1st test results - CYA down to ZERO?

[waterbear]

Ben,
I remember you stating before the board crashed that CYA CAN biodegrade! After reading through the links I wonder if it might be a good idea to test for ammonia and/or nitrogen compounds in a newly opened pool with no CYA to see if this can predict the possible high chorine demand? (realize this is just something off the top of my head There are a few easy tests for ammonia but there are some interactions that can give inaccurate results. Not sure if testing for nitrite and nitrate would be useful but if there are any areas in the pool where denitrifing bacteria might live in a closed pool with no sanitizer it is possible that it might give us an indicator.) Might be an interesting bit of research that could possibly provide us with another testing weapon to determine just what is going on in the water.

I want to STRESS that this is just conjecture on my part (and I am no expert--just a guy with enough knowlege to be dangerous so I am not suggesting that anyone try this!) but I would love to hear your thoughts on this.
I am going to google the search terms you suggested this weekend when I can devote some time to it and see what I can learn. Thanks!