I have raised a few clowns (few thousand(s)) and dont find it all that difficult when I can spare the time (30 minutes minimum per day, per hatch) The hardest part is getting the rotifer cultures thriving. once you do, the rest is usually pretty easy. Even the rotifers are easy once established. I dont have any faith in using crushed flake. You might get lucky and end up with one survivor and one survivor is not worth the effort IMO/IME. With certain species have had a few(10-20) survive with trying baby brine from day one instead of day 6. Baby brine is super easy to hatch.
Getting rotifers going is 100000 times easier from a live starter culture that it is from resting cycts. I have only tried the cysts twice.. No luck either time.. Live cultures have always been successful. getting a live starter culture will allow you to get your cultures strong enough to split into 3-4 five gallon cultures in less than a weeks time. 3-4 cultures would be enough to feed the fry from 6 pair all at the same time. You probably wont want 4 cultures, but I do recommend at least 2 in case one of them starts heading south. I also recommend storing a days harvest in the fridge for a week or so, just as a spare starter.. They will stay dormant in the fridge, but stay alive, just in case you need a new starter.. I replace my cultrure that is in the fridge ever week or so, by harvesting 1/2 of my 5 gallon bucket to the fridge, the other 1/2 gets fed off.. clean the bucket.. start a new culture with the stuff that was in the fridge.. Always keep 2 cultures going, and one in the fridge.
Once you get a live starter culture, just be sure to feed them some good phyto plankton. If the phytoplankton is sitting on a warm shelve, I wouldnt use it. Many people culture their own, but I find it easier to let others do it and I do have a LOT of experience with phytoplankton.. not worth the hassle.
