Chemicals & #'s Have Me???????!!!!!!

Our pool was a nasty brown & we emptied it, scrubbed it & refilled it yesterday/today, now it's a yellow/green color with rust on bottom & floating but we have gotten most of it out. I did add liquid bleach while pool was filling. I got a diff test kit that shows everything & also got stuff to get the iron out & we put some in a couple hrs ago. All the #'s & what to add/not to add reading the boards has got me totally confused so I need some help on what to do. We're new at this pool thing & we've been messing with it for a week, we just don't know what we're doing. Here's the readings - more like a guesstimate b/c the colors aren't exact as what shows to compare.

500-1000 Total Hardness
3-5 Total Chlorine
3 Free Chlorine
7.8+ Ph
Off The Chart - Total Alk - it's a bright blue
20? Cyanuric Acid

What do I need to add or not add? Also everyone is talking about sequestering, what does that mean/what is it?

The stuff you used to "get the iron out" doesn't actually get it out--it is a sequestrant that keeps chlorine from causing the iron to precipitate out of the water and stain your pool.

It would help us to tell you what to do if we had more accurate numbers--the ones you've listed here are a little vague. Are you using strips or a drop-based test? You need drop-based for accurate testing. Assuming your numbers are correct (and that's a BIG assumption at this point), for CYA of 20, your Cl is okay. Your pH and alk are high. Look at the sticky at the top of the alkalinity forum for lowering alk--and it will take care of the pH problem in the process.

Janet