Yes, it's normal for pool store testing to vary. That's why we're so adamant that you have your own DPD-FAS test kit and do your own testing. Yours will arive Friday and you'll have a lot of fun!

It's hard to say which CYA reading is correct so we'll leave that one alone for now. Either number is okay and if you do put the floater with the trichlor pucks back in the pool it'll add a little CYA. Mostly we shoot for 50 ppm, give or take.

pH looks great! TA is okay.

Now, chlorine. Remember this formula: TC = FC + CC. If CC is .5 or more, we have organics that need to be killed. Your CC is 1.2, not good. We need to shock. Ben's Best Guess Chlorine Chart tells us that for CYA between 30 and 50 we need FC = 15. To get there from the tested FC of 5 you need to add 311 oz of 6% bleach, that 2.5 gallons. You have to maintain this shock level until your overnight chlorine loss is less than 1 ppm. See why you need your own test kit? It saves on running to the pool store for water testing.

I'm intrigued by what it is you saw floating on the top. Algae normally adhere to the pool walls or bottom or show up as a green tinge to the water. What did this floating matter look like?

I'm happy to hear you got the skimmer sock. Check it in a few hours. It'll have crud in it, probably dark grey to brown looking. Rinse it out with the hose, put it back in.

You'll want to stock up on a few gallons of bleach.