How many balls and what size barb for ETSS ??? skimmer

[BIGGUN]

I have an old ETSS skimmer labeled only as an Environmental Tower Super Skimmer with no model number. I believe it to be comparable to the 600 from the pics I've seen. The only difference is my collection cup attachment plates are square instead of round. The problem I have is that I believe the barb fitting for the injector was wrong. It was a 3/8 or 1/2" barb. When I powered on my Iwaki 55 it would immediately overflow the cup with nearly bubbless water. I since changed it to a 1/4" barb and it seems to have corrected the problem. I can now run the outflow valve set at about 1/2 and get a dry foam to the cup. I have also addded 2 bio balls to the tower because they seemed to be too far down the tower when I got it. The balls now sit about 2-3 inches below the barb. I wondered if I am moving in the right direction or if I'm hurting the performance of my skimmer. The reason I ask is that I've never seen one running before and the reaction chamber seems to have more water in it than I think it should. There is about 2 inches of turbulent water and bubble mix at the bottom of it, then solid white bubble filled from there up......I didn't think I should see water at all if it is performing at it's peak.

I guess to summarize my questions I will ask what level should the bio balls be at, is the 1/4 barb the correct one or is there something better, and what level (if any) should the water be at in the reaction chamber or should it be all bubbles?

I was also thinking of buying a few threaded plugs and drilling them with varying sized bits and pattern of holes (like three 1/8" holes pointing towards the center) to get the most out of the skimmer. Do you think that is worth experimenting with?

Thanks a TON!,
Kevin M