Guppy Fry Tank: Tank Size, Maturation, And Other Questions

[simonero]

I keep feeder guppies in one of my tanks, which has worked out wonderfully.  I decided it would be fun to do a little genetics experiment and mix my feeder guppies with inexpensive but fancier guppies in my 10gallon snail tank.  So, I moved over a few females and gave them 3 colorful males to play with.
 
Two of my females have given birth to fry in the last two days.  I expect more fry will be soon to come.  I now have a swarm of fry, and realized I should do a little more research.
 
(1)  Approximately how many guppies can I reasonably keep in a 10gallon tank?  I don't plan to let all of them stay there forever, as that would become unreasonable, but I'd like to let them stay long enough and get big enough for me to observe their development and inevitable coloration changes that will result.  They are currently too tiny and numerous to think about measurement (blah inches of fish per blah gallons).  But at what point should I worry about overcrowding?
 
(2)  I've done some research about their developmental stages but still feel rather in the dark.  How early could I expect to see any distinctive coloration/tail shapes?  My feeders have little to no color at all, aside from the males once they reach sexual maturation.  Is there a point before this that I should expect to be able to tell if my fry descend from my blue/black fan tail buddy or one of my *I think* flag tail orange/yellow guppies, or just previous impregnations?
 
(3)  Lastly, is keeping my guppy fry with my parents an issue?  I'm not trying to run a perfect guppy breeding operation, just a fun learning experience, but I figured this is likely a valid question.
 
Thanks!  Any input is greatly appreciated.  =)

 

[LyraGuppi]

My guess is twenty to thirty fry in a ten gallon, but you can check with water tests to see if this  numbers cause ammonia spikes.
 
My male fry were born in late January, and they got their colors about a month ago. I'm not a maturity expert, but I will say that. I do warn you: one of my males stayed a no-color female for about two months, t then burst into bloom and became a male.
 
If you wish to save all the fry keep the fry away from their parents. Momma guppies love their kids....for snacks.

 

[Guppiesgalore]

Mine started showing colour from 2 months, and fully coloured by 3-4 months.

 

[absta86]

Mine are about a month old and are starting to show some black markings on their fins and tail, some have a blue shine on their cheeks! It's very exciting! If you leave them in with the adults chances are they will get eaten. Good luck with yours

 

[Ladykelly]

I think it depends on how got your filtration system is ..... my tank full of babies guppies fry..... it is a live planted 29 gallon aquarium. The filter is for a 29 to 60 gallon tank. I do a 20% water change weekly and fish seem happy.....I feed bug bites and flakes. The adult fish seems to leave the small fry alone..... lol I even have a batch of newborns swimming around the bigger fry and adults. I'm beginner with plants but I'm doing well with crypts. I tied anubias, java fern, java moss to a drift wood. And I even have a red tiger lotus growing well. All for beginners aquatic plants hobbyists. Anyways good luck with your guppies. You know your doing great you get tons of fry... they are just as bad as rabbits.