Hello everyone,

I've been a lurker for a while. I recently upgraded my 12 foot intex to the intex 26x52. The small pool was given to me and the liner only had about a year left on it, so I didn't give too much care to about the pool chem, or better yet, I didn't do any research out of the pool store. I've learned my lesson and have a much better understanding of the chemistry of pools thanks to you guys. I formulate commercial and industrial soap mixtures for a living, so I have a bit of experience behind me, but just not particular to chemicals used in pools.
So I set up the new one about 5 days ago. Initially added bleach to reach 5ppm. added straight cya to get to 35ppm. checked pH and was 7.2, Cl was on target and TA was 170. I then aimed my jet out of the water to aerate and raise my pH so I could reduce TA. keeping Cl in check, my pH began rising. 2nd day I had 8.2, so I proceeded to add dry acid to bring to 7.5 and stopped aerating.When I checked later, my TA went to 160. I did this two more days and decided to switch to hydrochloric acid. Each day I would have to add acid and likewise my TA would come down. Now I got a TA reading of 140 ppm. Here's my question. When I get to a TA of 120, will my pH stop rising, or should I look into other causes? I have a feeling the bleach I bought may have a good share of sodium hydroxide. MSDS says <=1(label had no %s. noticed later). I'm wondering if it is the NaOH in the bleach that keeps bringing up the pH. I have no idea why my TA started off so high. thanks guys for any help.