Cooking live rock is easier than cleaning live sand, because you can provide circulation around live rock by stacking the live rock properly (Leaving lots of space in between).
Cooking live sand (which I haven't actually heard of before) would be the same principle, but it is pretty difficult to provide circulation around sand that isn't being fluidized.
The cooking process works by both diffusion (using clean salt water) and bacterial turgor where the bacteria on and in the rock and/or sand reproduce, multiply and consume nitrate and phosphate then wind up depositing their waste products to the surrounding clean water. You need to keep changing the water to keep the diffusion process going in the right direction.
I think that was what Myka was referring to, and correct me if I am wrong.
Mitch
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