Are marine Aquarium supplies safe???

[Cvoss]

So we're looking for a way to make our vodka more pure and neutral. I used to have a reef tank in my house so im very familiar with some of the things used in the hobby. Someone had told me that a good way to get your vodka more pure is to run it through an RO / DI system like this

http://www.marinedepot.com/SpectraPure_ ... NH-vi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Mostly for the carbon and the micron filters. i always get nervous using plastic with distilled spirits in fear of leeching... What do you guys think?

i also thought of using a reactor like this

http://www.marinedepot.com/Precision_Ma ... CR-vi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

To run the vodka through activated carbon....

Has anyone ever tried this? Is it safe? Suggestion?

[Cvoss]

i guess ideally i'd like to put a pump in the bottom of the vodka tank and just let it cycle through the carbon reactor or the RO / DI unit. But i'm not even sure if an aquarium pump would be safe. Like this

http://www.marinedepot.com/Eheim_1048_P ... 48-vi.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[Prairiepiss]

No to the plastics. Many carbon filter. If that's what you feel you need to do. Please do it safely. Not all carbon is the same. Carbon for fish tanks are made to filter out amonyas. How ever you spell that. Carbon sold for distillers are designed to remove impurities found in spirits. Some are designed just to remove color. So do your research before you buy carbon. And make the housing out of something safe to use with high proof spirits. Copper, stainless, and glass.

And I have to say it. Diluting with water and running it again. making good cuts. Can clean it up pretty good. But then again you need to start with a good wash.

And stop with all the plastics. Read rule number 8 in the rules we live by.

[Durace11]

I would be willing to bet these are full of plastic, PVC, rubber, acrylic, and all kinds of other stuff you don't want your alcohol being in constant contact with over a period of several days.

Just an FYI, "Rules We Live by" at the top of the forum:
8. These forums take a very strong negative view on the usage of plastics/ synthetics in distilling. It simply is not safe to use in any area of hobby distilling (however HPDE buckets are acceptable for fermentation.) There simply are too many types of plastics and lack of reliable information about plastics, for us to reliably advocate their use anywhere in the distillation apparatus. Also, from past posting history, this topic seems to quickly boil down into an almost religious flame war. Thus we simply will not put up with it, and posts about any form of plastic use will be edited, deleted or locked. There is a forum for proven info for or against any material (material/safety.)

[Cvoss]

Ok thank you, and i do buy distillers activated carbon i was just curious if this would work.....

[Cvoss]

Sorry about that, i'd erase this post if i knew how.......

[rad14701]

The best advice we can give you is to start out with a decent Tried and True Recipe and learn to distill properly... Once you've done that you shouldn't need to do any additional work like carbon filtering... Keep the potential %ABV of your wash at or below 14% and make proper cuts and blend accordingly... If your spirits still need some polishing just dilute to under 40% and redistill... Some people don't like it when I say not to use carbon filtering as a crutch but it's sound advice to go by...