Welcome to this "wonderful" hobby Justin!
Live sand supposingly contain bacteria in the packet of sand which will help you speed up the cycling process. The other advantage is that, you do not need to pre-wash the sand prior adding into the tank. For a big tank, this will save you a lot of work. As yours in a RSM, you can buy the normal sand and pre-wash it several times before adding in the sand. After that, you can buy bacteria (not a must) and add into the tank according to the dosage written on the bottle. Follow the instructions.
Do not be too impatient to add livestock. Try to cycle the tank with only sand and liverock for at least 1 month. During the cycling process, no need to turn on yr lights. After that, test your NO2 before adding livestock. Advisable to add livestock gradually and to watch out for algae bloom. While cycling, you can catch up on your reading and plan what you want to add in your tank
Enjoy reefing!