New to the forum - need to clean up dead algae

Hello, I'm new to the forum and have a question or three. But first, my pool:

Pool Specs: 18'x36' in-ground Vinyl Liner pool. (Approx. 24,000 gal)
Pump/Filter: 1HP Hayward with sand filter
Testing: I only have Aqua Chem 6-way test strips. (I'm not sure I trust them)
Chlorination: My salt system had what appeared to be a "PCB" failure. I'm manually using 3" salt tablets and Liquid Bleach. (more on that later)

Current Chemistry(before adding 10lbs of Alkalinity Up and 1 container of liquid bleach:
Stabilizer 0-50ppm, Alkalinity 0-40ppm, pH 6.8, Free Chlorine 1ppm, Total Chlorine 1-3ppm,
Total Hardness 200-250ppm (The ranges represent my best guess on colors on the strips)

1) I had to have my light replaced. They had to drain the pool down to the light. Upon refill, I had a severe algae bloom. (was out of town for a week with no maintenance) I am using plain generic chlorine bleach 121 ounce container at 8.25% to kill the algae. It worked very well and the green pool is a pretty pastel (cloudy) blue. I am running the Polaris and the pool pump 24/7 to try to clean up the water. I thought the Polaris would help keep the algae stirred up so the filter could catch it. It's been 3 days and the clarity is unchanged. Where do I go from here?

2) What is a better test kit/strip so I can accurately test my pool water?

Thanks for your help in advance.
nucet32

Update on the pool chemistry death march.

Stabilizer 50 ppm, Alkalinity 80 ppm, pH 7.0, Free Chlorine >10 ppm, Total Chlorine 3-10 ppm,
Total Hardness 200-250 ppm (The ranges represent my best guess on colors on the strips)

I'm keeping the Chlorine up with a half gallon of liquid bleach in the morning and one at night. Also keeping 3-4 chlorine tablets (3") in the skimmer basket. Today is the first day I've come home and have a decent amount of chlorine still in the pool.

The water clarity is still bad, but at least it's a shade of blue. :-)

Another Question: Is it more of an advantage to keep the Polaris running 24/7 to keep the chemicals from sitting on the bottom or to put the vacuum/hose in the deep end to have a bottom return to get better circulation. I'm hoping I have the chemistry pretty close so I won't have to add so much. For tonight, and lacking any replies, I'm keeping the Polaris running. I'll check the water tomorrow evening after work.

nucet32

P.S. I'll make a signature when I have access to do so. (hint, hint) :-)

There are 2 things you might want to try:

1. Do the DE test on your filter: dump a quart of DE powder into the skimmer, while the pump is running. If the DE shoots back into the pool via the returns, your filter needs servicing (more sand?) and will NOT remove the algae till that's done. Otherwise, the DE will help capture the algae. This will cause your filter to stop up quickly. Let the pressure rise 5 psi or so over the 'clean pressure', then backwash and add more DE.

2. Once you've verified filter function, and made sure your chlorine is high -- try turning off the pump for 24 hours and testing whether the dead algae will settle to the bottom. If it does, vacuum it to wasted.

Thank you for the tip, PoolDoc. I'll try the DE test ASAP. I just had the sand replaced 2 weeks ago, and this will show whether they did a good job or not.