Algaecides are not going to help you with your beetle problem. Bugs in pool water are hard to control because many higher organisms like bugs are resistant to chlorine (like humans are). This is why frogs can often happily swim around a pool with no problems (and reproduce too). I noticed when I added borates to my pool that the population of bugs that liked to swim in my water went down drastically, but that's because borates will kill many lower order insects and so there's less "reasons" for bugs to find my pool interesting.
That said, I would not recommend you add borates until you can fully test and control your pool water chemistry yourself. Borates are an optional chemical additive to pool water and TFP always advises people who are interested in them to wait until they are sure they know how to manage their water themselves.
Your first order of business is to figure out how you can get a test kit. Many Australians have had some success finding ways of getting a Taylor K-2006 or a TF-100 (from TFTestKits.net) shipped from the US. It's often fairly expensive but they are happy with the results of finally being able to control their water chemistry themselves. Clear Choice Labs is another local alternative but, as you've discovered, they are out of test kits at the moment. Hopefully a fellow Aussie can chime in and give you some advice on how to proceed.
As for your test results, it's good that they match your expectations BUT people are often amazed at how far off the basic kits and strips are form reality...around here, we call them "guess"-strips because you can wet your finger with pool water, stick it up in the breeze and make a guess as to what the chemistry values are and have about as much accuracy as those strips.
How much did you add?
and best wishes to you and your pool....
Did they say when they would have some more in stock? You can order one from the states but it will cost a little more and you will have to find a shipping company that can get stuff shipped in from the States.
