BIL = Brother-In-Law Okay, I'm gonna assume here that your skimmer attaches just like ours did on our Intex. I totally agree about the skimmer on the pool. You never know what it's gonna do. If you unhooked it from the wall. (the hose that runs from the botom of the basket to the fitting in the wall) Did your pool come with a strainer that you can screw on it if you don't want to use the skimmer? If you completely unhooked the skimmer then you wouldn't have to worry about it sucking air.