The dark side of quarantining

Hi, I thought I had graduated to the "general freshwater forum" but I feel like this is a newbie question... I bought 3 otos on Sunday to help with the healthy algae growth I have in my 55g tank. Currently they are in a 20g QT. It is running an Aquaclear 70 HOB. I run the same model on my 55. As you may know, this filter has 3 components: sponge, carbon, and bio-material.
I've read online that carbon exhausts itself after a few weeks, but that after that it makes a good home for nitrifying bacteria. I have also read that it is a myth that carbon releases bad things back into the water after it is exhausted. So, keeping all this in mind, I took out the carbon layer from the established filter on the 55 and put it in the spare filter on the QT, thinking i would thus avoid a mini-cycle in the QT.
Well, true enough, the water params are ok so far: ammonia and nitrite 0, and nitrate barely detectable. But my water is cloudy--really cloudy. I am doing lots of water changes, but the cloudiness has been going on for about 24 hours now.
On the one hand I know I am doing the right thing by QTing my new fish, but on the other hand I read everywhere online that otos should not be put in anything but a well-established tank. And my QT is, of course, not well-established! I worry that the QT process itself will kill my new fish. Besides water changes and closely monitoring my stats, is there anything else I can do for the cloudiness? Is this a normal occurrence in QT's?

Thanks for the reassurance. I'll keep up the water-testing and water changes. Actually the water looks much clearer now than it did earlier today. Two of the three otos have discovered the zucchini and cucumber I put in for them. After all is said and done--even though I definitely share iceH20's concerns about otos being delicate--I think the QT will not only be good for disease prevention (and yeah, beblondie, I did learn the hard way -- that's why these days I QT even plants:screwy:) but it will give the otos a chance to learn to eat what I feed them without having to compete with my other fish. I'm glad to hear no one thinks the cloudiness is a sign of anything that bad.

Well, the water is clear, but I'm now having frustrating ammonia problems. I changed over 70% of the water yesterday (not all at once, but though multiple changes) to keep the ammonia around .25. I also cut a small piece of the filter pad off of another established filter I have, and stuck it in the QT filter to try and up the bacteria population. But this morning, I tested the water and the ammonia had risen from .25 to at least .50 (maybe even closer to 1) overnight. How could 3 little otos produce that much waste? I'm using Ammo Lock as my water conditioner. Has anyone ever had a problem with it producing false positive readings for ammonia? I've changed almost 80% of my water today, and the reading still seems to hover around .25.