As far as the skimmer delay goes, the reason i like it is because when i hit the standby button the main return shuts down and the sump fills past the normal running level, and i dump in the food, all the food stays in the display and is blown around by the Tunzes. After my set time for being off the main pump comes online and then the skimmer follows 2 mins later allowing the water level to return to normal so it dosen't flood the cup. I never have to touch the gate valve on the skimmer unless i want to skim wetter.