Quote Originally Posted by bmlocal175 View Post

Vacuumed again and noticed when I went over the dead algae in heavier spots, as soon as I did I saw it come right out of the return.
This statement is what made me question whether or not your filter is working properly. Debris should not come back out through the returns.

Do you know how big your sand filter is? (How many lbs. of sand it holds?) Sometimes when your pump is way too big for your filter, it just forces debris through. In the case of algae, sometimes if it is forced through it breaks apart into extremely small particles that are difficult to filter out.