Key word clearance. I bought the whole idea at a trade show and he gave me free product and I still felt I was ripped off. Anything in a pool store that is clearance is usually for a good reason.

Quote: "he gave me free product and I still felt I was ripped off."

LOL! Repair guy, you come up with some good ones :-)

I've heard the stuff actually does work under ideal conditions, the problem is who ever has ideal conditions? The water has to be calm (no wind, equipment not running). If the surface is placid, the film does work as advertised. But if there is any movement at all, it breaks the film and it no longer functions. BTW, the sales pitch is that a film forms across your pool that prevents water evaporation. Water evaporation at night is what cools a pool down, losing much of the heat gained during the day. Preventing evaporation is the key to keeping the pool warmer. It's better done with a cover though.

Yeah, I spent some time with him at the International show a couple of years back. Did not go with the fish thing as I was looking to control loss on a 160k commercial pool on a golf course. They have a feed system for the stuff and it sounded like it would work. With the feeder and juice, it was a $500 plus buy just to try it. We went with the material we convinced him to give us and it was a joke in a windy location as you say.

The biggest issue is the stuff smells like a large keg of red wine fell into the pool. Sounds nice but it was the foulest thing I ever smelled. Residents kept complaining that the pool smelled like red wine and that was a tragedy as they were all Chardonnay fans.

They have the balls on sale at Lowes last time I looked... I would like to know what the stuff is first...as I have kids and not too happy about just putting something in the pool, which I assume to be carbon based. Too many carcinogens that are carbon based...many of the really bad ones which are products of chlorine or bromine. Nobody would tell me or knew what it actually was at Leslies.

I'm guessing snake oil is all natural

I guess...it's it's too good to be true...

Anyway, I guess it will be worth a try at $4.99, won't be a huge loss if it doesn't work. We don't have a windy location and we plan to shut the pump off overnight, we'll see if in these conditions it makes any difference at all.

Thanks for everyone's opinions.

I have traditionally used the 'bubble wrap' solar cover... last year two of my neighbors used the fish... and swear by them... said they were great... I need to replace my solar cover... and have been having the 'great debate' with myself over whether or not to 'try' the fish/pill option or to just go with the tried and true bubble wrap on the roller... it's ugly but it works and my children all know how to get it on and off by this point... also I could not find information on what the chemicals are inside and other than the claim that it is perfectly safe on the package.. I'm really not sure...

I take it the general concensus is to skip the fish/pill???

I bought one of those solar fish...once.

It left this film on my pool. It ended up causing more problems than it was worth.

I would stick with the solar cover.

I got a couple free samples a few years ago at the Aqua show and tried them. Our pool gets a lot of breezee/wind overnight and we lost water and heat. I could see a film on the water but didn't smell any odor. I only used them for a few days and went back to the solar blanket. I saw them in Leslies last week but they weren't on sale, I was tempted to try them again thinking they were improved, but the solar blanket keeps out the leaves as well, so I'm sticking with it for now. Barb

My in-laws used that fish one summer and I cannot say whether it worked or not but I will tell you that after the only time I swam in their pool I came down with the worst case of hives anyone can image. It makes me itch to even think about it. I had to take so much Benedryl that I slept for two days. I would never buy one for that reason alone. And the fact that nobody is willing to say what it is made of.

What the heck is this stuff? It has an odor.... Can produce an alergic reaction.... I would not put something in my pool like this. 50 years from now, suddenly its discovered to cause cancer or be mutagenic one offspring removed. Who really know.....despite what the label says. And, I'm not even a chemical phoebic person.