Hi Justin,
welcome to the forum. That is one awesome pool you have there! Its a wowzer for sure!
The tabs you bought aren't ****, they do have a useful purpose, so dont chunk em just yet!
TFP is about learning what your pool needs ... if you know how to determine that, then the tabs can be very useful to you! But LEARNING the what, when and why is the key.
The ABC's of pool chemisty is the first step of the process... There is a lot of info in there, and no expects you to learn all of it immediately. Its a lot of info and can seem overwheliming at first, so dont be intimidated. Go slow and please ask questions of you have them! In no time at all, you will get a good handle on it.
Im sure your PB fully believed that this product was the best for you. Unfortunately, most pool industry folks dont know the science behind the products. Their knowledge comes from product literature, which is purposely misleading in most cases. Many people here at TFP have learned that fact the hard way.
The TFP way of maintaining a pool does require some basic understanding of what your pool needs and then add only that which is needed to keep your pool sparkly and beautiful, just as we all intend our pool to be! No one here wants to sell you anything. TFP is not in the sales business. Our goal is to provide accurate info so that a pool owner can manage his own pool. And very economically I might add.
The Pool Store and Pool Industry pros, on the other hand, are exactly in the business of selling pool supplies. In most instance, it isnt their concern if your pool needs xyz chemical or not! They have to sell stuff to stay in business. (For that, you can't blame them I suppose.) There are a few good ones, and some are valued members of the TFP forum, but they are few and far between. The majority of the pool store people have no knowledge of the chemistry of a pool. They base their recommendations on fancy talks from checmical salesmen and that purposely misleading product info.
Thats not the case here at TFP. The chemistry science to back up TFP recommendations is available in the ABC's, for anyone who has the inclination to "dive that deep into the Deep End".
Again, man that is one awesome and gorgeous backyard paradise you have. We look forward to seeing more pics of you and your family enjoying it in the future. Please post more pics! We love seeing them!