White mold/fungus? and high pH question

Hi all.

I am currently still cycling my tank but there is white fuzzy stuff covering everything in there. Tank has been in use for 2 weeks with 20% water changes every day (maybe skipped twice over the whole two weeks) The water temp is a constant 65 and the parameters of the tank are normal except the pH is high 8 to 8.2 and I have extremely hard tap water. What is the ideal ph and hope to get it down a bit. My water test kit is vague and difficult to read i have a better, more detailed one being shipped and can hopefully provide more details on my water quality when it arrives. You can see the white fungus/ mold best growing on the leaves of the plant and the side of the tank closest to the filter. The vast majority of it is right next to the filter.

On the plus side my juvenile axy has been eating tons and moving around quite a bit. The fungus/ mold hasn't attached to him at all and he seems quite pleased with life.

Thanks for your help.

maybe the filter needs cleaned? and rinse anything that it is growing on? I have only ever seen mold grow on some uneaten food I missed while cleaning, and when my tank had a bloom from lights/live plants I just left the lights off for a few days and changed some water to clear it up. This doesn't look like a bacterial bloom to me though, usually they are greenish or murky looking? sorry I'm not more help.