Actually, I think sand cleans easier than gravel does. My siphon vacuum
does not remove the sand, but suspends it collecting all the junk in
the sand. (granted I am not using a Python)

I've not had a problem with the sand clouding the water if I rinse it
first. In playsand there seems to be a fine powder with the sand that
will suspend in the water. Just rinse it before you add the sand to the
tank. Sand creates a "puff" in the water when disturbed, but settles
right down.

My aquarium info and pics at:
http://www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html