I did bleach it last year but then put it back in the pool to use for the remainder of the summer once we cleared the pink algae. I am in no rush to put the ladder in - would rather wait and be sure than create another problem.

So, I did not use polyquat on my troubled water but spoke with Ben last night because my new fresh water ( after I added the bleach we talked about) tested a CC of 5 - which had me in tears. We discussed a plan to move forward which included polyquat because the man who brought the water suggested I test for metals before adding chlorine because he had seen some pools that he had filled go green after adding the bleach. Ben suggested polyquat to prevent that from happening since he figured the water man must know his water.

I haven't added it yet because I only have a FC this morning of 0.5. ( my cc is still 5.5) I added 3 lbs of CYA by the skimmer, and also put a puck in this morning - but I am assuming this will only bring the FC up a little bit. So, what should I do now? I had asked Ben if I should try to get the FC levels up by pouring in bleach but he said not to lest I turn it green. I think he wanted to bindup the metals with the poly first. But my sense was he just wanted me to run it at the low swimming doses for now and see what happened. So, should I add a little bleach first then a little polyquat? add polyquat then bleach? My pool is not green at all - should I scrap the polyquat? Can i add bleach with the puck in the skimmer? ( I know that is a basic question - sorry - I have no idea how to manage a chlorine pool)

The bottle of poly offers 2 doses - one for freshly filled pools ( 8-11 oz) and one for maintenance ( 2-4 oz) I could always just dose low to start, protect the pool from oxidizing metals and different colors and then I am free to raise the chlorine levels if I need to.

Sorry for all the questions and confusion. My ph is fine btw 7.6 and 7.8. alk 70. so not doing a lot on those ends. I went to Ben about my CC because it is just too complicated to post here. He had me check my reagents and we plan to watch the numbers for a bit. Apparently we are in unchartered territory - again. aciam.