The overflow does indeed have surface skimming so thats good at least. Also, I think I may have figured out my nutrients/algae issue... I was watching a video today and they mentioned brute trashcans for water mixing/storage due to the plastic not leaking anything into the water. I've been using a cheap plastic bin from walmart to store and mix my rodi water, its hard to tell because my tds goes off the charts when I test the mixed water but I believe Im going to switch to a brute and see if that helps!
I'm glad you are continuing to research. Have you looked at some of the BRS videos (especially for ULM tanks)? Those videos walk thru the setup and progression of each tank, and although they throw a ton of cash at each one, the basic steps are good to know.
Ok, a couple points. You mentioned that your overflow has surface skimming. I assume that your talking about the overflow that's going to your sump... Yes, that's good, but the skimmer should be in the sump to help remove the proteins/bio films/etc that flow down there.
So I hope you can get your sump back into working order with the skimmer in the sump.
Regarding the Brute trashcans, it seems they are "food safe".. which means the amount of leachates should be minimal ("within mandated standards"). I don't know specifically what the other trash cans from Walmart are made out of, but I doubt there is a huge difference.
In any case, I have never heard of plastic trash cans which leach algal nutrients. Many cheap trash cans are made from polyethylene which has a chemical formula of (C2H4)n... so basically it's a hydrocarbon. There are various densities of polyethylene but all have pretty stable properties.
Where did your live rock come from? If you bought it as "live rock" then there's a very good chance it has quite a bit of nutrients in it. Even if it was "dead rock", if it was in the ocean or in someone's tank in a prior life, then it can have plenty of phosphates which can leach out.
So my guess as to the source of the nutrients feeding your hair algae is your rock and the food you feed the fish (not the trashcan where you store your salt water).
my tds goes off the charts when I test the mixed water
By "mixed water" I assume you mean after you mix in the salt?
Wikipedia: A TDS meter indicates the total dissolved solids (TDS) of a solution, i.e. the concentration of dissolved solid particles. Dissolved ionized solids, such as salts and minerals, increase the electrical conductivity (EC) of a solution. Because it is a volume measure of ionized solids, EC can be used to estimate TDS.
So checking a salt mixture with a TDS meter doesn't really tell you much (other than there is salt in there!). A refractometer should be used to test salinity.
I've been trying to think of a good analogy for following "best practices" in reef keeping... the best one I've come up with it "cooking"...
(so, if you'll bear with me....)
Let's say I want to make pancakes. I could get some flour, mix in an egg, add a bit of water and cook up "pancakes".
The result would be some pretty stiff and dull pancakes.
Or I could follow "best practices" and be precise in using the "best ingredients" (that I can afford) and the result should be some pretty fine grub.
What I'm trying to say is, you can kinda-sorta follow some of the established "best practices" of keeping a reef tank ... but the result will typically not be what you are hoping for...
If it doesn't make any difference, hey, I got another storage box for other junk. 
