Since there are huge debates and strong opinions about this topic I will just state what I use and let it go at that.  I have used a skilter (yes, I know, gasp!), a seaclone (yes, I know, double gasp!), as well as others.  Being new to saltwater tanks can cause one to tumble off the right path.  Since we are all new at some point I don't feel too bad about it.  There are plenty of worse errors that one could make, but even so try to shoot for at least a high mid range skimmer.

   My current main tank skimmer is a AquaC EV-120 that has been modified slightly.  After several months of use it became clear that it wasn't operating at it's peak so I removed it from the system and proceeded to investigate.  What I found was that the angled air intake valve had been all but closed off due to deposit buildup presumably from the inside out not the air input side.  It wasn't totally closed as I could blow through the tubing I used on it  So, I had no reason to suspect it was having this issue until I took it apart..  The blockage was down inside the valve housing not at the white angled fitting.  Wish I would have taken the valve off sooner, but hindsight is always 20/20.

   What I decided was that it seems a valve here at all is practically useless and the inside diameter of the valve was too small.  My solution was to use just an angled fitting that had a slightly larger inside diameter instead of that valve.  This seemed to work for awhile, then right back to the same issue.  So this time I decided that not only was a valve a bad idea, but that an angle was even worse.  So my next modification was to replace that fitting with a fitting that was not only straight, but larger.

Thinking I was not going to let this happen again, I choose to drill out the center of that fitting to ensure maximum air flow at all times.  This seems to have been the ticket as it is a couple of years running like that without a trace of the original issue.