Thanks all! Yes, I was doing the test like I would for high chlorine, assuming same type of results. That's why I stop here first!!! Can't believe I forgot about the extreme range of Ph - good thing I homeschool my kids and we just covered that a few months ago:-) Failed that retention test!

My kit is Ben's kit from last season. I'm going to order something online as soon as I figure out what, but I live over an hour from the nearest shopping and nowhere near a professional pool store. So I just used what I had.

Muriatic acid - duh! I should have remembered that when I was pulling my really high alk down a bit early last year.