I just purchased my first skimmer. It is a sapphire 1st gen I think. It did not come with a pump so I bought a rio 600 recirculating pump via advice on this forum. I am not sure how to hook it up. The pump has two hoses off the back. One that goes directly into the outlet on top of the pump and the other hose is longer for air intake (I think). The skimmer has a hose connection on top (photo attached). Do I just hook the air intake hose directly into the hose connection on top of the skimmer? I assume this connection will be just above the water line once I get it bubbling. Not sure why I need to connect it to the skimmer at all if it is just for air?

the air tube needs to feed into the impeller, which then breaks up the air to microbubbles and thus skimming

Thanks but I am not sure if I just hook the airtube into the top of the skimmer. The photo is a stock photo and I assume that is the air tube that connects on top?

yeah, or just make sure it's exposed somehow, if you dont have a clip, a rubber band works. as long as it pulls air

Thanks again but I am not sure what needs to be exposed or held in place?

the air tube coming from the pump needs to be exposed to air

Okay. Going to fire it up tonight and see what happens. Thanks