Just ten days after adding the NanoStart microorganism kit to our lifeless Nano Lagoon marine aquarium we observe a classic diatom bloom on the rocks and sand. The tank now has a developing population of beneficial microorganisms. These include bacteria, protozoans, diatoms, microphytoplankton and microzooplankton. The NanoStart kit comes with these components, plus nutrients and a Coralline Algae Booster Plate which we’ve placed into the hang-on filter box. We want the succession of life forms in our Nano Lagoon to mimic that which occurs on bare substrates on natural coral reefs. So far we are on schedule with the diatom bloom, which normally occurs within about two weeks of adding the first marine microorganisms. Note that by using dry rock and sand plus a microorganism startup kit we have eliminated the tedious rock curing, the mass invertebrate die off and the toxic ammonia spike normally associated with wild live rock. We have done no seawater changes since starting the tank with Instant Ocean sea salt. Using dry, man-made rock saves time, labor and money. It makes great environmental sense because it does not require harvesting wild rock and air freighting it halfway around the world while most of the associated organisms die in transit. Our 40-watt light unit was late to arrive for this demonstration, so for the 10-day startup period we relied on indirect natural lighting to grow our diatoms. At home you would use 40 watts of PC lighting, with 50/50 10000 K …