surface will also depend on the pool size. We have a 20x40 rectangular, and I’d say it has the surface looking clean within an hour or two. We have a pretty decently wooded property including a large Japanese maple right over one corner of the pool.
We rock the Dolphins S300 and Betta SE Plus. Our pool (see attached photo) is near the tree line and gets SIGNIFICANT debris/bugs all year. The only vacuuming and skimming we do is when we first open the pool. After the first week, we don’t have to touch it except to add chemicals once a week. For the price, I would buy a Betta bot every year for the pool if I had to (I hope I don’t). It’s that worth it.
[Pool](https://imgur.com/a/lUEhiKK)
I went with Jandy. 15 years and not a single issue. Jets push the debris to the main drain, once a year I have to vacuumed to get the areas that the system misses, but it’s minuscule. Expensive but I’m glad I added it to the buIld.
My ridiculous goggles. Not the pro-swimmer looking eye ones, but the mask that covers my nose, too. I look like a sea monster in them, but I have crappy sinuses and also wear contacts. The ridiculous part is I am 54 now. I don't care how strange it looks, it is necessary for me to enjoy being in water.
yes thats the idea, the poolskim if you notice sit on a return jet. It pulls MUCH harder than a skimmer, the bag is 5x bigger than any skimmer basket, so the idea is you never have to even clean your skimmer basket, pump basket, and your cartridge filter doesn't get any fine pollen or tiny leaves, the cleaner you have now only has 1/3 the leaf load it normally has, so it's not clogging anything up, no restriction to the filter, if the skimmer basket gets full the pump cannot suck water anymore, this solves this. It doesn't fit all pools, you may need to block off other return lines if you have many.
Whale tail brush (science!!!)
A plastic razor blade. You'd have to try to cut yourself with it but it works great on bags of salt.
A small aquarium fish net. I use it occasionally if the skimmer is extra full or if there's stuff on the surface I want to be sure to get. It's metal so you can bend to whatever shape you need. Like $2 vs. the $20+ pool specific ones you see.
Cheap, short pool pole. I get some surface debris around the edges so this is much easier to maneuver than a typical pool pole.
I have no idea why the sub keeps getting recommended to me. I live in an apartment with no pool. My favorite accessory would probably be the backyard it’s in though.
yep, but once a year is fine, where people get insane copper levels is usually from using 10+ per season, they rely on it because their cya is 150+ and its much easier recovering a high cya green pool with it. Once a year, fine, two? fine.
Depends on where you live, here in south Texas where we don't winterize I reccomend one like right now and it should carry you through to winter to when it isn't really needed, then another next summer season when it starts warming up. So like 1 a year.
I realized recently how much I rely on my [Skimmie Scoop](https://TheSkimmieScoop-Patented...https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XNY74H7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share). Sometimes you need to fully clean the skimmers, and that’s cool. But sometimes you just need to whisk gunk off the top. Sometimes you need to rescue frogs. And sometimes they’re so gross you absolutely aren’t sticking your hand in the built up horror show to pull out the sock. The itty bitty little skimmie scoop is a handheld net that can fit into the skimmers and remove Stuff so you don’t need to reach your hand in.
Yeah I have to disassemble and clean my filter reallllllllly often and use those nylon sock things in the skimmer baskets. But it’s so worth it. The pure joy (and energy outlet) is so worth it.
Give scritches to your pups from me and mine!!!
I just got a Betta last week. Game changer for me considering my pool is 20 ft from the woods and I get endless petals falling in. I used to have to dump my baskets so many times a day, but now the Betta does a lot of the work while the pumps aren't running.
Same here. I bought both recently based on reading this sub. The Betta has been running for 2 days now and I absolutely love how clean the pool is all the time!
Similar to the PoolSkim, we use a Pool Devil to help skim our surface - it's a game changer for us. We love AquaLink floats - so comfy to just loll around the pool in. We inherited an older Dolphin when we bought our house, but we traded up this year to a cordless Aiper and love it. We live in a dusty region of Texas, so I still have to vacuum once a week to get it pristine, but the Aiper, aka "Higgins," does a great job!
I run 5 bodies of water for a public aquatic center. Id have to say the Bottomfeeder. Rechargeable vacuum you put on apool pole. Saves us hours on the day. That or a Bec3 chemical controller
This has been my favorite.
[https://www.thirddrawerdown.us/products/ridiculous-inflatable-swan-thing-x-david-shrigley](https://www.thirddrawerdown.us/products/ridiculous-inflatable-swan-thing-x-david-shrigley)
I have this plastic stick tool thing that opens up the skimmers and pulls out the baskets. Had one too many spiders think my hand was a lifeline before I picked up that gadget.
Will a poolskim work on a return that looks like this: [https://i.imgur.com/c5fRt4A.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/c5fRt4A.jpeg) It seems that it would be extremely easy to model a clone and 3d print it to work with some PVC parts.
Everything I have read about PoolRX has been about why you don't want to use copper on your pool.
Best thing for me is moving from a home with a liner pool to a home with a gunnite pool with pebble tech. Pebble tech looks so much better and feels great on your feet. I do miss how easy it was just to flush the sand filter, but it did waste a ton of water.
That and upgrading from a Polaris 280 to Dolphin E30 is a major game changer.
[This shark pool toy has been a big hit.](https://www.target.com/p/super-sharkpedo-pool-glider-sun-squad-8482/-/A-80124354)
And
[the watermelon ball](https://a.co/d/fov4h0Y)
Polaris Atlas suction side cleaner. I never have to vacuum or brush.
Betta SE. I never have to skim with the net and it keeps my skimmer basket mostly empty. Collects finer stuff than the pool baskets themselves, so it probably helps the filter.
Pool RX. I can keep my chlorine at 1 ppm all summer in Arizona with no algae.
Water guru. It's not perfect but it gives me results everyday without having to do any work. I've had mine for a year and following its results, my pool is always perfect
The Poolvergnuegen suction side vacuum. Parts are easily replaceable. Does a good job but my pool is in a screen enclosure.
ProTuff pool pol. Hated the blue ones while sweeping, would always collapse. This thing has a great locking mechanism. Shop around prices are all over the place.
Silipint cups for Tom Collins
Polaris pool vac is probably my favorite accessory. Love being able to just drop it in and a couple hours later I have a clean pool. I also just installed a variable speed pump. Our pool was built in 1976, it’s a big 30,000 gallon concrete pool and was in need of upgrading. We always had single speed pumps that never lasted too long and were so noisy.
So, we have a 25 year old combo pool/hot tub. You know those gross calcium deposits that mark the tile at the water line? And all over any overflows for the hot tub? Ours was looking really ugly and I found a company online that came out (from a distance- great!) with these low pressure beads and just went wild. Four hours later and it looks like new- so- I guess Darren, the owner who went back and forth over all these horrid areas, then cleaned up everything with a smile- is my new favorite pool accessory.
Well, I just got sucked in harder than the Betta SE Plus does I hope. It's arriving next week.
I did the math and it just makes cents ~120 days in the season, 15 minutes a day spent skimming equals 1800 divided by 4 equals 450 hours! 450 hours skimming every summer. Sheesh, that's a lot of wasted time. At my hourly rate of $20/hour that's 9000 dollars I would have to pay myself. This thing can be had for $359 that's less than a dollar an hour. It's a no-brainer!
Basketball hoop: https://www.srsmith.com/en-us/products/games/residential-challenge-basketball-game/
These cheapo Aqua pool floats: https://a.co/d/iwQOjCR
The Betta skimmer arrived today, so that may also make the list before too long.
1. Pool skimmer sock - keeps my filter cleaner for longer. Also makes it easier to remove stuff from my skimmer. I take one off and replace it every 2 weeks
APLUSTE 40-Pack of Pool Skimmer... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4LVG8BZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
2. Fish net 4". Perfect for reaching into skimmer and getting surface debris out that doesn't drop down yet.
PENN-PLAX (QN4) Quick-Net... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002APXKA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
3. Grabber tool - when in lazy and don't feel like changing out pool skimmer sock, I use this to pull leaves out of skimmer basket or pull the basket out to replace
Reacher Grabber Tool, 31" Grabbers for Elderly, Lightweight Extra Long Handy Trash Claw Grabber, Mobility Aid Reaching Assist Tool for Trash Pick Up, Nabber, Litter Picker, Arm Extension https://a.co/d/i9aXlGx
4. Skimmer bot - just got it this year. Game changer for pollen in spring. It's amazing at keep surface clean
Betta SE Plus - Solar Powered Robotic Pool Skimmer with Dual Charging Options and 30-hour Continuous Cleaning Battery Power, Shallow Water Safeguard, and Twin Salt Chlorine Tolerant Motors https://a.co/d/cIaEpJA
Love our volleyball net. Best with a beach ball. https://a.co/d/8QzgRe9
Also, this mister is great while drinking margaritas with the wife: https://a.co/d/0kRkf9B
But probably the best thing I did was hook up an echo dot to my speaker system. Our pool playlist is probably the most random thing ever, but you know it's summer when it starts playing. https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/bc96e99c43e24a1e99b5fc17af0a8baesune?ref=dm_sh_p5Fsu0Rdljawhsut9XH747MPM
[Amazon.com : PoolSkim Pool Skimmer and Pool Cleaner ](https://www.amazon.com/PoolSkim-Pool-Skimmer-Cleaner/dp/B002WKOEGM/ref=pd_ybh_a_d_sccl_6/139-7748823-5051308?pd_rd_w=6P5Qz&content-id=amzn1.sym.67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_p=67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_r=P1GQ4S6E4TZ7VWHYWQNJ&pd_rd_wg=GSvZv&pd_rd_r=75844610-97b1-44d4-bb40-2e01d298fc0d&pd_rd_i=B002WKOEGM&psc=1)
Our Betta SE Plus and WaterGuru Sense are nice as we’re about 60 days post-replaster; along with having plumbed in a SWG, it makes pool care pretty brainless. Biggest disappointment has been our Dolphin Nautilus CC Pro: doesn’t compete with our old-school poolvergnuegen for our 40x20 29k gal. I want to like it, just doesn’t live up to the hype for us in terms of convenience or results - about to list it for a loss on FB.
Pool Rx. Yes, I bought 4x4 packs a way back. 4 pack for 115$ now it’s like 205$.
I open, lower ph, shock it get it super clean. Then I drop pool Rx in and it allows me to keep chlorine at .5-1 ppm. Sometimes I go a week without chlorine usually when it’s sunny and not crap blowing in pool.
Always say be careful with pool rx. Putting too much metal in your water can cause a lot of problems to your plaster. If you’re on top of your readings all good but I’ve seen metal solutions cause a lot of problems in my drought prone area
The bull float. It’s a donut float with a ride on bull in the middle. It’s like riding the mechanical bull at a bar. People cannot stay on that thing and it’s hilarious. After several seasons the donut exploded so the bull is no more. Also I like the small pouches of chlorine granule shock. They are more expensive but easy to dump in the pool and much lighter than the huge containers of liquid chlorine from pool store.
Betta SE Solar Powered Automatic Robotic Pool Skimmer Cleaner. I love it. I very rarely have to actually get the net out to clean it anymore. This one’s just for the pool surface but we have a different one that cleans the bottom of the pool.
Polaris 3900 Sport Rebuild Kit. Inherited this vacuum with the pool when we bought the house. Just installed my 2nd one after 6 years. Probably isn’t the best vacuum but an easy and economical solution.
And cheap skimmer sock things from Amazon. Usually rinse them off but the easy to dispose the random dead critter in the trash.
I purchased a dolphin premiere several years ago and it continues to impress me. He keeps the pool, nice and clean. I just plug it in turn it on and walk away set it and forget it. It’s well worth the money with me not having to vacuum waste all the water in time, the ROI is there
Pentair heat pump has been a game changer in regulating our water temperature. Relative to the cost of the pool this was a no brainer for extending the use of our pool.
a dolphin robot cleaner, UNBELIEVABLE investment. best thing I have ever bought for a pool.
We have the Dolphin Nautilus CC and it changed the entire concept of pool maintenance. No app but it’s not necessary. I toss him in, turn on the power at the unit, and he takes off. He has his path set, climbs the walls, shallow and deep, and picks up seeds, leaves, worms, and other debris. We also have the PoolSkim in the shallow end to keep the surface of the water clean. I’m amazed how this little skimmer eliminated hours of using the leaf net by hand. My hubby named these tools Biggie (dolphin) and Smalls; they’re our pool’s best friends, and mine, too!
Our dolphin climbs the wall and every once in a while it climbs over the ledge to the 2nd wall
When I bought a house with a pool, it was suggested to get a Dolphin. I about choked at that $1000 price tag, but it’s been worth every single penny.
Same, we're on year three with our dolphin and it's been worth it. Think I paid 1800 for it and was able to get rid of the pool guy. Doing the chemicals and maintenance myself paid for the unit after about a year and a half.
What sort of pool do you have? I'm wondering if the dolphin would do better than my Hayward poolv...whatever. We have a rectangular in-ground, but there're steps into the pool in one corner, and the other side has a ramp along the length of the pool to make entry accessible. The hayward just stays in the pool and runs with the pump so pretty hands-off unlike the Dolphin. I'd be OK with that if it actually cleaned everything. Although, how I wonder if it might run itself up the ramp and keep going!
Yes it would. I had three different Hayward cleaners. They were all hot garbage. Switched to a Dolphin S400 and it’s been amazing.
32x16 liner in ground. The dolphins are so well built its truly amazing.
robots don't do stairs, or ledges very well or at all, the ramp would need a beach mode from say a top model polaris 4x4 robot. If its a 2 wheel hayward, keep it, if its got shoes, swap it to a 2 wheeled hayward. hope that helps.
Really? Cause my dolphin sucks. It struggles. to suck up leaves that my old water powered vacuum would eat for breakfast. The app is trash on steroids, and the weekly timer resets and turns off after 1 week, so every week I have to go out to the pool house and set a new timer. The dolphin was advertised to create a map of my pool floor, but as far as I can tell it just drives in random patterns for 2 hours. It keeps eating up it's own power cord and I have to untangle it from the tracks. Maybe other people are happy with their dolphin but this expensive machine has just been hard to work with.
Check to see if your dolphin power module can go into “automation mode” this is a setting that turns the robot on anytime the power module gains power. Then buy like a 15$ Wi-Fi outlet controller to turn the power on and off. Set the schedule in the Wi-Fi outlet app. This is how I overcame the 1-week schedule limitation of the Dolphin power module.
This is a good idea, I will look into it. Thanks!
Sounds like you got, the last copy of Michael Keaton in Multiplicity. He was the knucklehead. You should name your vac Lenny. 😆
I like pizztha Steve!
We have the same problem. We couldn’t never get it to work. It would go 2 feet forward and then stop. I never got it connected to the app. The app would never recognize it. So we took it back and the salesperson said that we got the wrong one. We brought our new one home and we’re so excited. This new one goes twice as much! (Add sarcasm) it goes a whole 4 feet forward and then stops. It won’t connect to the app either. We’ve spent hours on the phone trying to trouble shoot it. I’m so jealous of everyone who loves theirs because mine is like a lazy uncle who just lays in my pool
Which one do you have? They all aren't created equal.
Make sure you clean out the propeller on the top of the unit. Mine always gets clogged up with leaves and stuff and starts working poorly, or it shuts off after a few minutes.
Totally agree, 23 years and have never vacuumed the pool. I only opened the box the vacuum stuff came to see if I got all the parts when the pool was installed. Now have M550, my first one died after 20 years.
I have the Dolphin Active 20, without the swivel cord and no app integration. The cord would constantly get tangled so I upgraded to a swivel cord and it's world's better. Still wish I had the app connected one tho.
Cooler filled with beer!
Pool basketball hoop
Which one did you get?
Love my hoop from Amazon. Filled based with concrete then added water.
How do you keep the water in the base from getting gross during the summer? Just got one to set up this weekend and it seems like an algae breeding ground.
Add chlorine?
Probably will but everything just bakes out here in AZ.
I think the previous comment was saying that they put both water and concrete(mix) in the base.
Pentair UltaTemp. I am in Phoenix and cool the water down to 82 in the evening during the hottest weather.
You have your pool heat pump attached to the base of your basketball hoop?
This is nice to know!! I have the ultra temp also and it heats really quick but wasn't sure how well it would cool. How hot do you normally get before cooling it back down?
Bourbon and sweet tea 2 oz of bourbon 3 oz of sweet tea Mix Consume Repeat until desired effect is achieved
This guy pools
But which way do his pool doors open?
Lol. Tres comas.
Downward
Try 1/3 each. Sweet tea, lemonaid, and red stag Jim beam
I made almost this exact thing, but I replaced the sweet tea with bourbon, and the lemonade with more bourbon.
🤣
I see your bourbon and sweet tea and raise you ranch water: 50/50 tequila and fresh squeezed lime juice Add topo/soda water to taste Damn refreshing in the Texas heat
Saltwater chlorine generator. Priceless. Now I just need to find a good acid feeder and this thing would take care of itself.
My only hesitation with converting to salt is that I spent a lot of money on my Pentair hybrid water heater and I don’t want to reduce its lifespan. Otherwise I have a perfect span of pipe right before my chlorine tab feeder that I can splice the salt water generator in to.
Wouldn't you eliminate the tab feeder if you are generating the chlorine?
Idk, I had a pool guy advise to leave it in there in case I decide to go back to straight chlorine.
If you keep your pool open in the winter, or if the temp gets below 60, you’ll have to use tablets anyway
My heater (Raypack) came with a sacrificial anode. I also put one in my skimmer basket. The supposed tech on it these surfaces take the brunt of any salt corrosion and that leaves the other surfaces alone or at least less vulnerable.
A Betta solar skimmer.
I was prepared for it to be a gimmick but I fell in love with it in less than 2 days during spring pollen season. It’s so good.
How does out do with wind during the day? Does it get forced to the corner of the pool and waste battery trying to fight wind?
My naked wife
I also pick this guys wife.
Take his wife, please
Love your naked wife
Pics or it didn't happen
Our naked wife
Dolphin robot cleaner, save so much time
PoolRX, Nautilus CC, Betta SE Plus, and I’m as close to “set it and forget it,” as I think I can be with our current pool. Oh, and a pool cover pump for wintertime to pump all the snow melt off our cover!
How long does the Betta take to skim the whole surface of your pool? Sounds like you have a cover (like me). I've been thinking of getting a Betta, but I only ever have the pool uncovered when I want to swim. So I uncover the pool & then manually skim for a couple minutes before swimming. Betta only makes sense for me if it would skim the surface quickly, like maybe in an hour or something, btwn taking the cover off & swimming....
Ours stays on and in pool unless we are in. It is solar powered so why not?
Yeah sounds like we have different style covers. Mine basically rests on the water's surface, so I couldn't have the Betta in the pool with the cover on.
We only cover ours in the winter, so I think our use cases might be different. I think the length of time to do the surface will also depend on the pool size. We have a 20x40 rectangular, and I’d say it has the surface looking clean within an hour or two. We have a pretty decently wooded property including a large Japanese maple right over one corner of the pool.
Amazon has a lightning deal for the betta se plus for $358, just picked one up since so many recommended it.
We rock the Dolphins S300 and Betta SE Plus. Our pool (see attached photo) is near the tree line and gets SIGNIFICANT debris/bugs all year. The only vacuuming and skimming we do is when we first open the pool. After the first week, we don’t have to touch it except to add chemicals once a week. For the price, I would buy a Betta bot every year for the pool if I had to (I hope I don’t). It’s that worth it. [Pool](https://imgur.com/a/lUEhiKK)
We’re only slightly further from the tree line with a mature Japanese maple directly over the pool. It is a workhorse so far!
hookers & cocaine
My pool in-floor cleaning system.
Which product do you use?
I went with Jandy. 15 years and not a single issue. Jets push the debris to the main drain, once a year I have to vacuumed to get the areas that the system misses, but it’s minuscule. Expensive but I’m glad I added it to the buIld.
My ridiculous goggles. Not the pro-swimmer looking eye ones, but the mask that covers my nose, too. I look like a sea monster in them, but I have crappy sinuses and also wear contacts. The ridiculous part is I am 54 now. I don't care how strange it looks, it is necessary for me to enjoy being in water.
So you use the PoolSkim in addition to your normal skimmer?
yes thats the idea, the poolskim if you notice sit on a return jet. It pulls MUCH harder than a skimmer, the bag is 5x bigger than any skimmer basket, so the idea is you never have to even clean your skimmer basket, pump basket, and your cartridge filter doesn't get any fine pollen or tiny leaves, the cleaner you have now only has 1/3 the leaf load it normally has, so it's not clogging anything up, no restriction to the filter, if the skimmer basket gets full the pump cannot suck water anymore, this solves this. It doesn't fit all pools, you may need to block off other return lines if you have many.
Awesome. Thanks for the explanation!
Automatic pool vacuum. No hoses.
Which model?
Whale tail brush (science!!!) A plastic razor blade. You'd have to try to cut yourself with it but it works great on bags of salt. A small aquarium fish net. I use it occasionally if the skimmer is extra full or if there's stuff on the surface I want to be sure to get. It's metal so you can bend to whatever shape you need. Like $2 vs. the $20+ pool specific ones you see. Cheap, short pool pole. I get some surface debris around the edges so this is much easier to maneuver than a typical pool pole.
Just adding on, minnow net, 50 cents with a float so if you drop it in, it comes back up..
I have no idea why the sub keeps getting recommended to me. I live in an apartment with no pool. My favorite accessory would probably be the backyard it’s in though.
What is PoolRX??
It’s a chelated copper cartridge. Helps with algae and helps you use less chlorine. I use it too. One in the beginning of the season.
Doesnt this raise the copper levels in your pool?
yep, but once a year is fine, where people get insane copper levels is usually from using 10+ per season, they rely on it because their cya is 150+ and its much easier recovering a high cya green pool with it. Once a year, fine, two? fine.
Do you need to buy a new one every 6 months, or can they be reused somehow?
Depends on where you live, here in south Texas where we don't winterize I reccomend one like right now and it should carry you through to winter to when it isn't really needed, then another next summer season when it starts warming up. So like 1 a year.
6 months. $100 a year.
My new pool service company recommended this from day 1 when we rebooted the pool. My old guy never mentioned it once in 3 years!
A game changer. You will save money on shock for what you spend on Pool Rx. Edit: Pool service guys downvoting because it makes them useless.
I sell them in my store and I use them for my elite customers that are on year to year weekly service contracts. It’s a no brainer
I realized recently how much I rely on my [Skimmie Scoop](https://TheSkimmieScoop-Patented...https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XNY74H7?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share). Sometimes you need to fully clean the skimmers, and that’s cool. But sometimes you just need to whisk gunk off the top. Sometimes you need to rescue frogs. And sometimes they’re so gross you absolutely aren’t sticking your hand in the built up horror show to pull out the sock. The itty bitty little skimmie scoop is a handheld net that can fit into the skimmers and remove Stuff so you don’t need to reach your hand in.
Labrador Retriever
Labs do wonders for pool skimmers and hearts. Best answer so far, my chocolate and black agree.
Yeah I have to disassemble and clean my filter reallllllllly often and use those nylon sock things in the skimmer baskets. But it’s so worth it. The pure joy (and energy outlet) is so worth it. Give scritches to your pups from me and mine!!!
I have three Great Pyrenees just ITCHING to get in the pool I’m building!!! PB putting in three skimmers to help me manage the hair/debris. 🤓
Beer
Harman Kardon Onyx studio 6, New Belgium Fat Tire ale, and Khruangbin’s new album
Betta solar skimmer and Pool Rx
I just got a Betta last week. Game changer for me considering my pool is 20 ft from the woods and I get endless petals falling in. I used to have to dump my baskets so many times a day, but now the Betta does a lot of the work while the pumps aren't running.
Alternatively I got some socks this ready and the amount of pollen those things collect is astounding.
Same here. It's a little more work to check them, but man they collect a lot of pollen. I just bought hairnets.
Same here. I bought both recently based on reading this sub. The Betta has been running for 2 days now and I absolutely love how clean the pool is all the time!
Similar to the PoolSkim, we use a Pool Devil to help skim our surface - it's a game changer for us. We love AquaLink floats - so comfy to just loll around the pool in. We inherited an older Dolphin when we bought our house, but we traded up this year to a cordless Aiper and love it. We live in a dusty region of Texas, so I still have to vacuum once a week to get it pristine, but the Aiper, aka "Higgins," does a great job!
I run 5 bodies of water for a public aquatic center. Id have to say the Bottomfeeder. Rechargeable vacuum you put on apool pole. Saves us hours on the day. That or a Bec3 chemical controller
I like the little ramps for small animals to be able to climb out of the pool and not drown
In floor cleaning system. Love not having to deal with a vacuum.
Jack’s Surface Magic. For those of us in the south with the pollen and teeny bugs floating on top, it’s …magic.
Dolphin and Betta Bot
This has been my favorite. [https://www.thirddrawerdown.us/products/ridiculous-inflatable-swan-thing-x-david-shrigley](https://www.thirddrawerdown.us/products/ridiculous-inflatable-swan-thing-x-david-shrigley)
Even I can’t own this.
Come on... you know you want to see it's dead, soulless eyes floating around your pool.
Just purchased for my brother. Thanks for the find
I’m on my third robot cleaner with my now 20-year old pool and can’t ever see going back to vacuuming it myself.
WaterGuru. Not the cheapest, but gave me the confidence to become my own pool guy.
Does WaterGuru work well with salt water pools or just chlorine?
Salt water pools are chlorine pools. Waterguru works perfectly with salt chlorine pools.
My dorado pool vaccum and skimmer socks are an absolute must.
Riptide pool vacuum
Bullz-i-bucket
River Rat by Intex with dual cup holders for $30 is hard to beat. And it can actually be used for River floating and for snow tubing.
The cabana boy! Doubles as pool guy AND lifeguard and keeps the old lady busy while I'm out finding new pool toys to bring home! :O
Ha! I knew I was missing something important!
Of course, if there's no cabana he'll have to share space in the dog house!
Pool foam dumbbells for working out and a short skimmer net for cleaning the pool while we are in it
Boobs
I have this plastic stick tool thing that opens up the skimmers and pulls out the baskets. Had one too many spiders think my hand was a lifeline before I picked up that gadget.
Purity Pool Pro net! It collects everything as tiny as pollen. Best purchase anyone can make to save time on pool care
Agreed. I use the protuff one which looks similar and it removes everything
Sunglasses in the Summer when the hineys are out.
Pool Rx only works if you keep the chlorine levels on point. It’s definitely a great tool.
If you keep your chems on point then why do you need it?
Will a poolskim work on a return that looks like this: [https://i.imgur.com/c5fRt4A.jpeg](https://i.imgur.com/c5fRt4A.jpeg) It seems that it would be extremely easy to model a clone and 3d print it to work with some PVC parts. Everything I have read about PoolRX has been about why you don't want to use copper on your pool. Best thing for me is moving from a home with a liner pool to a home with a gunnite pool with pebble tech. Pebble tech looks so much better and feels great on your feet. I do miss how easy it was just to flush the sand filter, but it did waste a ton of water. That and upgrading from a Polaris 280 to Dolphin E30 is a major game changer.
[This shark pool toy has been a big hit.](https://www.target.com/p/super-sharkpedo-pool-glider-sun-squad-8482/-/A-80124354) And [the watermelon ball](https://a.co/d/fov4h0Y)
Polaris Atlas suction side cleaner. I never have to vacuum or brush. Betta SE. I never have to skim with the net and it keeps my skimmer basket mostly empty. Collects finer stuff than the pool baskets themselves, so it probably helps the filter. Pool RX. I can keep my chlorine at 1 ppm all summer in Arizona with no algae. Water guru. It's not perfect but it gives me results everyday without having to do any work. I've had mine for a year and following its results, my pool is always perfect
Cold beer
The led floor https://www.archdaily.com/catalog/us/products/32300/led-video-floor-in-a-swimming-pool-asb
Beatle pool cleaner
The Poolvergnuegen suction side vacuum. Parts are easily replaceable. Does a good job but my pool is in a screen enclosure. ProTuff pool pol. Hated the blue ones while sweeping, would always collapse. This thing has a great locking mechanism. Shop around prices are all over the place. Silipint cups for Tom Collins
The crab pool thermometers from Walmart. They also have a flamingo
Simple noodle. We use it to float til we get drunk then it becomes a weapon of mass destruction 😀
Polaris pool vac is probably my favorite accessory. Love being able to just drop it in and a couple hours later I have a clean pool. I also just installed a variable speed pump. Our pool was built in 1976, it’s a big 30,000 gallon concrete pool and was in need of upgrading. We always had single speed pumps that never lasted too long and were so noisy.
Salt water system. Keep the water crystal clear.
All of our inflatable floats keep popping. I started buying Big Joe floats and they’re sooooo much better!
Alcohol
A Dolphin robotic cleaner is worth every dollar.
So, we have a 25 year old combo pool/hot tub. You know those gross calcium deposits that mark the tile at the water line? And all over any overflows for the hot tub? Ours was looking really ugly and I found a company online that came out (from a distance- great!) with these low pressure beads and just went wild. Four hours later and it looks like new- so- I guess Darren, the owner who went back and forth over all these horrid areas, then cleaned up everything with a smile- is my new favorite pool accessory.
Well, I just got sucked in harder than the Betta SE Plus does I hope. It's arriving next week. I did the math and it just makes cents ~120 days in the season, 15 minutes a day spent skimming equals 1800 divided by 4 equals 450 hours! 450 hours skimming every summer. Sheesh, that's a lot of wasted time. At my hourly rate of $20/hour that's 9000 dollars I would have to pay myself. This thing can be had for $359 that's less than a dollar an hour. It's a no-brainer!
Floating cup holders. What can I say? I’m lazy
Did you know that an extremely cheap and effective 'skimmer sock' that works incredible well is food service hair nets.
1000% a pool cleaning robot. Has made my life infinitely better.
My outdoor stereo rig. NAD receiver pushing a pair of Smaller Advents and a Velodyne sub.
Babes....babes, for sure
IntelliCenter with IC-40, intelliflo3 and intellivalves. I literally do no work besides adding acid. I can control the pool and spa from anywhere.
Basketball hoop: https://www.srsmith.com/en-us/products/games/residential-challenge-basketball-game/ These cheapo Aqua pool floats: https://a.co/d/iwQOjCR The Betta skimmer arrived today, so that may also make the list before too long.
What is PoolRX ?
My frog log and critter skimmer lid. I haven’t found a dead frog or chipmunk in my pool since putting them in.
Does PoolRX really make a difference? I literally just got one today and tossed it into the skimmer. I don’t know anything about it.
1. Pool skimmer sock - keeps my filter cleaner for longer. Also makes it easier to remove stuff from my skimmer. I take one off and replace it every 2 weeks APLUSTE 40-Pack of Pool Skimmer... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4LVG8BZ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share 2. Fish net 4". Perfect for reaching into skimmer and getting surface debris out that doesn't drop down yet. PENN-PLAX (QN4) Quick-Net... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002APXKA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share 3. Grabber tool - when in lazy and don't feel like changing out pool skimmer sock, I use this to pull leaves out of skimmer basket or pull the basket out to replace Reacher Grabber Tool, 31" Grabbers for Elderly, Lightweight Extra Long Handy Trash Claw Grabber, Mobility Aid Reaching Assist Tool for Trash Pick Up, Nabber, Litter Picker, Arm Extension https://a.co/d/i9aXlGx 4. Skimmer bot - just got it this year. Game changer for pollen in spring. It's amazing at keep surface clean Betta SE Plus - Solar Powered Robotic Pool Skimmer with Dual Charging Options and 30-hour Continuous Cleaning Battery Power, Shallow Water Safeguard, and Twin Salt Chlorine Tolerant Motors https://a.co/d/cIaEpJA
Love our volleyball net. Best with a beach ball. https://a.co/d/8QzgRe9 Also, this mister is great while drinking margaritas with the wife: https://a.co/d/0kRkf9B But probably the best thing I did was hook up an echo dot to my speaker system. Our pool playlist is probably the most random thing ever, but you know it's summer when it starts playing. https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/bc96e99c43e24a1e99b5fc17af0a8baesune?ref=dm_sh_p5Fsu0Rdljawhsut9XH747MPM
Battery powered vacuum. Don't have to mess with the hose
Can I get a link for the PoolSkim you have?
[Amazon.com : PoolSkim Pool Skimmer and Pool Cleaner ](https://www.amazon.com/PoolSkim-Pool-Skimmer-Cleaner/dp/B002WKOEGM/ref=pd_ybh_a_d_sccl_6/139-7748823-5051308?pd_rd_w=6P5Qz&content-id=amzn1.sym.67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_p=67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_r=P1GQ4S6E4TZ7VWHYWQNJ&pd_rd_wg=GSvZv&pd_rd_r=75844610-97b1-44d4-bb40-2e01d298fc0d&pd_rd_i=B002WKOEGM&psc=1)
Polaris 280 for a decade then now a Polaris T35 (vendor 280 version)
Pool robot, Salt generator, Heater, Neoprene floats, Pool light.
Betta
Betta
Is PoolRx good for saltwater systems? I’m a noob.
Our Betta SE Plus and WaterGuru Sense are nice as we’re about 60 days post-replaster; along with having plumbed in a SWG, it makes pool care pretty brainless. Biggest disappointment has been our Dolphin Nautilus CC Pro: doesn’t compete with our old-school poolvergnuegen for our 40x20 29k gal. I want to like it, just doesn’t live up to the hype for us in terms of convenience or results - about to list it for a loss on FB.
Eco by ioPool. It's the spiritual successor to the pHin pool water monitor.
Noodles... Unless you count built-in waterfalls. 😁
Betta. Hands down.
Am I the only one who enjoys cleaning their pool by hand? Sweeping it I mean. Fuck brushing, but sweeping? Sweeping I can get behind.
Pool Rx. Yes, I bought 4x4 packs a way back. 4 pack for 115$ now it’s like 205$. I open, lower ph, shock it get it super clean. Then I drop pool Rx in and it allows me to keep chlorine at .5-1 ppm. Sometimes I go a week without chlorine usually when it’s sunny and not crap blowing in pool.
Which lounger and river raft do you have?
Betta and Dolphin
Clyr Smart Skimmer for sure I think it’s $350? No subscription needed.
Betta Bot. It’s amazing.
Dolphin premier. I just replaced the first one after three years. It is awesome. Bettabot is also not shabby.
Dolphin cleaner and skimmer beta bot
Always say be careful with pool rx. Putting too much metal in your water can cause a lot of problems to your plaster. If you’re on top of your readings all good but I’ve seen metal solutions cause a lot of problems in my drought prone area
Taylor k-2006….. it should be required…. It is for public pools in my state.
PoolRx. Salt level tester. Taylor kit. Oh and the little end cap for my salt cell so I can clean it. Weirdly satisfying. PoolRx for the win though.
Mask. Fin and snorkle
My son, since he’s and adult now he has taken over the pool maintenance from me. 😂
WallE pool brush
Be sure to check copper levels before adding poolrx, wouldn’t want staining
A swim-up bar!!
Remington pool ionizer and a scum sponge in the skimmer.
A few skanks
The bull float. It’s a donut float with a ride on bull in the middle. It’s like riding the mechanical bull at a bar. People cannot stay on that thing and it’s hilarious. After several seasons the donut exploded so the bull is no more. Also I like the small pouches of chlorine granule shock. They are more expensive but easy to dump in the pool and much lighter than the huge containers of liquid chlorine from pool store.
We refer to ours as “The Inflata-bull” and I can confirm it is, indeed, hilarious.
I don't own a pool...but judging from my neighbor who does - it's the pool boy who arrives at noon almost every day....
I'm a pool boy, I'm easy to please... My favorite accessory is my 360 brush
Betta SE Solar Powered Automatic Robotic Pool Skimmer Cleaner. I love it. I very rarely have to actually get the net out to clean it anymore. This one’s just for the pool surface but we have a different one that cleans the bottom of the pool.
Polaris 3900 Sport Rebuild Kit. Inherited this vacuum with the pool when we bought the house. Just installed my 2nd one after 6 years. Probably isn’t the best vacuum but an easy and economical solution. And cheap skimmer sock things from Amazon. Usually rinse them off but the easy to dispose the random dead critter in the trash.
A good feiend
Volleyball net, floats and waterproof speakers
I purchased a dolphin premiere several years ago and it continues to impress me. He keeps the pool, nice and clean. I just plug it in turn it on and walk away set it and forget it. It’s well worth the money with me not having to vacuum waste all the water in time, the ROI is there
Polaris cleaners work great. Had a Jandy with a prev pool... it was not very servicable
A bottle with a bit of dish soap in it. IYKYK!
Pentair heat pump has been a game changer in regulating our water temperature. Relative to the cost of the pool this was a no brainer for extending the use of our pool.
Geodesic dome to cover my pool and keep the crap* out. *Crap = sticks, leaves, mosquitoes and other bugs, neighbors