what is this fish thing?

Question
hmmm.... i did see a couple loaches that look sort of like him... he is longer than most of them and his stripes are more banded all the way around him.  i'm pretty sure he is some kind of a loach though or something very similar... he is quite a good hider so it has been difficult to get a better look at him..  
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i got a cool fish thing...it likes kinda like an eel....can't figure out what the little guy is.... he's orange and black stripped, smooth, has tiny eyes almost too small to see... he is about 3 inches long and is burrowed into the gravel..he has a tail fin which is unattached from his back ( like a fish )  really hard to catch in the net..i wanna know what to do with him, and if he's a baby something or full grown...if you can help that would rock...thanx
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Hey Krissy,

Sounds to me like a Khuli loach. I used to have a pair of Khuli loaches, and the little worm-like creatures are amazing climbers. Be careful or you might find rug-jerky over night. If you wanna keep him, get him some tiny tiny cheapoid snails every now and then. Loaches love snails and baby fish. Perfect treats. Also, the small common grey snails are amazing little tank cleaners for freshwater tanks. Khuli loaches are GREAT diggers, so be careful when trying to wrangle him. He can easily hurt himself trying to escape you. Ropefish are similar, but not the same color. Peacock eels are another interesting one, but they're green. If you want to make an eel tank, look up fresh water aquarium eels. If you just want to fill up the water above him, consider fancy guppies. 2 males and 6 females will provide a beautiful addition to a 10 gallon tank, and will breed like mad. if your loach doesn't gobble em up, you can sell the fry (baby guppies) to most pet stores and make a little money back from your pet!

Best of luck, and awesome choice!!! i miss my loaches :(

If you have any other questions, (or look up pictures of khuli loaches and don't think it's a match) let me know and I'll do my best to help out!

Answer
Hi again,

He really does sound like a Kuhli loach. They're quite common in pet stores, and they have a black body with orange bands around them. They generally are more black then orange, but I've seen them the other way. They can get pretty big, my pair were 8 inches long each. Most snake-like fish such as the kuhli loach are amazing diggers. They can not only dig into gravel to hide, once under, they can dig through it to escape your net! Of all the fish I've seen, there are maybe three that can dig once under the gravel.

Loaches are easily kept, and get along with pretty much any fish, except newborn babies a week old or younger. And they eat small snails. Best of luck and enjoy!