Chlorine Level Drops Quickly

Use the BBB method and pool owner since 1986. First time ever on opening my CYA level was 25 and had difficulty getting a chlorine level . Readings today were FC 1.5 ,Hardness 210,Alk 100 ,PH 7.4 and CYA 30-35 . Water is perfectly clear . I try to hold 3-4 chlorine . Is my CYA level too low ? Why cant maintain chlorine .
 
Could be one of two thing.

Your CYA is lower, so FC consumption will be higher. We are nearing summer solstice, so the sun is eating up the most chlorine during the year in the next 30 days. Add 10ppm of CYA and see what improvement you get.

You could also have unseen algae. To confirm, do this test tonight...Link-->Overnight Chlorine Loss Test
 
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Ok update . 1 Did the Overnight Chlorine Loss Test 5 ppm at 9 pm 4 ppm 6:00 AM so appears ok and no need to slam ?
2. Agree CYA at 30 is on low side so looked to add .None in this small rural Pa Town .Ordered Amazon so a week out .
3. Test chlorine daily and always add the required amount of liquid .Never check after ! Notice all my Liquid Chlorine bottles are very dirty
as purchase at local Walmart .Yesterday took a closer look and they are all OLD INVENTORY from 2023. So I know the chlorine is no
longer 10% but unsure exactly how low it is???? So by not testing after the assumption is that the level of chlorine when adding was
lower than expected per chart and thus maybe the loss has not been as great ! Does this make sense ? New chlorine picked up
yesterday is 2024 and clean bottles so hopefully old inventory out of system .

Question do I need to shock or slam on a regular schedule as think read not required
What level of cya is recommended - 40?
 
It is too low, and the sun eats chlorine too high, and the level has to be higher.
Yes, your FC demand (how much FC you need each day) increases when CYA is lower. As you raise CYA, FC demand is lower, but you need to keep your FC higher, because the amount of HOCl (the stuff in chlorine that kills stuff) in the pool changes when you change CYA. At levels above about 70, it become hard to slam the pool, so we recommend 30-60 or liquid chlorine pool. Above 80, it is really hard to keep enough FC to kill stuff.
 
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