Hi Dubious;

I'm on my way out the door, so I can't answer fully. But here are some quick points:

+ Do not trust your pH right now.
+ Go to Walmart or where ever and get a cheap OTO / phenol red test kit. If the OTO shows orange, your pH test is probably meaningless.
+ If Walmart has polyquat, get some ( Polyquat ) and use it. It's one of the few things that will help in your current situation, without risking making things worse.

. . . my wife is saying "you'll have to finish when we get back!"

. . . ben