Oh so it's just dependant on the display volume? Didn't realize that.
Sometime after taking the pics i ended up with water down the tube again (after a few days of it being ok) so I actually had to open it up just slightly. I guess what I'm curious about it why I was able to get a full cup of medium to dark tea colored skim in a week without the tube connected, and now I can barely get an inch in that time, although darker/drier. Also, I don't seem to be able to get it any wetter if I wanted to. As I was saying earlier, this current position of the wedge pipe seems to be the absolute max I can close it.
I've been fighting nitrates of at least 6-12 range so I was trying to maximize my skimming. I was skimming wetter with the tube disconnected and this seemed to be helping. Now I'm worried that with the tube connected and getting hardly any skim that the nitrates may rise again. Then again, I may not fully understand what's happening, as I admitted being skimmer challenged in my OP.
Thanks!