Question - Setting up your pool while you are away on vacation

[Watermom]

I have no idea if you can buy just a few tabs. I never buy them. Someone who uses them will know and will hopefully chime in here.

[PoolDoc]

Do NOT make your floater; Walmart has better ones for $10. Look for trichlor at Home Depot, Lowes or Ace. See if you can find polyquat, too. Add a large dose of polyquat and put the floaters in. You can also add borates to 60 ppm, which will do 2 things: it will help stabilize your pH *and* it will inhibit algae. But you'll need about 25 boxes of borax and 10 gallons of muriatic acid. Of course, unless your pool leaks, it's a permanent addition.