Is this algae?

[savdoc2]

Oh and the water was clear and sparkly less than a week ago.

[CarlD]

Sounds exactly like pollen to me. Your numbers and your dust on the bottom means it's PROBABLY not algae. You'll need to keep vacuuming. To save backwashing so much, get "skimmer socks" for your skimmer. They are cheap and reusable. In pollen season I will scrape off what looks like yellow spackle compound from the sock!

Carl

[savdoc2]

OK, put a skimmer sock on. Auto vac is running.

[Watermom]

If nothing feels slimy and you have a CC of 0 and you aren't consuming lots of chlorine, then I agree with Carl. Unlikely to be algae.