Sand or gravel would be the best way, but I have the magnum 350 and the water, plus I'm gonna throw some cycle and some other things in there. I won't have substrate in the new tank. I'm trying out something and seeing how it goes. I've covered the rivertank piping and part of the back wall of the tank with "great stuff" which is a brand of insulating spray foam which when it hardens is inert and PH neutral. It should approximate the living conditions in their natural habitat )or so I hope...lol
They are about $20 each US which is about what they charge for 4-5 inch clowns. They do offer two clowns for $30 so I'm hoping they will do the same for the hillies.
I'm really psyched about this, although the delivery was earlier than expected. I'm putting a bunch of Zebra Danios in the tank tonight to help with the cycle and see how the powerheads work. One of the fish stores had some med sized ones for $.18 each I think they are trying to hack off Petsmart and PetCo.
The had good size white clouds for $.88 each too...Serpae Tetras for 1.28, clowns for $2.88 and buy one get one free on alot of them too. Even the small clowns usually go for $8.99 at Petsmart/Petco
Kevin