Gentlemen!
I'm fairly new to all grain brewing - feb 2015, and also have used the conical about 5 times now
after boiling and cooling the wort , I fill the conical, aerate the wort for a few minutes, pitch the starter, and let ferment for about a week, with the valve closed
you can hold a light behind the bottom end to observe the solids settling, open the valve for a few days, close, unscrew the coupling to the collection ball and if you want to try to reclaim the yeast here this is the place to try it
I wait about two more weeks, attach the hose piece, drain to keg
I believe the idea is to use this as a primary and secondary( or conditioning stage)
I am thinking this would not be good for Lagers
good luck
Stoney Creek, Ontario