New pool owner, need some guidance please

[BigDave]

Does the P-A-P chlorine list it's concentration? Adjust for concentration and size (of bottle) and then compare price.
I would think it would be better to wait until you've cleared your algae to set up your CYA (stabilizer) as stabilizer inhibits chlorine's abillity to eradicate algae.
Turn off the chlorinator for now and battle the algae with Bleach / Liquid Chlorine whicever you can get cheapest (concentration * size) / price - they're both sodium hypochlorite solution.
When you can hold your Free Chlorine at shock level overnight (no feeder) + one more day at shock, then, if you have tabs left, you can use the tabs in your chlorinator until you get your CYA where you want it. Maybe someone here can tell you how many tabs you might need to raise your CYA level. Why buy CYA if you already have a bucket of tabs that contain CYA. Be cautious, too much CYA is a BAD thing (so is too little) and may give you an algae problem that is much harder to fight. Read the stickies on this forum to guide you regarding proper CYA level.

Good luck, Be well.

[Watermom]

i agree with what BigDave told you. Clear up the pool first, then use your trichlor until you get the CYA level to around 40-50. At that point, you'll want to just use bleach so your CYA level won't get too high. (For every 10ppm of chlorine that trichlor pucks add, they also add 6ppm of CYA.)

[madwil]

the pucks will also drive your pH down, so you may need to adjust it up over time- but clear the algae first!

[SteveInFLA]

All the green is completely gone now, yesterday the FC reading was over 3.0 (my test kit only goes to 3.0), I would guess it was around 3.5 or 4.0 as the color was darker than the 3.0. Today it reads maybe 3.2, the water is blue but cloudy, I assume that is dead algae causing the cloudy water (?)

I have been out of pucks for a few days which is why I added the liquid chlorine but I'll get more tomorrow. Thanks Watermom for the info re the amount of CYA in the pucks (and all your info). I'm running the pump 24/7 as advised.

BigDave, the P-A-P concentration is listed as 10.5% on the 2.5 gallon jugs. Thanks for the warning re too much CYA, I think I did read that too much keeps the chlorine from working, I'll continue reading, I'm very good at many things but chemistry has never been one of them, I'm trying to learn this though !

Is it recommended to use a floater for the pucks or continue using the CL200 feeder ?

Thanks for the help,

Steve

[madwil]

since you have the feeder, I'd keep using it as long as you plan to use the pucks; the floater would just waste your money, IMO...
good to hear the green is gone!

[CarlD]

madwil's right: If you have a feeder, you don't need the floaters. Personally, I don't have a feeder, nor intend to get one. When I want to use pucks, $10 floaters are good enough for me. Can't see spending a couple of hundred bucks on a feeder.

[SteveInFLA]

Okay thanks madwil and Carl, that makes sense, I had read about some owners really disliking their CL200's so that's why I asked. One other question about the feeder: The control goes from 0 (off) to 8 (full on), is there a suggested setting for my size pool or is it just something I need to experiment with ? And I'm guessing I need to try to maintain 2 to 3 tabs in it ?