so I bit the bullet and cancelled the pool company that was coming to open and did it myself. Pool opened clear but dirty with the usual leaves and worms that always manage to find their way into my loop-loc cover??? There was a notable green fuzzy ring around the edge, returns fittings, steps and skimmer despite water temp only being in low 50s (unusally warmer winter for CT this year) - I thought a bit of algae. Also, significant staining (?metal - we have this issue just usually not this extensive) Opening test - FC 0, CC 0, TA 80; CYA 60 (surprised as this usually is lower when I open) PH 7.2; didn't test salt yet b/c can't use SWG yet and didn't test CH b/c vinyl. So with the green fuzzy stuff - I start the SLAM. I have added NOTHING but bleach - so my question is 2 fold. What MUST I add to open the pool? Poly quat or is SLAM and then maintain proper levels enough? opening kits sold by stores have a lot more stuff in them - are they needed...ie metal stops, who the heck knows what else--last year they dropped some plastic ball?? So second part - why no or low CC despite what I figure is algea? I vaccuumed leaves, brushed sides and walls and added 12.5% bleach to get to shock level of 24 - over night dropped to 20 with no CC? doesn't make since - water clear but dirt on floor. Dolphin in to speed things up while I'm off to work - add Bleach to get back to 24. Drops to 15 but still 0-0.5CC - this makes no sense to me. Water is crystal clear but just crud and stains on bottom I'm still working on - still not enough daylight in CT! still some green staining in skimmer box. hopefully this post makes sense...I think my pool info is in my sig (at least it was last year) if not let me know what else you need. (I can try pictures too if needed)