You were right in treating with metal remover--copper is what turns hair green, and with the metal remover (that actually just keeps the metals suspended, it doesn't actually remove it from the water) you shouldn't have any of the green staining. Since it doesn't actually remove metals from the water, I'm guessing the debris probably was sand, pollen, etc that was in the water or possibly settled in the truck that is finally falling to the bottom.

When your CC is greater than 1 ppm, it's time to shock--but I would not rely on test strips for gauging it--they are wildly inaccurate and unreliable. You really need to at least go to WalMart and get either the 6 way or just the plain OTO kit that has yellow and red drops, and use that to test your chlorine and pH. Floating the trichlor tab is okay, as long as you understand that it is adding stabilizer and can lower your pH. You'll want to stop using trichlor when you get your CYA to where you want to keep it--most people stay around 40 ppm. Also, check the ingredient label on the bucket. If they're labeled as "dual action",or list copper in the ingredients, then they are also adding copper, and in that case I wouldn't use them at all.

We welcome questions here, so don't worry about that. I know it seems like a whole lot of information to learn, but it will eventually all start to make sense!