The whitecheek is in my FOWLR, running with a miserable weipro 2014, very yellowish water
Never dare to measure the parameters, must be haywire... oh yes don't scold me... waiting for my deltec skimmer.
The whitecheek been with me for many months already. I do not really keep track how long I have the fish nowadays but it is definately more than 6 months if memory serves me well.
The colony coming off after a few days is quite common for me.
Now I use super glue gel to temp hold the colony then apply a bit of deltec epoxy to the edges and that works very well. When i need to move the colony, I need to use a screw driver to pry it to break the bond.
Depending on how old is your nikon lens. Certain function might not be supported with your old lens. Worst case there'll be no AF and you have to do your own metering.
Here's from the D70 specs.
1.) DX Nikkor: All functions supported
2.) Type G or D-AF Nikkor: All functions supported
3.) Micro AF 85mm F2.8D: All functions supported except autofocus and some
exposure modes
Other AF Nikkor(Excluding Lenses for F3AF). All functions supported except 3D
Color matrix metering, i-TTL balanced Fill-Flash for Digital SLR
4.) AI-P Nikkor: All functions except 3D Color Matrix Metering, 3D Multi-Sensor
Balanced Fill-Flash and AF possible
5.) Non-CPU AI Nikkor : Usable in [M] mode but exposure meter does not
function; electronic range finder can be used if maximum aperture is f/5.6 or
faster.
You see his beckett in-sump type, almost hitting the roof already. "Self-cleaning" head won't help.
I think those nuts used to secure the different section must be quite tiring to loosen/remove.
You can try tunning the skimmer for wetter skimmate and that will reduce the frequency of cleaning and it'll run more efficient too.