Discus trouble keeping horizontal? Help please

[nintri]

The largest of my seven discus (3.5 inch brillant blue) has recently turned dark in colour and seems to be having difficulty keeping horizontal. He swims fine but occasionally shakes his rear fins with a shutter. He also eats very well and is one of the first to approach the food. My other fish all seem bright, active, and healthy.
I have had the fish for just over a month and no other problems have been apparent so far.
Should I be worried? Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[RedestWing]

Did you QT him b4 you added him into your tank? As for him shakin a bit thats somewhat normal..... just keep your eye on him and keep up on good sized w/c. Whats your water Parameters?

 

[nintri]

Thanks
He was actually one of the first two discus in the tank so not QT. I change water 10% twice a week in a 77g tank. The other discus were added in the following weeks from the same breeder.
I haven't tested the water and will have to look more into that. Any suggestions on testing? This is new to me.
What should I look out for? I suppose just worsening symptoms?
Sometimes I wonder whether it is just him being submissive. However, he is the largest of the bunch and has always been one of the most outgoing.
It do see a slight mark on him like a scrap (injury).
A strange thing: if I approach the tank real close up he corrects himself and looks normal - like he wants to look good for me or perhaps is anticipating food.
He still eats very well

 

[js302]

Dude!

You gatta check the water parameters.

I wouldda said internal parasites but he's still eating well.

I wouldda said nervous system problems but you havent checked the water.

My guess is ammonia and nitrite build up.

Do a good water change asap.

He should be fine but Discus are really really sensitive fish.

 

[BDawg364]

Is it just me, or are we talking about the discus having trouble keeping VERTICLE?

 

[nintri]

Sorry, just to clarify:
He will tend to hover with his nose pointing up into the air or towards the bottom.
Not usually straight up and down but a good angle.

 

[nintri]

clarify again:
there is no problem with lying on its side to any degree

 

[koliveira]

I have a discus that does that as well and has done it for 3 years now. I think the ones with that type of personality are always looking for food. I wouldn't stress to much.. If you think it is getting worse treat tank with metronidazole.

The fin shaking is a territorial display with discus.

I have also had discus apear to be dead floating on there side on the surface.. I reach in the tank to remove the body and the little guy would take off. It just thought that it was a good place to hide. The first few times I saw this behavior it scared the crap out of me

 

[Dkarc]

Sounds like an internal bacterial infection...or atleast the start of one. Increase the water changes to the tank.....and do them as often as possible. If no improvement after a while, then its time to treat with antibiotics. Kanamyacin sulfate works fairly well for internal infections. It is very possible that an infection has already damaged its swim bladder, which is why it will point its nose up or down while just floating there.....in other words, its not normal.

-Ryan

 

[nintri]

Thank you everyone for your help.
Update:
I bought my first set of water test kits last night. Ammonia and Nitrite were very low but Nitrate was more like 20 ppm. I performed a 40% water change and used the first of 3 treatments of Metronidazole that will be given this week. I received the Metronidazole from the discus breeder who operates a local store here and he confirmed that he will give discus Metronidazole when he sees them getting darker - if no more to prevent as he says it will not hurt heathy fish.
He seems to have regained some colour (still dark) this morning and is still eating well. He was swiming and hovering fine this morning but now that I am at work my wife reported that he is back to being tilted up or down. Again, it is not that he cannot regain his position if he gets the proper motivation (food, people looking into the tank).
I will re-test the water tonight and decide what to do.
My wife also noticed a new scrap on him. I wonder if some of this might be stress.
As always, your help is appreciated.

Any specific recommendations on water changes depending on my water test tonight? I don't want to take out all of the medication either.

From,
The beginner discus keeper