Can I clean my old rock and sand?

[groupergenius]

The 15h tank I'm changing to reef is allready running. The thing is that it has been neglected for some time now. Before I restart it, is it safe to take the rock out and scrub it? Also the sand is filthy. I would like to rinse that out as well. I'm just afraid I'll kill off the bacteria thats in it.

 

[buckeye88]

I've theroughly cleaned a neglected tank before and now it's flourishing. I just filled a bucket half way with salt water and scrubbed each piece of LR one at a time with a toothbrush. I found that cleaning the sand is a little more difficult. It is hard to get it thoroughly clean just by rinsing it. I got fed up with it and just went out and bought some new sand.

 

[mini micro]

I had a bad aglae growth on my rock at one stage took them out and cleaned them lightly with a tooth brush in a bucket of tank water and they were fine. Do it lightly so not to damage the rock just enough to remove the dirt!