You can vacuum it.
I drained my water to the level of the substrate, removed the gravel, had previously washed the sand, (more on that in a moment), added it to the tank, arranged my rocks and plants, then, before filling the tank, I set a dinner plate on the bottom. I directed the water onto the plate and adjusted the flow so that it flowed onto the plate and off the edges instead of blasting in all directions. Once the water level came up over the plate I turned the water back up some, making sure it wasn't strong enough to stir up the sand. Once the tank was full I removed the plate.
If your sand is well washed and you use this or a similar method to avoid stirring up the sand, it should settle and clear in a day or so.
About washing the sand: Play sand is very dusty/dirty. You have to put some in a bucket, add water, stir it up really well, drain off the water, fill it up again, stir it up, drain, repeat, repeat, repeat...... It's a lot of trouble. But, if you don't thoroughly rinse every bucketful of sand, you'll be doing water change after water change to get all the dirt off it after you've put it in your tank.
My 55 and my 29 are both play-sand bottomed. I love them, but I thought I was never gonna be done washing that sand. Was it worth it? To me, yes. I couldn't afford aquarium sand in sufficient quantities for what I wanted; play sand is -- pardon the expression -- dirt cheap. I did have time to perform the labor necessary to prepare the sand.
I love my sand. Loaches love burrowing in it. I think it's easier to set plants into. It looks natural. My fish look good against it. It doesn't cause any problems at all that I can think of.
ETA: You might have a mini-cycle but it shouldn't last long.