Hoss7504 We're in the exact same situation right now. What tips do you have / what is the bulllshit the stores try to sell you on?
They'll try to sell you algaecide, stabilizer, weekly shit to keep your water "clear" etc. The reality is that you should not spend more than $250 per YEAR on chemicals, and that should be exclusively liquid chlorine (or bleach in a pinch, same thing but less strong) to keep the pool sanitary, muriatic acid (ph+), borax (ph-), baking soda (to increase total alkalinity when necessary, keeps PH stable once in desired range) and a method of delivering cyanuric acid (protects chlorine/bleach from the sun.) Also with plaster/Pebble pools, you need to be passively aware of calcium hardness. The water will eat your surface if it doesn't have enough calcium. Too much calcium is less problematic but deposits can build up in the plumbing and you'll eventually see a little scaling on the finish.
You need nothing else. Seriously. The PH is easy to manage if you test your water every day at the beginning. Once it's stable every 3-4 days is plenty is most cases. Add chlorine/bleach when low. Keep TA at a normal level, and get cyanuric acid (CYA) to a good level then DO NOT ADD MORE until you need to. Calcium hardness needs to be addressed infrequently - it isn't consumed quickly.
And hard/granular chlorine/shock either adds CYA or calcium to your pool. Pucks in a floaty thing will almost always add CYA. This can be to your benefit in some cases, as you need SOME CYA (more with higher sun exposure) but if there's too much the chlorine will not be able to work at all unless you're putting a TON in the pool.
A properly managed pool that you are testing regularly does not need to be shocked weekly, or ever, except for sudden changes like heavy rain, abnormal amounts of organic matter in the pool, etc.
The best investment you can make is buying a TF-100 test kit and getting comfortable with it. The auto-stirrer thing you can buy in a bundle makes the testing faster and easier, too. Well worth it.