[tinman]

hey,
i've got about 10 months on mine now, and it's been quite a learning curve, and numerous calls to pinky at rsm about the skimmer! finally i think i've got a handle on it now! first use a good water conditioner, do not use anything with a slime coat this is hell on the skimmer it will produce micro bubbles for a week. go with something like prime(seachem) water quality seems to really matter aside from regular water changes and testing i thought my ph was good until i purchased a aqua controller with the ph probe it was then i found out that my ph test kit was bad, so after fixing my ph problem the skimmer worked great i had to use a reef buffer and reef builder to make it right. now i can run the air valve wide open and the height adjusted to just about the min and i get plenty of skimmate in one day! also the light bulbs seem to be real sensitive and don't have a long life span under 6 months so far. if you don't keep a sharp eye on them you'll have the nicest crop of algae in all of town! if you do get excessive bubbles, i found that if i shut down one of the cir pumps the areated water won't get pulled out of the skimmer as fast. also you could cut your black filter filter sponge in half and use one half to difuse the bubbles on the outlet side just place it the skimmer outlet side before the heater compartment. and while you're at it get rid for the media under the cir pumps unless you've got small hands and skinny forearms it's a long reach to the bottom! now i run a two little fishes reactor to tumble rowa phos or carbon now. anyhow all of this worked for me and may not work for you i am currently building a 10 gallon sump for this tank and i'll post some pics as soon as i get the details hammered out!