Glitch in the aquarium matrix?

[u/Pretend-Nobody-2654]

I have a small 5.5 gallon tank. I bought six guppies. Half of them were still juveniles, so still small, like half the size. Had them about two weeks, they got a little bigger, although one seemed to be struggling a tad at times, and just wasn’t as active as the others. A few days go by and I notice two babies (probably a day old) swimming in the top plants. Only two. Usually they give birth to 21-30+, to be fair the bigger fish could have gotten most of them before I noticed. I then noticed two of my male guppies missing.

This is especially odd because neither of the female guppies looked pregnant at all and they were still a bit young (probably not too young for a fish, but again did not look pregnant, and I have bred guppies and other fish).

Now I’m curious to know if the babies will end up being male or female. Only time will tell. I also do have a snail infestation to be fair, so if a fish dies, they would be on the cleaning crew real quick. We also have cats, but they have never shown interest. Still a possibility though.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting. And I now have a better fitting lid. The babies are in a baby net safe and sound. This happened about a week ago and they have been doing great. No other missing fish.

[u/Sad-Success3514]

Are they known to eat each other?

[u/Pretend-Nobody-2654 → u/Sad-Success3514]

Guppy’s do not eat each other. Guppies are very peaceful community fish. They usually swim together. They may slightly pick at a dead fish if they are low on food. Not the case in my tank. Unfortunately yes, bigger guppies will eat any tiny baby fish, even if they are baby guppies. Guppies do not raise their young. But the males disappearing, they would not have been eaten by other fish in this tank.