You are right, you don't need the calcium hardness increaser in a vinyl pool. It sounds like you are doing a bunch of stuff that isn't necessary. I would not put in the algaecide until we know what it is. There are a lot of algaecides out there that make your water foamy, add copper, etc. that we don't like to use. What are smart sticks?

Post current water testing results taken with a drops based kit and let somebody here take a look at them for better advice. Most of us use the kit Ben sells at his www.poolsolutions.com website, but at the very least buy the 5-way drops based kit at Walmart for about $15 and test yourself.

Post back with results before you add anything else.