Hmmm... probably those breeders were a bit unclear, this is how it looks like in my opinion:last stage just before the female releases its eggs, usually 14-16 days after molting and she is carrying eggs with visible eyes on them . This is a technic used by several amano breeders I have spoken with.
molting > release of pheromones > intercourse > 4-5 weeks for egg maturing (eyes appear at around 3-4th week or so) > release of larvae
I think inciting female to release larvae is not a very good idea - the eggs must be matured so shouldn't be rushed really, it's quite stressful process for female and there may be a lots of pre-mature deaths etc. I've noticed that batches of live larvae are higher when female is kept in rather calm environment where she can hide (so plants, moss, places to hide etc.). Larvae can survive for less then a week in fresh water but it's a quite lots of time to collect them.
I've just brought some water from Whitstable coast and mixed it with saline I had, after 4 weeks tank was full of some phyto, algae etc, all my amanos are actually pretty mature, more than 4 years old so it's a true Kent breed by the source of first food.Without any inoculum how would that be possible? With freshwater I can understand how as algae can come in tap water, but with salt water I am not so sure.