You can buy CYA (also called conditioner, stabilizer, balancer, or cyanuric acid) at WalMart, Lowe's, or Home Depot. Just look at the ingredient label, and make sure it says the active ingredient is cyanuric acid or isocyanuric acid. When you put it into your pool, be aware that it's going to take 4-6 days for it to completely dissolve and start showing up on test results, so don't bother to retest for it before then. If you add it through your skimmer, don't backwash until then either, or you'll wash it out and have to start over. Lots of people on this forum put it in a sock that is tied closed, then hung in front of the return stream to help dissolve it quicker.

You don't sound stupid--these are all common questions that everyone here asked at one time, also!

Janet