On my new tank I ran bare bottom for all of two hours before I decided I didn't like the look and decided to add sand. This was after everyone was already in the new tank. I like to rinse sand thoroughly before adding it. Even a bag of live sand can have some die off and bad chems trapped in it. It won't take long for the sand to become "live" from being near the live rock and from the fish pooping on it all day long :-)
I did not have very much clouding when I added my sand. After I rinsed it in a bucket, I scoopped it up with a large mixing cup and slowly lowered the cup to the bottom of the tank and dumped the sand. Oh, and if you do decide to rinse your sand, just rinse a few cups at a time. Don't try to rinse the whole bag at once, that's just a huge pain! The shorter the distance the sand has to travel to settle the less clouding you will get. It can be a slow and painful process but if you take the time, you can do it with virtually no clouding. If you do end up getting clouding, a filter like floss or filter sock will clean it up pretty quick.
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