my skimmer im confused???

i have only just setup my tank a few days ago.it only has cured live rock and live sand in it.no fish as im cycling it.

ive had the skimmer on there 3 days.i have the jad hang on protein skimmer.
it is producing alot of micro bubbles all over my tank but im goona see how that goes and if it doesnt get better im gonna get a filter sock to put over the end of the outlet tube.

but im confused on 1 thing.should i have the air valve half open or all the way open? at the moment i have it half open and i was going to open the air valve fully when it starts producing foam.is this the best way to do it??
i know its breaking in but as there are no fish in there and its cycling will it produce any foam at all yet?there is a horrible smell in the skimmer tho.before i set it up i washed the skimmer out with hot water.

 

hey Crystal, what have you done with Chadley1987 ?

the valve
the valve increases of decreases the amount of air dragged into the skimmer
more air = less water flow
this increases the contact time between air and water and helps create the foam
with the valve fully closed you can end up with a skimmer cup full of clear saltwater

all skimmers are slightly different
you have to fine tune the valve- either opening or closing slightly changing the air to water mix and thus the density of the foam

tell Chadley I said "Hi"

Steve

 

hi steve yeah i changed my screen id to my name instead of chadley187 as i didnt like it.


well the skimmer has been running for 5 days now.ive opened the air valve all the way.but has im cycling my tank and there will be no live stock in there till its cycled i doubt it will have much to skim will it.so ill just keep i running from here.i guess that if it doesnt skim anything from now till i add live stock i take it my water is good.i really need to get a filter sock to cover the outlet tube tho as the bubbles that are coming out are moving my sand a little not a lot but the bubbles are driving me mad.

 

Well the skimmer is still just breaking in, but im gonna be honest with you, JAD isnt a quality product.
You asked for some advice on hang on skimmers, and i did suggest to you reef octopus, deltec or aqua medic. Not quite to sure why you went with a jad.

 

well i have heard some good reviews on them so i went ahead and got it