Glad to hear you found your buddy
4 months
Even 4 weeks would be huge.
In my old 125g FW I had a breeding pair of Sterbais ( SeaHorse Fanatic has them now ).
About, oh, I don't know, 4-6 weeks after their last laying session, I took apart one of the XP3 filters
cleaned it all out, tossed the floss, rinsed the foams, and dumped the canister body out.
As the sink is emptying, there's a wiggler in the drain. It's another Sterbai
It survived all that time in the dark with only detritus. And that was from either an egg or a fry
I threw it in the DT and it grew fast with fresh food
