Oscars in my new tank

Question
Please help me and my Fish? I was given 2 Oscars (1 Lg and 1 Sm) by a coworker. We have tanks at our offices and I bought a 38 Gal for my floor. We set it up and ran it for 48 hours. Not having seen a fish tank since my teen years, I forgot about testing the water. The store told me how to set it up and add chemicals to help add healthy bacteria. I added the fish who were in not so clean water and Lg one had pop-eye already. The tank got Bad cloudy, so 40% water change was made. Two days later, another 40% change was made. I added to pH balance rocks (decor) and a drift wood arch. I got the testing kit from another fish shop and I finally have the tank 1 step from ammonia free. pH looks good and the fish had more energy today and seem better, but its on and off. When I left work, they were on the bottom again laying over. I was given Cycle and Aqua Plus to treat the tank. I didn't add 1 cap/10 Gal, I thought it was too much, so I just added three caps. Please tell me how to get this tank clear and save my two buddies.

Answer
Hi Glen,
I wouldn't worry about the pH at all. It's not as important as monitoring your ammonia and nitrite levels while your tank is still in its cycling phase.

The best thing you can do for your two oscars is to change their water as often as you can. 50% or larger water changes won't hurt them and will actually do them a lot of good. We are at a very bad circumstance here with two heavy-waste producing fish and an small uncycled aquarium. But water changes are the best thing to do to help your fish make it through while you can try adding bacterial supplements to help things along. Also, if you have access to another established healthy aquarium, take some of that tank's gravel and some filter media and put it in your tank to help  "seed" the tank with bacteria.

The cloudy water and all is normal for a newly setup aquarium. Water changes are your best bet now to help your oscars get through the stressful cycling time. Keep testing your water and doing those water changes and you should make it through fine. Just keep in mind the two oscars will not be able to live in the 38gallon tank longterm. They will grow regardless of the tank's size and soon they will both be 12 inches long and need at least a 75gallon and an even larger aquarium is really preferred for these very large fish. You probably already know this but its well-worth mentioning.

So far you are doing everything really good. Just don't worry about adjusting your pH and focus on testing your ammonia and nitrite levels and making those vital water changes when needed.

Best of luck and I really hope this helps!
Karen~