Starting up and trying to avoid the pool stores

[Watermom]

I looked at the best guess chart and to me it seems that my chlorine level of 3-5 seems right for a CYA of 20 and it stays at that level all day. Am I not looking at that right?

Yes, but...... since you have an SWCG, you have to run higher CYA than pools without SWCG. Like Anna said in post #2 above, you need to check your manual to see what their recommendation is for CYA level. Usually they recommend 60-80.

Are the steps that you gave me to help lower my alkalinity?

No. What Ben suggested was using dichlor as it will add chlorine and raise your CYA at the same time.