Quest to fix Cloudy Water may have led me down a dumb path

[Gewnts]

Hi, first post. Unfortunately I don't have specifics in the way of water composition but I aim to provide as much useful information as possible. If anybody could read about my situation and offer me advice I would very much appreciate it.

Bought a new house with a pool, and after: 1. replacing enough of the equipment to get it running, 2. clearing out all solid debris from the pool with the skimmer, 3. filling the pool and 4. Shocking the pool to kill the significant quantity of algae, things seemed to be going well. I was surprised how 'normal' the water looked (milky blue is a big improvement on green).

A few days later I am attempting to bring Ph and Alkalinity to recommended levels but I'm surprised that the water is still pretty cloudy. At that point at least 3 days had passed and I had been running the pump/filter constantly. I wasn't too concerned about it, but my family were not quite anticipating jumping in the pool without it being 'crystal clear' first.

When 5 days had passed, I decided after reading about Clarifiers/Flocculants that it couldn't hurt to accelerate the process. Additionally, I had heard from a neighbour that the best way to remove cloudiness from the pool would be to let it settle and vaccum it to waste. I grabbed a Clarifier from the store that had directions for 1. A small dose that helps the filter pick up finer particles and 2. a large dose (nearly the whole bottle based on my water volume) that is left to settle after sprinkling on the surface, following by vaccuming. I opted for the latter as I had inherited the sand filter from the previous house owner and preferred to rely on a method that wouldn't be filter-dependent.

Here I am at 6 days post-Shock and this is where I stand: 1. The Clarifier/Floc did not settle after leaving the water with the pump off for over 18 hours - despite the directions on the bottle saying I only needed to wait 1 hour (based on what I've read online, 1 hour is very implausible), 2. My pump is still off because everything I've read about Flocculant suggests I should be vaccuming it to waste and NOT letting it in my filter, 3. My Chlorine levels are depleting as I wanted to hold off using the Trichlor pucks i bought until after I got rid of the cloudiness.

Right now I've added some shock (whatever I had left from opening, which was not a lot.. maybe half the amount I initially shocked the pool with [1.5kg ish]) and one of the Trichlor pucks in the feeder to get SOME CYA in the water because there is currently none and I want the chlorine to last longer.

Here are my most pressing questions for anybody who can offer some insight:
1. Is it suspicious that the 'Clarifier' I bought had directions akin to Flocculant? I read up on the difference between the two and understand the difference in application/removal, but is it possible that one substance can't perform both of these functions effectively only by adjusting the dose? Have I 'overdosed' on Clarifier as a result? Note - I did WANT flocculant, I just couldn't find it locally.
2. My neighbour suggested to continue shocking the pool with higher and higher quantities until the cloudiness goes away - is this a wise course of action? My Pool was steadily improving day by day so I could get onboard with the idea that the chlorine and filter alone would be enough to clear it up eventually.
3. What should be my priority moving forward, if I want to be using the pool within a week or so?

Thanks!

[Teapot]

Priority No1
Buy a decent test kit (not dip strips) do a full water test.
2. Add sufficient chlorine to take the level to 10ppm. Keep this level up by adding more chlorine.
3. Give us some specifications, size of pool, pump, and filter. What the construction of the pool is, vinyl/plaster/tile/fiberglass.
Cloudiness of very fine particles can take some time to settle and the pool industry doesn't use flocculant in the correct way so best avoided at least for now.

[Denniswiseman]

Priority No1
Buy a decent test kit (not dip strips) do a full water test.
2. Add sufficient chlorine to take the level to 10ppm. Keep this level up by adding more chlorine.
3. Give us some specifications, size of pool, pump, and filter. What the construction of the pool is, vinyl/plaster/tile/fiberglass.
Cloudiness of very fine particles can take some time to settle and the pool industry doesn't use flocculant in the correct way so best avoided at least for now.

FAS/DPD test kit (Taylor K2006c or TF Testkits TF100)
FC:
TC:
pH:
TA:
CH:
CYA:
Liquid chlorine (sodium hypochlorite or plain bleach)
Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) to lower pH and TA
Bicarbonate of soda to raise TA
Aeration will raise pH only
Soda ash will raise pH and TA