Novice question indeed!!!

[MitchM]

Yes, any sand that you put in there will become "live" by virtue of bacteria that will colonize it.
Adding some live rock will contribute to the sand life somewhat. The dry rock won't, of course.
Silica sand can work fine if it is the proper size.

Mitch

[reefwars]

would become live but if youy know someone with a tank running id grab a few cups from them would help speed it up

[gobytron]

I'm pretty sure I've read in the past that Silica snad can leach lots of nasy stuff...like phosphates.

I'm not 100% on this but I'm sure someone here will chime in who is.

[MitchM]

There are a lot of myths with regards to using silica sand.
Here are a couple of articles/threads discussing/debunking some myths:

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen9.html

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...03/feature.htm

http://forum.marinedepot.com/Topic79...ghlight=silica

Mitch