Molly's Disappearing

[randyd]

Hi,

I am a new fish keeper.  I have a 29 gallon tank which is in the third
week of its cycle.  The reason I got interested in the tank was because a friend had a Molly who gave birth to thirty four babies.  I took ten
of the babies at four weeks old, so now they are six weeks.  My friends
remaining babies are all fine and surviving, two were lost to
unfortunate accidents.

My question is, would Mollies eat their own, not adults to fry, but
slightly larger to weaker same aged fish?

I seem to be missing some of the babies.  I have searched everything in the tank a number of times.  All of my water tests seem to be good and right in line with a cycling tank.  I have no other fish or reptiles in the tank.  There are a few small snails that came with a live plant I purchased, but nothing else.

Is it possible that the stronger fish may have eaten the others?

Thanks

[mseguin]

It's quite possible. Livebearers tend to be quite opportunistic in my experience. Also, it's possible they weaker ones died becuz they were just that, weaker. Maybe their swim bladder didnt form properly, or they had an intestinal malformation, etc. Either way, it's possible you would find no evidence of the deaths.