Can't get rid of tons of dead algae on the bottom of my pool

[Watermom]

Either of those ways is ok. The best two ways are to either pour it slowly into the skimmer (which is what I do) or to pour it slowly in front of a return jet. Both of those ways get the bleach mixed into the water the fastest.

[amillionpets]

Okay. I went out to add bleach to the pool earlier. I could still smell chlorine in the water from the 2 lbs of Bioguard shock I added a couple of days ago. I decided to wait on the bleach and went to the basement to rummage around through all of the pool stuff we had from our old Aqua Leisure Easy Set pool. I actually found what I was looking for! It was hth's test kit, although I purchased it about 1 1/2 years ago. It's been kept inside the house in a dark storage bin with a lid. I decided to go ahead and try it....what can I lose, right? Here are the results it gave me:

pH: 7.2
Chlorine: 5-10 (that's as high as this test kit can go.....who knows if it's higher??) Remember the test STRIP said 0? Wow.
CYA: 50
Alk: 80
Hardness: It says to add 5 drops of hardness indicator to the measured amount of pool water and if it turns red then there is hardness in the water. From there you add 1 drop at a
time of hardness tyrant until the water turns blue. When I added the indicator my water did not turn red. It turned kind of a dull yellow. I went ahead with the dropping
and swirling of 50 tyrant drops just in case. It never did turn blue, but it did turn a slight green somewhere around 20-25 drops. Don't know if this indicates anything.

So! I did NOT add the bleach as I don't know what the heck to do now. My water samples were taken from at least 8" below the surface about 1 foot before the surface water would reach the skimmer. My Water Tech vacuum won't be here until Tuesday. I will still have to charge it for at least 12 hours before use and it says it will only give me about 1 hour (if I remember right) of run time. I know it will take me longer than an hour to get all of the sediment off of the bottom of the pool as I'm sure I'll be busy changing out "stocking" filters as they get full. I know I'm writing a book. Sorry. You guys have been great! Again, I thank you for your continued help. I am now bowing to you.....

[BigDave]

Would you call the chlorine test Yellow, Dark Yellow, Orange or Brown?

[amillionpets]

Most definitely yellow. Very yellow.

[amillionpets]

If you're familiar with the hth test kits it's the darkest yellow they have which is 5-10. It's not any darker than that.
I don't think I can post pics on here so if I haven't made it known my water is crystal clear but for the stuff on the bottom that I keep attempting to vacuum up. I've vacuumed to waste and filter several times each, but now seem to just be moving it around more than sucking it up.

[Watermom]

While you are waiting for your kit, try this. Not super accurate but better than nothing. You have to use distilled water, not tap water.

Testing Without a Good Kit

[amillionpets]

Okay, I finally got a few minutes to test the chlorine level using the link above. It only took the 1:1 ratio and it tested 2-4, so 4-8 should be the correct "guess" level. My Taylor kit isn't here yet, but I did receive my Pool Blaster Max vacuum. It is charged and ready to go. I am going to go use it now. The rest of the week is going to be a scorcher. I'm getting closer at least!