What to do first?

[meh]

Just bought a k-2006 test kit and am kind of confused on what to do first.

Have an above ground 13,500 gallon pool. Sand filter. Pretty clear water, but have to keep vacuuming and brushing up some light green stuff daily on the bottom. So I'm assuming a SLAM will be in my near future. Problem is my ph is high, cya is probably low, and chlorine is non-existent. Do you fix these before the slam, during, or after? Here are my numbers

PH: 8.0 or maybe a little bit higher
Acid Demand Test: 2 drops=7.8, 3 drops=7.4, 4 drops=7.3, 5 drops=7.2
FC: 0
CC: 0.2
TA: 130
Calcium Hardness: 200
CYA: less than 30? pretty much crystal clear black dot when filled to the top, only a few speckles of cloudiness.

For comparisons sake, my Insta-Link 5 test strip gave me the following readings around the same time:
PH: 8
FC: 0
TA: 100
Hardness: 100
CYA: 40 this time, 20 the other day.

FYI:
- Pool had a small leak, might be patched now if there aren't any other holes. Lost about an inch a day before the patch. Probably down to 1/2 inch or less now.
- Very little tree coverage, gets a bunch of summer sun per day.
- Sand filter can probably use a cleaning or some new sand - hasn't been done in a few years. But that is probably a task for the start of next season, since we don't have any shutoff valves currently installed.
- Fairly certain I did the cya test right. Don't want to do it too many times since the bottle only has enough drops for about 2 more of 'em.
- My mom wasted all her money at the pool store on chemicals that she never kept up with or cared for, so she has been fired and it's mine now.

So the question remains: What should I make right first?
PH Down? CYA Up? Chlorine? SLAM?

Been reading a bunch, but first time poster. If you need to know more, just ask.
Thanks for any help in advance.

 

[woodyp]

Welcome. Get the Ph down to low 7 range before SLAM. SLAM it at a level of 30 CYA since you seem to be in between. Take cya to 40 or 50 AFTER your SLAM and see how that works for your FC loss daily.

If ....YOU........need to know more. Just ask!~

 

[Richard320]

Fix the pH and hit it with bleach. Brush every inch, including ladders, stairs, lights, skimmer throat. The faster you get to killing, the less there will be to kill. If you start now, the sun won't rob any of the FC. It might be smart to print the SLAM instructions and reread them a few times during the process. Get a move on! It's almost August. You want that pool sparkling ASAP!

It sounds like your CYA is closer to 20 than 30. If that pile of mom's pool stuff has any dichlor or trichlor, you can use some of that to raise CYA to 30ish. Two 8 oz pucks will add 5 CYA. One pound of powdered dichlor will add 4.5. You can float a couple pucks to assist you in maintaining the FC and they are acidic so they'll help slow the pH rise from the high TA. If this is confusing, just ignore this paragraph and stick with the standard SLAM instructions.