all my water levels are way off

Question
I have a 29 gal tank with 2 2in silver dollars, 1 gold gourami, 1 angelfish, 2 cory's, 1 small pleco, 6 varied cichlids. I recently got the cichlids and I have been fishsitting the angelfish, gourami and silver dollars. My water the past week has been cloudy and when i took a water sample in to the fish store all levels were off the chart. High nitrates, amonia, chlorine and very hard acidic water. I tested my tap and all levels fine. I've done 2 25% water changes and added a product called Prime. Prime has lowered ever so slightly the levels, but they are still in dangerous level. Fish do not seem to mind and are totally acting fine. How can I get these levels lowered? Are there to many fish in this tank? When I go tthe cichlids, I also bought a large stone called holey stone??? Its white, with tunnel type holes all in it, like swiss cheese. Got it from a very reputable dealer that power washes all his stone. I also added a small piece of driftwood and a small clay pot. Hope this helps, I don't want to lose any fish and I am trying to turn my tank into a cichlid only tank and will upgrade in size as my new lil cichlids grow.

Answer
Hi Michelle, Honestly in my 35 years of keeping fish I never paid Cichlids much attention. However, my son has a 150 full of Africans. I've never seen "PRIME" in my area. I assume its like "Stresscoat". The chlorine should evaporate from the tank on its own in 3 days. Odd that the test was possitive for it. The cloudiness likely happened because of the new fish additions combined with the new rock, clay pot and driftwood. You seem like you are NOT new to this hobby so I won't over explain. New wood of any kind has TANNINS in it. A chemical within the wood that usually turns the water cloudy brown, though combined with certain things can turn it cloudy gray/white. A new 75 I just set up December 27 now is very cloudy brown from a stump I got from the woods out back. In time the wood will stop releasing Tannins as there is only so much of it in there. The problem can be prevented by soaking the wood in water in a bucket and changing the water every day. Sometimes can take 3 days or 3 months. Tannins do not effect the fish. The clay pot didn't help your acidity any. And whatever the rock is made of who knows? A few changes and all went wrong.
    The Angelfish and Gouramis are the ones I'd worry about. The rest are tough enough. Since at the moment the fish don't seem effected watch but not worry. I'd do 4 gallon water changes per day. Less change more often is better than a lot all at once. I've been doing 5 gallons twice per day in my 75. The brown is clearing. Also if you haven't done it lately I'd vac the gravel. And don't stir it up too much. The fish will handle slow changes back to normal easier than fast. Like a frog in a boiling pot. Get the wave 90.