Looks like you're on the right track. The stabilizer typically takes up to 4-5 days to dissolve and show up on testing, so I wouldn't bother to retest for it for at least 4 days. I don't remember what kind of filter you have (sand? cartridge?) but remember that the CYA that you put into the skimmer is now sitting on your filter while it dissolves. That means that if you backwash (sand) or rinse off (cartridge) you're going to rinse out the CYA you've added and you'll have to add more. So...try not to clean your filter for the next 4 days, if you can help it. If you have to, go ahead, and just add more CYA, and wait 4-5 additional days to retest for it. You are correct in that you're going to have to add chlorine at least twice a day to keep a residual in the pool, at least until your stabilizer dissolves. Once the stabilizer dissolves, you can cut that back to daily or maybe every other day because the stabilizer will protect the chlorine from the sun. Once you get your CYA up to the 30-40 ppm range, then you can fine-tune it from there. Most people keep theirs around 40-ish and it works well for them. I live in Louisiana, where it is hot and humid every day (the heat index today is 112) and my pool is in full sun all day long. I find that if I keep my CYA low, then I still can't keep chlorine in the pool even with daily additions, but I keep mine around 80-90 ppm and can add chlorine every other day. The downside to the higher CYA, though, is that I have to maintain higher base levels (Cl at 5-10 all the time, and shocking requires 20 ppm) for the same sanitation as lower chlorine levels in lower CYA pools. The difference is how fast the chlorine gets eaten up. The other problem with high CYA that many people find is that over the winter, if the pool isn't kept chlorinated, the CYA tends to be broken down by bacteria, creating a by-product of ammonia, that causes an EXTREME chlorine demand to overcome upon opening. I don't have to deal with that in my pool because my pool stays open and chlorinated all year.

So...once you get the stabilizer in the water, then it will only take a week or so of daily testing for you to get an idea of how fast the chlorine is used up, then you can make a decision on whether to raise your CYA or not then.

Regarding testing for pH, I usually check mine weekly, although mine hardly ever fluctuates more than 0.4. If yours isn't as stable, then you might want to check it daily for a week or so until you get a feel for where your pool "likes" to be. For CYA, once you get the level where you want it, then you really don't need to test more than 2-3 times per season to make sure you're maintaining it, since the only way it will lower is by splashout/refill. You can order refills for the CYA reagent--it's the same as the Taylor reagent, and can be reordered in larger quantities. I get mine at http://www.spspools-spas.com/, but have also gotten it from the Taylor Technologies website, as well. Might also check http://www.amatoind.com/.

Hope this helps!

Janet