Scott, you're the man!
After I removed the platform under the skimmer the water level rose to 9.5 inches. I lowered and tuned the pump power to 21-22w, wedge pipe all open.
Like you said, finer bubbles and very consistent.
Here is a pic just after a good clean up and placed it back into the sump.
And here after about 4 hours.
22 watts, almost half what I had it before.
