Hi, dgbernard,

The private messaging is disabled for everyone, including the moderators--that is something that occurred when Ben changed servers a couple of years ago. However, private messaging doesn't have anything to do with posting threads--you should be able to go to the forum you want to post in, open up the section that is applicable, then click the "post new thread" button in the top left hand corner.

Your numbers look pretty good, except for the CYA and chlorine. Obviously you'll need to keep some chlorine in the pool to keep algae away, but you'll need CYA in the pool to protect that chlorine from the sun. You can either use bleach for chlorine and add the granular CYA separately (target about 40-50 ppm), or you can use trichlor tabs in a floater (but read the ingredient label--stay away from tabs that contain either copper or zinc--copper is what turns light hair and fingernails green, and the zinc doesn't really do anything except cost twice what the other tabs do), or you can use dichlor powder, which will add chlorine, add CYA, and tend to lower pH, Any of these would be fine in your pool, as long as you keep an eye on your pH and add Borax to bring it up if it gets below 7.0. If you use the dichlor, the best sources that we know of right now are Sam's Club PoolBrand dichlor, or Kemtek dichlor available through Amazon. Many of the other chemical companies are adding "mystery goop" to their chems, to make them "new and improved", but without knowing what that "goop" is, it is hard to predict what it'll do to the water.