That is the history of all who have gone before you, Martin Moe, Frank Hoff, and a myriad of others, you are in good company. Stay your course. Florida Aqua Farms, and several others sell counters for plankton. I have been tempted to try one. But, I have time, I am still building stands which will go on for months. I am also weighing whether to use glass tanks or build heavy ply ones like Instant Ocean Hatchery had.
My breeding and grow out plans are much more limited then in years gone by. I have some big tanks for pelagic spawners, but the demersal spawners are fewer and lend themselves to a built unit. We shall see, looking at options while building the stands. Life goes on.