When Jack Heathcote whimsically bought pikeheads, the odds should have been against him. Yet somehow it all went okay…
When we think ‘gourami’, a few species might pop into the fishkeeper’s mind. And from beginner to seasoned aquarist, the chances are that many of these species will be the same.
There are, however, some gouramis that are less familiar. Not everyone is familiar with a giant gourami, Osphronemus goramy, for example. And even fewer will know of the pikeheads. To look at pikeheads, and at their curious body shapes, some might assume that they are just loose members of the Anabantoidei suborder; distant relatives of gouramis in the same way that Ctenopoma or Betta are. But on closer inspection, the two pikehead species—Luciocephalus plucher and Luciocephalus aura— are indeed gouramis; members of the subfamily that houses the likes of Trichopodus, Ctenops. The closest relatives of pikeheads are the delicate chocolate gouramis of the Sphaerichthys genus which, with their minute mouths, couldn’t be more different.
A chance encounter
Pikeheads are certainly not a common sight in the shops. I’d kept fish for over 30 years before I happened across my first specimens and bought them. I’ll openly admit to what an error of ‘responsible fishkeeping’ I made, too. Without even knowing what species the fish were, I was having them bagged up and parting with my cash, a sin that I’m frequently on my soapbox reprimanding others for doing.
I can attest on two levels about pikeheads. Firstly, from my personal experiences which, against all odds, were successful, and secondly from the orthodox, ‘correct’ approach to maintaining the species. May I strongly recommend that to achieve your own maximum success with these animals that you adopt the latter approach.
The shop assistant had little knowledge of the fish, but they looked healthy enough in the temporary store tank home that they shared with some firemouths and peacock spiny eels—nothing particularly specialist. On arriving home, they were acclimated in the typical manner over a half an hour (floated in their bag) to an 800-litre aquarium containing water with a pH of 7.9 and a total dissolved solids (TDS) content of around 200ppm. This was my first broken rule; the species should really be maintained at a pH certainly not exceeding 6.0 (with 5.0 being preferable), and a negligible TDS. More conscientious readers will be fully aware that just because my two specimens managed could withstand the conditions on offer,
