PH of tank at night?

[PringlesLFE]

I've noticed that at night when my tank light shuts off, my clowns in particular begin swimming slower and vertically and honestly don't look too comfortable. I understand this is due to the pH levels dropping without the light on.
I was wondering for those of you who don't have sumps and aren't able to keep a light on 24/7 to maintain pH levels, what do you guys do about this issue? Is this really harmful for the livestock to be experiencing this every night?

Being a college student, my roomate and I sleep extremely irregular hours and sometimes have a desk lamp on all night (about 3ft away from the tank) and I notice it helps.

Tonight I just got back to my room (yes, it's 6am here) and found my smaller clown laying on the sandbed almost struggling to stay afloat...and after I turned on the desk lamp nearby, it's started perking up a bit. Advice is greatly appreciated :bowdown:

Side note: My Cerith snails have successfully bred.....ONE SNAIL! I'm pretty sure it's the Cerith's, too hard to tell at this point but I only have one other Margarita and one Nassarius so i'm assuming the eggs i find all over the place are Ceriths. It's really really small and my clowns seem to take a liking to stalking it....but I hope it lives lol.

 

[bjohanson1234]

I dont think it is due to the change in pH

Fish sleep just like people do. I run a sump with lighting and my clown act the same way yours are at night. Anyways, clowns are just goofy to begin with.

 

[yote]

+1 Bj

 

[Smitty]

+2 Bj...

 

[wontonflip]

+3 bj My clown used to float at the very top of the water, behind the overflow once lights were out...first time i saw this I freaked out lol It was my first fish, so i thought I killed it.

 

[tankedchemist]

+4 BJ. clowns sleep swimming in funny patterns, or laying against weird stuff. my other fish hide tucked in the rocks. They need a day-night cycle just as much as people do.

 

[Bifferwine]

It's normal for the pH to drop at night. Running a refugium on an opposite (or 24/7) light schedule will keep help it stabilized, but unless your pH is dropping really low, it's not going to harm anything.

 

[dcantucson]

+5 BJ
Check to see if the Clownfish have their eyes shut; that will tell you if they are sleeping or not. :mrgreen: