[slief]

Originally Posted by SchnitzelReef

That's funny you mention that. I have my DC250 running at 37w, and I have it in 10" of water, and I have the output closed around 90%. Skimmer doesn't surge, but I tried lowering the skimmer even more, and it didn't matter. I still had to run the pipe closed 90%.

Side note. My skimmer works great, and skimms very consistent. Just boggles my mind why the pipe has to be closed so much.

If I had to guess, you probably have a light load relative to the skimmer size. That Double Cone 250 skimmer is rated up to 390 gallons heavy load and they are conservatively rated. The lighter the load, the greater the need to have the skimmer running deep. I run a Supermarin 250 on my 480G display with over 50 fish in it. Many of which are 8" or more. While it's not the same model skimmer, they are very similar in design and the bodies are the same size and nearly the same volume. While I am not sure of your display size and load, if I had to guess, your skimmer is relatively oversized so you are having to run it deep to keep the foam head up high in the body. Especially given that your skimmer doesn't have to break a sweat to keep your DOC's to a minimum. The end result is consistently low DOC levels. At the end of the day, it's all about the consistency and the end result and as long as it's working for you, that is all that counts.