Seed starting for aero/First time grower

Whats your guys favorite/most effective way of starting seeds for your grow. I've been told by friends of mine not to use Rockwool to start your seeds because they can change the PH of your water easily, I have a Seed Starter --> http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTGSupply-Seed-Starter-Kit but i used it once and when the plants got about a ich or two tall with a inch tap root the started to die and i ended up completely losing all of them so i would like to use a different method which has worked for other people. All information is greatly appreciated. This is my set-up Btw, It's an aeroponic set-up with a 600w HPS dimmable light. How tall do my plants need to be before i put them into this set-up. Thanks everyone!

I use rapid rooters or rock wool in a regular plastic seedling tray... ph doesn't matter until you start feeding nutes.

Just taking a stab in the dark, but that thing probably keeps them too wet and the seedlings drowned.

The little pucks that expand when wet have been the easiest I have found. You can leave them on til harvest or wash them off after rooted.

The jiffy pucks have always given me trouble,though that probably has something to do with how old they were. I have had great success with Rapidrooter plugs (my preference) and Rockwool (make sure to soak the rockwool in pH 5.0-5.5 water before throwing the seeds in). I adjust the pH before planting the seeds because I like to start adding nutes when the first set of leaves appears. I find I get a higher success rate with the Rapidrooter plugs though.