All,

I stumbled across the poolforum a couple of weeks ago, as I was finishing up the assembly of my 18x34 above-ground pool. I have has an in ground before, so chemicals and maintenance are nothing new. The three B's, however, were a new concept, as was the TA reduction process. I gotta tell ya, two weeks, and the pool looks great.
ph 7.6
FC 3.5
CC 0
TA 140
CH 250
CYA 40

Previously, when I started the process two weeks ago after finally getting the pool full, the numbers were:
ph 7.8
FC 0-ish
cc 0-ish
TA 290-ish
CH 300-ish (not sure how this came down)
CYA 0-ish

The water is crystal clear, feels great, the kids swim with eyes wide open, and we don't feel "gritty" when we get out. Thanks for being a resource, for gathering all the info, and for being free with the advice. I have a couple bottles of bleach, a couple boxes of borax, and a bottle of muriatic acid. I figure these supplies will last a while, and are a lot less expensive and dangerous than the chemicals I had on hand for the in-ground years ago.

Burton