New to the forum - need to clean up dead algae

[nucet32]

Hello, I'm new to the forum and have a question or three. But first, my pool:

Pool Specs: 18'x36' in-ground Vinyl Liner pool. (Approx. 24,000 gal)
Pump/Filter: 1HP Hayward with sand filter
Testing: I only have Aqua Chem 6-way test strips. (I'm not sure I trust them)
Chlorination: My salt system had what appeared to be a "PCB" failure. I'm manually using 3" salt tablets and Liquid Bleach. (more on that later)

Current Chemistry(before adding 10lbs of Alkalinity Up and 1 container of liquid bleach:
Stabilizer 0-50ppm, Alkalinity 0-40ppm, pH 6.8, Free Chlorine 1ppm, Total Chlorine 1-3ppm,
Total Hardness 200-250ppm (The ranges represent my best guess on colors on the strips)

1) I had to have my light replaced. They had to drain the pool down to the light. Upon refill, I had a severe algae bloom. (was out of town for a week with no maintenance) I am using plain generic chlorine bleach 121 ounce container at 8.25% to kill the algae. It worked very well and the green pool is a pretty pastel (cloudy) blue. I am running the Polaris and the pool pump 24/7 to try to clean up the water. I thought the Polaris would help keep the algae stirred up so the filter could catch it. It's been 3 days and the clarity is unchanged. Where do I go from here?

2) What is a better test kit/strip so I can accurately test my pool water?

Thanks for your help in advance.
nucet32