thx watermom! really appreciate your help here.

I believe I have done all my homework:

Pool size: it's an oval, above ground pool 15x30ft (depth is avg..5.9ft)
pump:Hayward Power-Flo Matrix (115volts, 12 amps, 3450 BPM(?)
filter: Hayward XStream CC1000 (80 GPM)

I bought a 6-way HTH kit yesterday. Here are my initial readings:

Cl / Br test: less than .5ppm Cl / less than 1ppm Br
Alkalinity: 50ppm
pH test: 6.8pH units
Hardness: no read. drops didnt change the test water to 'red'
Cyanuric Acid: no read. 'black dot' never dissapeared.

I loaded up on bleach and Borax. Got some funny looks. Do I start to add one or both now and run filter?

Appreciate your help watermom, i'm lost without you!

(Note from mod: two posts were combined in the mod queue.)