above ground pool ?'s

[Janice]

I have a sand and swim pool it's 15x4 and holds about 5000 gallons,
I am so confused about whats first, second, third.
At this point I have bought a new DE filter pump combo to avoid the torture of last year(pool was green more often than clear). I have a huge tub full of chem. and dont know how to use any of them. I test and test and still am not sure what I am doing. how long after I open the pool do I test, after I see that my PH and TA are high and I have very little free chlorine what do I fix first!!! Do I shock it and then go from there? how long after I shock it do I retest? Can the kids still swim while I try to fix the PH and TA.Sorry I don't mean to overwelm.
Pleas someone draw me a picture!!!!.

[Buggsw]

Usually you want to do:

Chlorine first
pH second
anything else comes after.

When you add chemicals, you need to wait at least 4 to 6 hours with the pump running to retest.

You should always test your water as soon as you open your pool and begin treating immediately.

Shock your pool, let it get circulated for a few hours then test and treat for pH. If your pH is too, low however, you can add something to increase the pH sooner. Especially if you already know it is too low and you are using products such as dichlor or trichlor, as they will lower your pH more. In a vinyl pool, you shouldn't let your pH go below 7.0

You will really enjoy the clarity of the water with your new DE filter, however, algae isn't caused or alleviated by the type of filter. Algae is a result of a lower than needed level of maintenance of pool water chemistry.