I know not everyone's a fan of carbon filtration, especially you plant people who make me sick (with jealousy 
) but I love it - except for how D*** expensive it is. I spend $16 for 9oz and with all the other $$$ I spend, every dime I can save keeps my husband from putting my tanks up for sale on CL.
Anyway, I found that you can get virtually any mm and/or grade of carbon from home distillery sites for half the cost, including food grade, and from any source (peat, stone, etc.) The only thing you have to watch for is OVER filtration, like the carbon used for vodka, which removes everything that is carbon removeable. I'm sure someone smarter than me will answer the over filtration issue, untill then match the mm on what you're using now to be safe.
Also - if any of you are as cheap as me, the premium grade vodka carbon is FANTASTIC for drinking water filters. I spend $39 for a 3pk of replacement filters for our water (pitcher) filter, and 1.5lbs of the BEST vodka carbon is $16 with shipping included. I actually talked to a chemist who told me that alcohol is really impure, far beyond drinking water, and the range of mm's and surface area needed to purify clear neutral spirits is way above that used in pitcher filters. Unfortunately, he couldn't answer the over-filtration question because the only thing he knew about fish is how to eat them.
For drinking water - I just removed the guts of my cartridge insert, filled the top portion of the pitcher with the carbon, and ta-da! Crystal clear cheap water.
The distillery places have other stuff too, like those ceramic ring things, chemical safe tubing, fittings and things that might be usable in DIY projects without have to pay LFS mark-ups.
This is where I bought mine, but there are tons of sites and if you live in a city, you might be able to find a store. The shipping rates for this place depend on how close you are to Texas:
http://www.brewhaus.com/DefaultBH.aspx
) but I love it - except for how D*** expensive it is. I spend $16 for 9oz and with all the other $$$ I spend, every dime I can save keeps my husband from putting my tanks up for sale on CL.Anyway, I found that you can get virtually any mm and/or grade of carbon from home distillery sites for half the cost, including food grade, and from any source (peat, stone, etc.) The only thing you have to watch for is OVER filtration, like the carbon used for vodka, which removes everything that is carbon removeable. I'm sure someone smarter than me will answer the over filtration issue, untill then match the mm on what you're using now to be safe.
Also - if any of you are as cheap as me, the premium grade vodka carbon is FANTASTIC for drinking water filters. I spend $39 for a 3pk of replacement filters for our water (pitcher) filter, and 1.5lbs of the BEST vodka carbon is $16 with shipping included. I actually talked to a chemist who told me that alcohol is really impure, far beyond drinking water, and the range of mm's and surface area needed to purify clear neutral spirits is way above that used in pitcher filters. Unfortunately, he couldn't answer the over-filtration question because the only thing he knew about fish is how to eat them.
For drinking water - I just removed the guts of my cartridge insert, filled the top portion of the pitcher with the carbon, and ta-da! Crystal clear cheap water.
The distillery places have other stuff too, like those ceramic ring things, chemical safe tubing, fittings and things that might be usable in DIY projects without have to pay LFS mark-ups.
This is where I bought mine, but there are tons of sites and if you live in a city, you might be able to find a store. The shipping rates for this place depend on how close you are to Texas:
http://www.brewhaus.com/DefaultBH.aspx
