ID please

[steakman]

I need to trim and rearrange my planted tank with some community fish this morning. To my surprise, I found this "thing" in the bucket.
I have never bought it, and don't recall put this "thing" in there.
I took a picture of it and post it here.
My question is:
Is this an aquarium eel of some sort?
Or when I picked up the bucket in the morning, it was in there to begin with?
Is it some kind of garden snake?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[steakman]

It doesn't have a snout like an eel. Its mouth is more like the snake's mouth minus the stick-out tongue.

 

[kevinfleming21]

need closer pics, too hard to tell. Not an eel though.

 

[Loves severums]

its a kuhli loach

 

[kevinfleming21]

its a kuhli loach

That's what I was thinking too, but you would have to buy that and add it. Not something you would just find, lol.

 

[steakman]

Hope this is a better picture here.
I am scratching my head wondering how the heck this "thing" if it was a kulii loach appears in my tank. I have never bought one any of these kind.
Could it have attached itself to the plants that I bought?
Could it come in a form of an egg left in place from the plants?
Thanks for your quick response, guys.

 

[kevinfleming21]

Yup, it's a Kuhli Loach alright, maybe it can in some of the plants or something.

 

[steakman]

I just googled it and found this picture. It looks exactly like that.
You guys are full of knowledge, man.
I have never bought it. It must have come from some of the plants I bought from a lfs.
I have not introduced anything in there for almost 6 months.
It must have been really really small that's why I did not noticed it until now when I pulled out some plants to work on.
After I finished my work, and here it is, left in a pool of water in the bucket.
Should I just throw it out into my back yard? If not, how is it gonna affect my stock?
Thank a big bunch.

 

[kevinfleming21]

they are very peaceful and will not harm anything, they only get about that size too.

 

[steakman]

It is about 2.5 inch right now, and skinny like a chopstick.
If it's been in there for that long and no fish has disappeared yet, I might give him a chance.
Thanks, Kevin.