Well....I know this is a process:/ I guess you would say that I am opening after the winter...we did not put a cover over or officially close over the winter, but didn't add anything over the winter. The water was clear and we kept all of the leaves etc. out. It looked pretty good until I started adding chlorine.

Yesterday early am the FC was 2.5 and the CC was 2.5. I added the 6 gallons of 8.25% bleach and retested about 5 hours later. The FC was 7 and the CC was 1.5. At 7:30 PM the FC was 5 and the CC was 3.5 and PH was at 7 (I know that the shock affects PH so I left it alone for now) though the water looked AWFUL. It is brown looking in the deep end. Is that Metal? I know since I have been adding chlorine trying to get it higher the main drain has been gradually staining as well as the steps. Back to chemistry...This morning I tested and the FC was at 7 (first It turned clear at 5 drops but turned back to slight pink so I added 2 more drops until it stayed clear. Do you make sure it stays clear before proceeding?) The CC was 4 (another question about the cc step. When I am using the 10 ml sample how many drops of R0003 do you add. It seems like 5 would be too many with a 10 ml sample, but it doesn't say different) I will test again tonight and see how things look. Any clarity on the testing procedure would be greatly appreciated.

I guess I won't add anything today and see where it is tonight. Then add Chlorine and recheck in the AM to see if it lost any over night. What makes it not have or loose the FC that does the work? I do not see any signs of algae. The water is still very cold too. How should I address the metal...Get the metal out and put it in the water? The PH is low enough to add it, but it will come back when I add chlorine. REALLY FRUSTRATED.