You need to pour it into the skimmer and it will dissolve in the filter.

Is that ok for the equipment and filter? I read elsewhere that you should never pour any chemicals whatsoever in the skimmer?

You need to vacuum up the cyaneric acid off the bottom of the pool immediately so that it is vacuumed into the filter and so that it does not bleach out the plaster.

the only chemical that goes in the skimmer is the cyaneric acid

Conditioner is a slow release chemical. It is safe to add to the skimmer provided you remove the pump basket first. Remember to put the basket back. You can really ruin your week if you add the conditioner too fast to the skimmer. It will plug and in about 2 weeks, it will clear.

Poor quality conditioner dissolves slower. High quality stuff dissolves better.

Speaking of cyanuric acid, is there a cheaper place to buy it than the pool store? They told me I needed 12 lbs of it at $5 a lb? Ouch! I only put in half that much because what it said on the package was totally different than what they told me; and I know if you get too much, you can only get rid of it by draining some of the pool. So is the pool store the only place you can buy it?

HD,Lowes,Walmart,Target all carry it.

We were also told to clean the filter BEFORE adding the CYA through the skimmer.

The big think about the filter is not to clean it right after adding the CYA. If the filter doesn't need cleaning right now, don't worry about it.

If you need to backwash do so before adding the CYA. CYA can take up to a week to fully dissolve. It is best to pour granules into a pantyhose stocking and tie it up. I then place this into the skimmer with part of the stocking stuck under lid to keep is on the edge of the skimmer basket. It will take a few days to dissolve. Since the dissolve rate is slow backwashing will wash out the undissolved CYA. Retest your level about a week after you added the CYA. Hope that helps.

Ls

One trick I used to dissolve it quickly was to put it in a five gallon bucket and then add 2 and a half gallons of bleach.I ussually just throw it on the bottom of the pool but the bleach does dissolve it quicker.I never bleached a pool bottom yet. I have clogged an impeller in the pump trying the skimmer trick. I don't reccomend that. I am not condoning it either. It worked for some here.