Hi Pamsel, don't worry, we will get your pool ready to swim in, and not have you go broke in the meantime. Welcome to the forum. First, do you have a well, or a way to add water without it costing too much? If so, I would try draining part of the water down 1/3, fill it back up, drain it down 1/3, and continue again. This way it shoud get some of the stuff you have been putting in it out. Your ph and alkalinity are very high, and high ph with high chlorine will percipitate metal right out of the water onto the pool surface. What kind of pool do you have, vinyl, concrete or fiberglass? Once you drain and refill, you should get a complete set of your chemical numbers like they have mentioned before. If you can't get a test that tests for all (cl, cc, ph, alk, cal, cya) then maybe you can find another pool store that tests for all this without test strips! Don't buy anything they are trying to sell you, just get some sequestering agent - like sequasol, metal free, jack's magic, or something that will bind with the metal to keep it in suspension. Put this in first - put at least as much as the bottle says for your size pool, and a little extra too. Check your ph and make sure it is between 7 & 7.2. If your alk is high, turn up the return jets till they bubble on the water. Add enough chlorine to shock the pool - it depends on how much cya (stablilizer) you have in your pool - here is a chart:
Stabilizer . . . . . . Min. FC . . . . Max FC . . . 'Shock' FC
=> 0 ppm . . . . . . . 1 ppm . . . . . 3 ppm . . . . 10 ppm
=> 10 - 20 ppm . . . . 2 ppm . . . . . 5 ppm . . . . 12 ppm
=> 30 - 50 ppm . . . . 3 ppm . . . . . 6 ppm . . . . 15 ppm
=> 60 - 90 ppm . . . . 5 ppm . . . . . 10 ppm . . .. 20 ppm
=> 100 - 200 ppm . . . 8 ppm . . . . . 15 ppm . . .. 25 ppm
as you can see it is important to know this cya number, as you may think you are shocking your pool, when in reality you need a lot more chlorine to kill the algae. You must keep the shock level constant, letting the chlorine go up and down will only extend the amount of time you are dealing with the algae. If you don't get a test kit that goes above 5 you can do a search here on the forum for the "shot glass method" that along with distilled water the kit will allow you to test higher.
Don't worry if you get any staining while you are clearing the pool of algae. It is much more important to get rid of the algae, and then if you have stains, we can deal with them.
Just remember the less stuff you put in your pool, the more money in your pocket, and the easier it is to balance the water. All you really need to keep on hand is baking soda, borax, bleach and muriatic acid. And of course a good test kit. The one that is sold on the "Pool Solutions" site is the best in my opinion - the investment will save you much money in the future.
Please feel free to ask any questions you have - remember there are no stupid questions!
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