help help help

Question
Help I had a breeding pair of convicts but they died over the weekend and then i got 2 singapore shrimp, 1 red claw crab, 3 ghost shrimp, 2 sunset fire platys, and thats it I did a 50% water change after the convicts died and then i got the new fish and the nitrites were still high and i was using prime, aquarium salt, and stress zyme then after i put the medicine in the tank i came back 6 hours later they were alive then about 20 minutes later i came back and the platies were dead along with 1 ghost shrimp help what can i do to start over AGAIN!!!! and make it go right I have just had bad luck and nothing has gone right what do i do.

Answer
Hi Dillon
Sorry for all the problems you're having!  Honestly what I would do, take everything back to the store that you just bought.  Remove that undergravel filter and don't use it.  Like I mentioned in my previous posts, they tend to cause more of a mess.  Was your tank ever completed cycled-ammonia and nitrites 0 ppm, and nitrates showing?

Get a salad or cocktail shrimp, put it in a mesh bag(in the filter media section at the pet store) or a pair of nylons/pantyhose, cut off a foot section.  Put the shrimp in there and knot it up.  Toss it into the tank, and let it rot.  That'll put out some ammonia to keep the bacteria that's established alive, and hopefully within a week or two you're tank parameters will level out.  When the ammonia and nitrite are at 0 ppm, and some nitrates are showing, go ahead and remove the shrimp.  Do a water change, then add a few fish-maybe 2-3 at first.  Then wait about a week and you can add another 2-3 depending what type you're getting.  You'll want to add the fish fairly soon after removing the shrimp-the bacteria needs an ammonia source to live.  Just remember to do it slowly, few at a time.  It's like your tank is almost cycled, but something in there is keeping the nitrites high.  My guess is the UGFilter.  

If you can't return the shrimp and crab, then I'd remove them from the tank to another container temporarily-most of them don't deal well with bad water quality anyway.

Like I said before, there's really no cichlid I can think of that can survive happily in a 10 gallon tank, so stick with community types of fishes.  Do your research ahead of time before buying-don't trust the pet store's advice, a lot of them are misinformed or just really have no clue about fish and fish tanks....It'll work out, don't give up yet.  And you don't have to start all over again :)  You're almost there.  Just needs to get itself straightened out.

One last thing, I pulled up a site on red claw crabs.  I'm not familiar with them, but I've always heard that crabs need land as well, they're not "fully aquatic".  Here's what I found, seems they prefer a brackish water tank, and they do need access to air:

http://www.geocities.com/elgecko1989/crab.html

And with the Singapore shrimp, again I'm not familiar with them, but a lot of the shrimp species require a bit of salt in their water as well.  The ghost shrimp don't, I've had them before.  Here's a link with info on shrimp, I think yours is #4 on there:

http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Shrimp/

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1842

Good luck and hope that works out!  It should, just takes time.

Christy