Zina,
I am completely in your camp. I will not leave the fitting open when not actively vacuuming. If I lived here when this happened, I would like to believe that the skimmer would have been replaced. Three guesses where the ficus leaves go? They water-log (eventually) and drop to the bottom. Already bought a leaf rake. I take a peek when I get home from work and just skim them off before they dive. Thanks for the product recommendation. The do list for the weekend just got longer.

Condo Steve