Refugium or Aquaripure filter?????

Need help!!!!
Long story short--thought my PH was low due to my malfunctioning electronic meter-5.6. Kept trying to up it by adding the buffer up but didn't take. Clove polyps died, bullseye aenomes died, shrimp died. Finally did a water change with added PH(up) and nothing changing. Finally got some separate water testers and PH was great, ammonia ok, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphate all read ok. Besides the dying, I have a red film on all sides as well as on live rock, sand bottom, and soft corals.
I have never had it before. When I clean in it is like red dust.
thinking about buying a Refugium or Aquaripure filter to add and enhance my system so I can get my tank back to what it use to be.
Any and all thoughts welcomed and appreciated.

 

If you are not using RO/DI water I would change to that and get a refugium also. A Granulated Ferric Oxide reactor would be good also. It helps remove silicates and phosphates primarily and helps on nitrates also. Using activated carbon is good also.

It sounds like cyano bacteria is the red stuff.

 

+1 to cyano

Also, tell us a little about your existing setup, size of tank, do you have a sump, equipment etc.
This will help everybody give suggestions on ways to help.

 

What size tank? How long has it been running? What test kit brand are you using? etc... Also you say everything is testing ok. What are the actual numbers for amm, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate? etc... It's hard to help without some background info.

 

I use filtered water from the store so it should be good since that has been my source for many years.
am thinking about buying an army of snails but am afraid that I may sentence them to death which I do not want to do.

 

Okay!
70Gal T tank, wet/dry sump. protein skimmer, halide lights, running for at least 10 years.
API test kits. Nitrate 5.0, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, phosphate tested today .25, also have phosphate pads in wet/dry tray. Water change was 2 weeks ago