My water is a mess, I don't know where to start

[mel.hoffman]

So it turned out that I didn't need the dilution test after all. Went out at 6:35 a.m. and tested. Pool is the same blueish greenish color and has that slimy white-ish coating on the top, it looks like an oil slick on top of my pool.

I still have a question about chlorine testing, after I put the chemicals in the testing water do I read them immediately? They darken up as times goes on and I'm not sure which is the correct reading.

TC: about .5
pH: about 7.0 much lower than I had hoped after all that borax, do I add more today?

Also, my husband has a question about this process that I don't know the answer to. If all of our stabilizer is gone, why can we not add new stabilizer now?

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Would it be beneficial to do the bleach in the morning as well? I know that the sun will eat it up, but I could always close the cover to help prevent that. I just want to try and stay ahead of this.