OK, Great. Did you clean out the pieces as it deterierated? If not, then some of your cloudiness may be due to that. I would still suggest cleaning up the water with a pre-filter, increasing your temperature to a minimum of 78 and only addint one fish for starters-just in case there is a problem, plus it gives your tank a chance to re-cycle itself safely with just adding minimal bioload at a time.
Do you have any powerheads in your tank? If so, get the pre-filter, made by aqua clear, i believe. It comes with one pad inside and in a matter of hours, it will clean up that cloudiness if it is due to residue or leftover gunk. I use them at every water change to polish up the water-but they do get clogged fast, so need frequent changes if you want to use them on a continuous bases.