I seem to always get strange looks when I buy fish and reptile related stuff at the hardware stores. Black blasting sand was the worst, as every place I tried I had to explain to them why I needed black sand instead of white, and then listen to them tell me their doubts about placing sand in an aquarium.
I used pool filter sand mixed with black aquarium sand. I rinsed it in a bucket, added it to my drained tank, then filled and refilled, using dechlorinator every time, until completely clear with the python. I then added the tank water back ( I saved 50% ), aquascaped, and added the fish. I use a sump with bioballs, and I didn't change any filter media. I didn't have a mini-cycle at all. It did take 4 hours to change out the 55 gallon though. That's no breaks and multi-tasking my butt off. The most time consuming was draining and refilling, but I wanted to make sure my tank was clear before adding the plants and fish back.