Hi Taylor. Sorry the pool guy laid your hard work to waste.
Two tips that might help...if you're tired of trying to find non-splashless bleach, just buy liquid chlorine for pools...sometimes a trip to the pool store can be entertaining if you ignore them
But liquid pool chlorine is also usually avail at large supermarkets this time of year. It will be either 10% or 12.5% so adjust accordingly using pool math.
Re: stains...here's the deal: AA always works in and of itself, but people do have problems on the other side of stains returning in high ph events or slams, etc. so it can get to be a cycle...one I used to be on
Last year a fellow TFPer named RavenJim tried the Metal Magic Sponge Test and accordingly used a high dose...eg about 5 quarts, and it worked on stains and kept working. So I tried it too and enjoyed the same effect. We both have vinyl liners and sand filters..don't know if that made a difference.
I liked it because I didn't ave to drop my ph (MM wants ph above 7.5 in order to work) and I didn't have to fool around with FC much afterward. I bought a case with free shipping so it worked out to under $17 a bottle from
Pool Chemicals, Hot Tub Chemicals and Supplies | Pool Geek . So in my case it was comparable in cost to an AA treatment plus polyquat, which you don't need using this method.
I will post the thread for you to read and decide if you want to try it or not -- the results could vary and it is for this reason that it is not the official TFP way.
Here's the link to the sponge test, which will indicate how much you need to remove a stain:
http://www.proteampoolcare.com/images/uploads/MetalMagicSpongeTest.pdf
Here's the link to RavenJim's thread:
Switching Sequestrate from EDTA to HEDP
One last note -- metal magic can precipitate calcium which binds to the metal, so you might see a few days of cloudiness when you use it. I'm vinyl so don't have higher calcium levels so it doesn't do this in my pool, just FYI.
Hope that gives you a few options to consider.
Cheers, SW