new to pool stuff

[Watermom]

You'll probably want the CYA closer to 50 to make it easier to keep chlorine in the pool. I'd quit using the cal-hypo. Your calcium hardness reading is getting pretty high and you may end up with some cloudy water issues. (Recommended level is 200-400 for a gunite pool. Vinyl pools don't need any.)

[waterbear]

As watermom said, stop the cal hypo because your calcium level is pretty high. You might want to consider dropping the TA down a bit (around 80 ppm) so yo don't accidentally create scaling conditions if for some reason the pH should spike (it does happen).

[Red Gate Zoo]

Ok, I'll switch to bleach. How do I lower TA? Muriatic acid? How much?

[Watermom]

Please read the following links. I think they will answer your questions.

Lowering Alkalinity Step-by-Step

Using Muriatic Acid Safely

[Red Gate Zoo]

A little more help needed, please.
Today @ 11am: FC=5.5, pH=8, CYA=55, TA=75, CH=450. FC has been holding steady @ 4-6 by adding 182oz. bleach daily.
I have been adding cyanuric to raise CYA to target of 80. Last addition was 4 lbs. on 6/28. Readings went from 35 on 6/27, 60 on 6/29, 70 on 7/2, 70 on 7/3, 60 on 7/4, 55 on 7/5.

Am I doing the test wrong? I know it shouldn't drop. I have not backwashed. Added about 3-4 inches of water that disappeared very quickly. Suspect I may have a leak near surface. I have also been adding muriatic acid & aerating to lower pH & CH. pH has been @ 7.3-7.6 but I ran out of muriatic & it went up to 7.8-8.

CH went from 500 on 6/28, 450 on 6/29, 400 on 7/1, 500 on 7/2, 450 on 7/3, 400 on 7/4, 450 on 7/5. I am using the 10ml. size test. It seems like the color starts to turn purple-ish at about 15 drops, but doesn't turn blue until 16-18 drops? Again, am I doing it wrong? I know I need to add more muriatic & cyanuric. What else do you recommend? I have set my targets at FC=5-10, pH=7.4-7.8 (after CH goes down), CYA=80-90, CH=200-400, TA=80. Are these reasonable targets?

[Watermom]

Your target numbers look fine.

Don't run the CYA test so often. Also, after your addition of CYA on 6/27, your numbers all range from 55-70. This test is so subjective that you can't pinpoint an exact value, so getting these results doesn't necessarily mean you are losing CYA. They are all within the range. I wouldn't worry about it. Since it has been a week since you added CYA, go ahead and add more if your target is 80-90 but then don't run the test for a week or so. You're going to use up all your reagent if you test so frequently.

Run a CH, pH and TA reading on your fill water. (If you've already been asked to do this and have the results, post them. I didn't want to take the time to reread the whole thread.)

Use some more muriatic acid to lower the pH.

What all are you adding to the pool? (Ingredients, not just product names.)

[Red Gate Zoo]

Fill water results: Ch=125, TA=100, pH=8.0 (or above).

I am using 6% bleach, muriatic/Baume Hydrochloric acid 31.45%, HTH cyanuric acid 96%. Nothing else. I added 1 gal. muriatic & 4 lb. cyanuric last night.