Skimmer Setup WITH PHOTOS (bonus corals photos)!!!! :) and "live" Reef Bugs?

HI AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOO, thanks to EVERYONE on 3reef.com I am an expert lololol.. I went to another LFS... (tried to sell me a horseshoe crab for my 30 gallon) THANK TO YOU GUYS! I only got more CUC! THANK YOU!
I finally invested in a skimmer!!!!! However being COMPLETELY NEW to skimmers... I took some pics and have some questions about how I set it up!
I got a 65 gallon Corallife hang on skimmer.








If you notice in the picture.. there is TWO submerged units... one has foam and a box around it. Should that be COMPLETELY submerged OR out of the water... I notice its kind of flimsy and it DOES get water in it ( in the pic I am holding it up out of the water....) How should this be hanging? It is ok if it gets water in it? Whats its purpose?

Also, There is a picture of the bubbles in the skimmer cone... This is another question I have.. theres a knob that will create MORE bubbles and overflow or MUCH LESS... if you notice in the pic the bubbles are about half way through the cone? SOMETIMES they reach the top at this setting but most of the time.. they stay there... I have a drip tube incase they do... I just dont know what setting it needs to be at? I put it HALF WAY?
How do you clean this unit and how often.. it seems to take water out of my tank and into the base (see photo) Which part do I clean? (sorry for all the newbie questions...

I also got some "reef bugs" for my corals... (any opinions) (I have never seen my Brain Puff up EVER and I fed them last night and this morning he was puffy! (water parameters are perfect said LFS... still did 5 gallon water change! (do one once a weeek) My MUSHROOM IS GROWING (so happy)
ANOTHER mushroom question.... I bought one frag with three mushroom pieces.. now that they are expanding.. is there anyway to move them off the rock they are on? At all? here is there photo.



The LFS also gave me some Calcium and alk supplements for 3x a week? (thoughts)

Bonus picture of my brain coral, I had never seen it so PUFFY! (dont know what it means)

 

The brain is supossed to be puffy. So that's a good thing. : )

 

I have that same skimmer, except mine is in the sump. I love it, works fantastic, pulls a lot of junk out of the water and was reasonably priced.

I clean it when I do water changes (bi weekly). To clean it all I do is turn the knob until the bubbles go down and take off the cone piece. Empty the water and rinse it down. I empty it every week. I sometimes use a paper towel to wipe any crud off the cone.

 

I will probably be getting that same skimmer. Nice corals...you're doing well. Not sure on how to remove the mushrooms.

 

the reef bugs?
do you mean the reef bugs that come in a packet and you soak for 20 mins, stir, soak again etc and then add to your tank "Mark Weiss" I think is the brand?

if so I have used them but a little goes a very long way IME so reduce the dose stated on the packet IMO

When using them I found corals expanded more etc (similar reaction you get from using cyclopeze)

Calc and Alk supplements - you may or may not need these - you need to have the test kits to find out where your levels are at, and take it from there IMO

Mushrooms - these can be propogated - basically you need a sharp knife and cut across the shroom - basically cut it in half while its still attached to the rock (do this in a bucket of tank water and not in the tank) the 2 halves will reform into a circle and you will have 2 shrooms

or you can cut the shroom completely off the rock and band it using fine mesh netting to a piece of rock rubble and keep it in a low flow area of the tank and it will re attach to the new rock and 14 days or so after , you can remove the netting

skimmer seems to be producing foam so looks OK as far as I can tell

Steve