I was using reef crystals from the beginning then switched to Fritz after Premium Aquatics closed. Then I was at ARMCO a couple of months ago and was told it really does not matter, They use instant ocean on all their regular and reef tank they service because they are all the same and it’s cheaper. What say you?
Reef Crystals by Instant Ocean because I do a lot of water changes on a larger tank. Cost effective if you subscribe to it on Amazon. Haven’t been in the hobby long enough to compare brands.
I typically use reef crystals, but sometimes I use instant ocean or corallife marine. Whatever is on sale
I don’t do big water changes so I don’t worry about parameter swings with a water change. I dose alk. mag and calcium. Water changes for me is about putting back some of the stuff I don’t dose.
My 2 cents
I always love this question 
It can get heated though. Haha.
BRS did a really good video summary on this:
FWIW, I use Red Sea (black bucket). It mixes extremely fast and has the levels I want.
I have been using reef crystals due to the cost of tropic Marin these days. I have used fritz, reef crystals, tropic Marin reef pro, tropic Marin bio actif, red sea pro and couple others nothing ever compared to tropic Marin reef pro for me.
I started off with instant ocean reef crystals since it was cheap and on Amazon for fast delivery. I have no switched to red sea also black bucket. Not sure if that is the pro or now. It costs alittle more but does 2 things. My water in central de seemes to have low ph and alk. So the switch bumped me from a constant 7 to 8 or 9. Also my ph stays higher around 8 and not 6 to 7. Also the red sea doesn’t create as much build up in my mixing container.
Fritz RPM. 1/2 the price and easier to find than Tropic Marin Pro Reef is was using.
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I use instant ocean the purple bucket. Plan on switching to Red Sea I think that’s what it is since it had a little higher alk and won’t have to dose kalk as much
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Red Sea blue bucket because it has the alkalinity I want.
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