Max, you picked a good time to ask for a summary, because the horses just underwent another huge tank move. They were all in a 25 gallon tank with poor filtration and far too minimal space (6 horses and two other fish), but my plans for a larger tank were finally executed last night. They were all moved into my 46 bow that was cleared of all LPS, SPS, and a huge anemone. I will post pics and further tank info later, after the lights come on, but I am very pleased with the results so far.
As for my mistakes...where do I begin? This whole experience has been one huge learning process for me, but I think I finally feel comfortable possessing the knowledge I now have. Here are a few words of advice that have resulted from my mistakes -
1)
If you can, buy a larger tank for your seahorses. A common misconception is that seahorses should be in a small tank to help with ease of feeding and such, but I have found this to be quite the contrary--at least in my experience. Considering the amount of food needed to keep seahorses well-fed and happy, small tanks take the high nutrition load much harder than larger ones. Training your horses to eat at one specific spot in the tank is not hard at all, which eliminates the feeding issue.
2)
If you get a male and a female, prepare for babies. As long as the horses are happy and of the correct age, they
will breed--and on a frequent basis.
3)
Buy the "good stuff" the first time around. This applies to almost everything in this hobby, but I am especially talking about food and the like. It's amazing the difference in quality of food. A good thread that explores this fact is
here. By far, PE and Hikari Mysis are the best--and many notches above the rest.
Again, I hope this helps. There are probably many more I cant remember at 8:30 in the morning after almost no sleep, but I will add more as I remember. I will also snap some pics of the newly set-up tank.