I was in the same boat so when I started my current tank I went with the Special Grade Agri Live sand from BRS. I'm loving it. No more snow storms. I've got a 4ft 75g tanks with two mp40's.
It's not a necessity, plenty of successful bare bottom tanks out there. It's for a large amount of beneficial bacteria for denitrification and phosphate reduction. Most people, not all, think it looks better/natural.