First, greetings to this group. I'm thrilled to find a forum for DIY pool owners and will try to contribute when I have something substantive to add.

But at the moment I have a question and hope someone will respond.

Green pool. 26K gallons. In-ground, fiberglass coated.

Yesterday's measurement said:

FC 1
TC 3
PH 8+
ALK 120
CYA 0

I own and have successfully used PoolProfessor Software for a couple of years. It said I needed to add 2.5Gallons of Sodium Chlorite first, whereas normally I use Home Depot Cal Hypo. In my search to find out what Sodium Chlorite is and how to buy it cheaply Google revealed your site to me. I read for a while and then bought 3G of Chlorox "Standard, Original" bleach (6%) at Sam's Club. I dosed the pool last night.

This morning it still measures the same. Where did I go wrong?

Secondly, I have had a dark blue porous cover over the pool all winter. My uninformed conclusion was to leave the cover on until I get the water in better shape, because I figure CL won't burn off as fast when it's covered. Is this stupid and should I remove the cover for the battle ahead?