The pH of 7.6 is a much better reading. We'll all hope that this is a more correct reading and press on. Fingers crossed.
The Bromine/Chlorine thing can be confusing, since one test is used for both, so ignore Bromine and just focus on Chlorine. Your tester only goes to 5, and it appears that your FC level is higher than that. Maybe close to 10 as reported by the strips. Maybe not. But higher than 5. How high it needs to be is determined by the CYA (stabilizer) level, so let's' move on...
What do we use for a CYA level? 120? 75? Tough call. I'm going to suggest you go ahead and do a 50% drain/fill which we can hope will take the level to somewhere in the 30-60 range, which would be about perfect.
So, yeah. Do a drain/refill of about half the water.
PH: Once the pool is full, re-check the pH. We want it between 7.2 and 7.8, prefer it to be 7.2-7.4 for now.
Shocking: Then add 2 gallons* of laundry bleach. Regular, unscented, bleach. This will hopefully get your FC level to somewhere around 20-24. You'll want to brush the pool occasionally/daily - walls and floor - while you're shocking. Do NOT use powder or tablets. Trust me.
*Bleach note: Check the label for Sodium Hypochlorite strength. It should be 5.25% or 6%. If you have liquid chlorine from a pool store (often sold as liquid shock), it'll be 10-12%, and you'd add one gallon. If it's unmarked or less than 5.25%, don't buy it.
As the FC level drops to 18 or 16, add 2-3 cups of bleach to kick it back up.
You're gonna have trouble measuring the amount of chlorine that you'll need for this, but if you mix your water sample 50/50 with distilled** water, and your strips measure 10, then you may be close. (**Be sure to use distilled water, as it will not have chlorine in it, and won't taint the test results. Tap water contains chlorine.)
This will start killing the green goop. The chlorine should go away fairly quickly as it is used up killing the algae, so check it periodically and add more. You should probably think about a run to Wal-Mart, or Sam's club, or Aldi's. You're gonna need bleach.
Keep the filter running. Clean it or replace it as needed.
This is kind of an emergency procedure, 'cause I'm really guessing since I really don't know for sure anything about your levels. I'm largely driving blind until I can get real info.
Inadequate testing will ultimately cause you a lot of grief, and cost you time and money. I'm gonna strongly suggest that you get yourself a real tester, such as the TF-100 from our own Duraleigh at
tftestkits.net, or the K-2006 Taylor kit.
And when you have a few minutes, read up on
Shocking your pool
Also, you should know that the pool problem isn't really just from 3 days of being ignored, it's from the CYA buildup which stems from using stabilized chlorine products, like the shock powder and pucks, which eventually makes the chlorine ineffective. Well, that and 3 days of being ignored. Smile. I'm just picking on you.
Hang in there, and we'll get you through this.
