thanx for the help and support!! well i went in search of a drop test kit ,and before plunging into 40 or 50 $ kits i went with a basic 4 test kit by poolmaster $20 bucks but i gotta tell you english and romance were my specialties in school so all this talk of cl fc cc ph is very intimidating .so im not going to lie 16x32 above ground Gibraltar pool with a 5' deep end . tested water at the 'pool store' then given 'THE LIST' calciun hardener 20 lbs, algecide ,stabilizer, 20 bags 1 lb bags of shock 68% ava. chlorine, 4 bags of shock pool goes from green to milky blue, eight bags of shock no change, dont think my jacuzzi pump and filter has a vacuum to waste feature ,but none the less i would be vaccin blind not knowing what i was picking up .... long stupid story short cl was off the chart almost a burnt orange color bought bleach !!! i know the ph reading is not going to be accurate but..hardness was at 200..,,is there such a thing as TOO much chlorine i put in three gallons earlier and im ready to put not yet just ready to put in four more gallons if i run the filter all night doesnt that defeat the purpose of dead algea settling to the bottom to be vac ?????