I know this is a little late but it may help someone else down the road someday. Water temps need to stay below 68. Any warmer and you risk getting the funk. Cooler is better. The colder the water, the more oxygen it can hold. That's why fish all die when the water temps get too warm, not...
You want a cycle timer that will do 1-minute on, 4-minutes off. Don't get the kind with knobs because you will eventually hit them and fuck everything up. No knobs, no fuck-ups.