Phyto- To buy or to grow?

[zum14]

That is the question. Ive been looking into either growing or just buying live phyto for various reasons, reef food, pod culturing and such. But the thing is there is a lot of people that are doing it and having a great time, no problems, but then there is a lot of people out there that had a terrible time with it. People that know a heck of a lot more then i do on the subject and still having cultures crash. I have pretty bad luck as it is and am not sure im willing to gamble on 50/50 odds like that. Theres a supply for live phyto in town for 500ml its 23$. hes also has live rotifers too for the same. So im sitting here trying to decide wether its worth the effort, extra juice to run lights, extra salt for the water, and all the time, or just buy the stuff, feed everything and keep the sanity. Oh also i seem to be having trouble tracking fertilizer down, some guys say miracle grow but i dont like the sounds of that. Ive heard it has a lot of heavy metals in it. Thanks. Interested in hearing opinions.