Gotta have more sparkle

[Summer oasis66]

Long time reader first time posting. Here's a little background. I have been a pool owner for 6yrs. Finally broke down and bought both a new sand filter and Taylor k2006 test kit. Love em! Left pool up last fall knowing it was going to be a huge challenge for me this spring. One month later and I can see the bottom and pool has some sparkle yet doesn't meet my standards. Here are my numbers from this morning..
fc 5 lost 2 ppm since yesterday
cc .25
ph 7.4 drifted up since yesterday from 7.2
ta 200
cya 25
ch 250
Here are my questions. Should I lower my Ta and raise my cya? Think the higher Ta is making ph fluctuate and low cya causing chlorine loss? I know I'm in the right place for great answers!

 

[YippeeSkippy]

You're using bleach to sanitize, right?

Yes, the high TA is driving your pH. Just keep dropping it down to 7.2 with MA and it will bring the TA down also.

Don't add any products with calcium- vinyl pools don't need calcium and your number is a bit high.

You need to consider your CYA at least 30, and treat it with FC as such: [FC/CYA][/FC/CYA]

I see what you mean about a slight lack of sparkle... I wonder if the Zeosand isn't filtering all that well? Is that new? You might try putting a small bit of DE in the filter to see if that improves things. It tends to "polish" the water up well. Pool School - Add DE to a Sand Filter

 

[Summer oasis66]

Yes, I have switched to strictly bleach as a sanitizer. I also ditched the zeosand because it had turned my pool a greenish hue. This was after I had all the alge under control. Filter media is now #20 silica sand which has made a world of difference! I'll look at the charts. Thanks much!