I think a couple of months would be a minimum... like any tank, it needs to be stable,and will do it's usual cycle first.. then, get it ready by adding some live mysid, and then wait a few months to let them breed, (you can speed that up by adding live BBS every few days to help the mysid grow, and not hunt each other down for food, (which will happen if there is not enough food for them). After that, then, you should be good to go. As mentioned, Coral #1 is a great magazine to get to read up on, and
www.seahorse.org as well. Another site to check out is
http://www.syngnathid.org/. If you have any questions, definitely contact our resident guru Anthony, (Seahorse_fanatic)
.
Also, on really big and important piece of advice... right now, the ones that are available, as captive bred, are Hippocampus Erectus... if you get them, or ever plan on getting then,
DO NOT ever mix them with other seahorses. They are known to be carriers of Vibrio, and while they will be fine and show no symptoms, they will take out any other seahorse you have, (yes, there is lots written up on it, on the two sites, and while it has been known to be done, it's not worth the risk). Aside from that, get ready for the best ride of your life... owning seahorses is more work, but man is it worth it, (I currently have 11 H. Erectus, and 4 H. Reidi... wouldn't trade them for the world, (well, actually, only 10 H. Erectus, as one belongs to John, (Death By Dawn), and will go back to him when it's eating frozen again, (still working on it John
))).
Robert