Starting Over

My aquarium has been down for a couple of years, and I’m looking to start it back up, but at a loss where to begin. I’ve done a few searches, but didn’t find much pertinent information so I thought I would post.

Here is a summary of where I am:
a) 44 gallon corner unit that has been sitting dormant for 3 years
b) pumps have been off and its half full of water
c) there is about 1" of crushed shells and sand on bottom
d) 30lb of what was once live rock
e) there’s a fair amount of algae on the live rock and aquarium walls

Here are my questions?
1.) should I get rid of everything in the tank and start over?
2.) can the rock be used as a base for new live rock?
3.) the previous set up had a Lifgard fluidized bed and protein skimmer as the filtration methods. Can I just replace the pumps and sand or should I replace the whole filtration system?
4.) should the sand/crushed shells be replaced?
5.) should I just use fresh water and brush to clean it?

Eventually, I want to get it set up as a small reef tank. My old lighting system was crap, so I know I need to replace that.

Any and all advise would be greatly appreciated. Also, if there are pertinent threads that I missed feel free to point me to them.

Thanks,

Dan

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