Heh, as you can tell I've been off here a few days.
To try and answer your questions.... three spots are one of the larger species of gourami, with the exception of the giants, which are exactly that....giant! I believe they do get bigger then the pearls (Although, not being a keeper of pearls I can't be 100% about that) and are more aggressive.
Fry wise, well I have rather alot currently growing up in my large fry tank and still rather alot in with the adults.
The oldest are now about 5-6 weeks? Some are bigger then the others and the fin shape is beginning to become noticeable in the largest. They have their 3 spots appearing with the one at the base of the tail appearing first by quite a margin. Only the biggest have the belly spot showing.
As my golds have 'tiger' type markings it's more likely that they will become obscured as the colour develops further.
Lavenders are a cross breed of the golds to the opalines...and I suspect it could come about with the blues too in all honesty. Can't say until I get results from my younger girls. Currently all my fry are from my gold ladies.
Food wise, I fed them liquid fry food for several weeks, before bringing in fry older food (not flake but the stage beforehand). I now feed them a mix of the earliest foods mentioned above alongside occassional flake, frozen daphnia and bloodworm. The daphnia is not that popular but the freeze dried is taken a little more readily. They also have alot of plants in the tank that they spend alot of time browsing on.
I will be trying livefood with them in a week or so. Brine shrimp is always a favourite with fry and all fish in fact, as is live bloodworm. But don't try too early, they really are too small for it and it'll just go icky in the tank.
Development wise.....well they lost the look of just being a pair of eyes and practically invisible body quickly. But it's not until now that I'm beginning to see the adult shape forming. The feelers are there, just very very small at the early age. They become noticeable around 3-5 weeks.
None of my babes have any deformities so far, happily.
Yes it is funny how they let you come into contact with them. Queenie is very friendly. Ever since she had her mini holiday last month she's become far more sociable. BB (Big boy) won't deliberately allow contact but doesn't get stressed out when he has eggs and I need to do some cleaning/plant pruning etc at the time. He never stops eating while tending the eggs and if I do a clean he quietly waits for me to finish then checks his area for any eggs that have shifted and puts them back. I don't ever deliberately disturb his handiwork if it can be avoided. Considering when he first started spawning he'd attack and bite me this is a remarkable improvement and shows how much trust/respect we've built up very fast.
And since he is boss of the tank his actions rebound onto the girls. If they see him calmly moving out of the way of a clean or waiting for brekkies they follow suit.
Damn I have well adjusted gouramies!! Seems even Spot has stopped picking off the younger fry now as she's grown up. I suspect BB got angry with her for doing so.
Hugs,
P.