re using old live rock/sand

[8Niz]

hey guys, im sure this has been discussed before but i couldnt find anything as i scrolled thru old threads. anyway, I killed my tank bout 4 years ago and its been sitting there waiting for me to get it going again. i recently caught the bug and im slowly putting everything together again. so, my live rock and live sand have been dried out for years now. I am going to re use it but do i have to do anything special to it before it goes in the tank? also, i hear not to re use sand.. why? i feel like a good cleaning should do the trick..

and while your reading my thread maybe a opinion of how much sand/rock i should use.. its a 120 gal (4x2x2) and im going for the deep sand bed, lots of live rock.. im thinking 3 1/2" bed and 150 lbs of rock..

whatcha think?

also, expect lots more posts as im getting this project together. im going to be a pain in the a** so i apologize in advance

 

[inverted]

Some organics can stick to dead liver rock to varying degrees. Also, some metals can bind to rock (i.e. copper, phosphate etc..). It is best to get rid of these. Bleach will get rid of organics, but you need a strong acid to remove metals. This would be the extreme, but not necessarily a bad idea as all of the die-off on the rock will contribute to contaminants.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426

 

[delta]

You know what you put in your tank previously so it shouldn't be an issue. The whole cooking, bleaching etc of LR is over the top as far as I am concerned, cycling the tank and regular maintenance is more than enough.

If it were me I would get new sand, and setup you tank with the LR you have. To kick things off throw some LR rubble or a few pieces of LR and a cup of sand from a healthy established tank to seed the new sand bed. Then kick back and relax for a few weeks while the tank cycles.