Milky water

Question
Hi Lauren,
I have a irritating problem and I hope you can help me. My 1 month old 29
gallon freshwater tank recently cycled( I think, ammonia nitrite 0, nitrate 10-
5). So i decided to add 7 small fish to the existing 3(The names and numbers
are 3 Asian Rummy Nosed Tetras which were presently in the aquarium, 3
Cardinal Tetras which are new, 3 Thredfin Rainbow Tetras which are new and 1
Dwarf Gourami which is new). The pH was 8.0, to high for the 7 new fish so I
lowered it with Kent pH Control Minus and the next day lowered it again and
locked it with API Proper pH 6.5. My pH stayed to 6.4 so the fish survived. I
forgot to feed the next day (I usually feed 1 time a day and try not to over
feed) and the following day the tank was completely milky and gray. I changed
the 2 filter pads in my Penguin 350 hang on filter to try and filter it out,
because the pads were to old any way. The water got worse so I called my fish
store, and the man on the phone said it was bacterial bloom. He
recommended a UV sterilizer to stop it, or the cheaper alternative of Acural F.
Today I changed 3 gallons of the water because it looked as though (I'm not
totally sure) the ammonia was rising in-between 0 and 0.25 ppm. i couldn't
tell completely because of the colors being so close. My nitrite is at 0 ppm and
nitrate at 5 ppm. My fish are showing no sign of distress and I try to light my
tank about 12 hours a day. my tank stays at about 76-78 degrees and I have
no live plants.  I want to know if my fish are in danger, why the water is white
and how to fix it and any other helpful tips you can give. I hope this
information can help you, if you need more please e-mail me your question!
Please tell me everything you can think of!
                       Thank you so much for your time and help!!!
                       Grant

Answer
Hello,
Your petstore is right it is a bacteria boom.
This happened to me once when i re-decorated my tank, the fish are not harmed and it could possibly recover itself, but i did a 50% water change and added stress zyme (good bacteria to speed biological filter) and aqua safe which just makes tap water safe, and i added one oxygenating plant and the tank had clearedwithin 2 days so maybe thats worth a try, if you have a spare tank you could move your current fish to there but i didnt need to in my case and i have a massive tank with over 40 fish in it.

Let me know how you get on...