Here's my numbers

[brent.roberts]

Kurt has been giving you good advice.

One or two comments. First, the risk of adding the acid a few hours before use is almost zero. In fact I would encourage you to do this.( from the time of your post this morning I am guessing however that the kids are in the water already. )

I think the higher PH might cause them a bit more eye irritation and outweigh the concern about the acid.

Many poolstore educated folks have been taught to shock once a week to the point that it now borders on an urban myth. My guess is that it came about because folks would not "keep ahead of thier water" and maintain good levels of chlorine and see the tell-tale rise in CC. So the safe thing to tell everyone was to shock once a week. I shocked mine only once last summer when I had neglected it a bit. My pool is a bit smaller than yours but treating it because almost automatic after a few weeks. Half a gallon of bleach every other day. A pint of muriatic once a week. Done deal. Just test the PH and CH levels every day and you'll get the hang of it soon enough From you postings you've got the right attitude.

CYA, TA, and Cal don't need anything like daily testing.

One more thing. Almost every chlrine tab or stick feeder cannot be turned completely off. I think Ben recommends one on his poolsolutions.com site ( Rainbow if I recall correctly) that is the only one that can be shut off completely. Watch you sticks when it's set to off and I think you'll see that they keep disappearing very slowly.

Cal Hypo granules will almost always sink to the bottom before they dissolve. There they can damage a vinyl liner. PB is right. Add it to the skimmer or pre-dissolve it in a pail and pore in the solution. By the way make sure the auto chlorinator is off before adding to the skimmer !!!

Good luck.