When I had a sand filter and needed to change out the sand, I switched from sand to a product called Zeosand Zeosand as recommended by the local pool store. With this Zeosand, you use half the weight (100 pound of sand would require 50 pounds of Zeosand) as you would with sand. Worked maybe a bit better than regular sand.

I switched over to a DE type filter when my sand filter failed. This filter gives me better water clarity and I go much longer between backflushing than when I had a sand filter.