sleeping? fainting?

Ok I have a big ole albino BN. He lives with (5) zebra danio's (2) blind cave Tetras 1(betta) (1) cory cat and (1) "chocolate chip" Pleco ( that's what they called it at the store) it looks like it getting little bristles too. the are all in an 15 gallon Bio cube with TONS of plants, hiding rocks, a big chunk of bogwood and black "planting" sand/gravely substrate ( Ican't remeber the name.

But lately the bristly cats ( mostly the big albino) have been "falling asleep" and falling off the rock or wood and "sleeping" on their backs. If I reach in or even open the lid of tank they flip right side up and go swim off and hide. I change the water 1X a week I try like hell to keep PH around 7.0-7.5 i have kind hard water but i use a water softener resin thingee that works well. I monitor the nitrates and it tests normal.

I feed the tank 1 of the following every other day or so flakes, algae tabs, bloodworms(only 1 x 7-10dys) or as a treat a omnivore gel diet served in a mesh clip or peeled cucumbers.

WTH!!!! are they doing or whats wrong with them. they did it once before for like a week and then just stopped. It has been like 5 months and its happening again????

Bristlenose are curious creatures to be sure! they are one of the few fish that actually go into what we would call sleep. In this state they can often let go of whatever they were sucking onto and fall to the floor. normally the fall would 'wake' them but sometimes it doesnt. This results in the owner having a heart attack thinking his poor fish is dead, when it is just having a good ol afternoon nap.

It is not exactly common behaviour but it does happen and im sure there are many people on here who can tell you stories. So, I don't think there is much to worry about. the pH is high but there are people who keep them at higher. I would def look at ways of dropping it down on a more permanent basis. One thing to look at is your gravel, you mentioned that its a plant gravel. Some of these are made to simulate different environments and buffer the water's pH accordinly. Some buffer to pH 8, while others are at 7 and others at 6.5. So it might pay to rethink the gravel and see if you cant get your hands on some that buffer the pH lower

While we havee you here, why not nip into the intro section and let us know a bit about yourself. we dont bite and we like to get to know our fellow bristlenose keepers

I agree with Doug, and i can tell you my Albino BN and OS BN do the same lazy thing!
figure they feel safe if they are doing this sort of thing regularly (laying on their back)

Mine do this too, particularly the albinos

My large L182's are always doing it it seems the older and larger they get the more lazier they get...
Nothing to worry about atol....