Thanks. It looks like I am on the right track, then. I got it back up to shock level and bought a bunch more bleach to be sure it stays there. I did add 18 oz. muriatic acid (pool calc said to add 22 oz.) just because I know how hard the water is. But I won't do anymore until after it is completed.

CYA is the only test that uses a lot of reagents, so I'm glad you confirmed that it isn't necessary.

I don't have any tabs, just thought about it. Years ago, we had a round pool that we kept a dispenser with tabs in all the time since I was busy with lots of little kids. Convenient but not necessary?

I watched the videos along with some others to be sure I was testing correctly. That helped.

So, there is progress from this morning. I can actually see something on the bottom and the 4th rung of the ladder! There is hope!

Thank you. I will be testing again this evening.