question about mollies

Question
I brought a balloon molly (with Dalmatian markings) a couple of months ago and didn't realize she was pregnant. When I got home from work one day I had a couple of baby fry in my tank. I secluded them, but only one survived to date. I recently tried putting a live plant in my aquarium, but it didn't last. While the plant was in the tank though, the mother molly ended up with swim bladder, and my Betta fish's tail split in two areas. I recently put the baby in a breeder and she had exposure to the tank's water for the first time. I noticed the other day she had several black spots on her, so I put her back in seclusion. My question is, are the black spots actually black ich, or is she inheriting her mother's Dalmatian spots?

Answer
Hi Kelli,
  "ended up with swim bladder".  Swim bladder isn't a disease, it is a part of a fish.  Most fish (except for certain bottom dwellers like catfish) have a swim bladder.  Saying that "a fish has swim bladder" is like saying that a person has elbow.

  Putting a plant in a tank cannot cause the tail of a betta to split.
One fish attacking another is almost always the cause of a split fin.

  Black spots can appear on the baby for two reasons. It  could be the adult coloration appearing (this takes time to happen).  Or it could be tiny parasites called "black spot" (not related to ich).  These are harmless and will eventually go away.  They are often introduced to a tank via a plant which can carry the "spores" if you want to think of them that way.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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