hey whats up!!!!!
its starting to get fun, huh? serpant stars are great to have, IMO. very cool to watch them come out at feeding times. they can really move when they want to. i love went people that dont know about them first see them creeping out from under a rock, lol. do avoid brittle stars though, they are fish hunters, esp the green ones.
the HH snails sound like nerites, i think we need some updated pics
might want to do another 50% water change. that will bring your nitrates down from 25 to about 12. a 20% change will only bring them down from 25 to 20 at best. maybe another change after if needed. just remember all you have to take up the nitrates right now is mainly algae-at least till your anaerobics get going.