no, the best way would have been to leave the tank full, fill a bucket about half way with the clean sand and the other half with tank water then slowly lower the bucket in the tank and gradually dump the sand out of the bucket directly onto the bottom of the tank.
Silicate sand is fine to use.
Also, too late now but for future reference.... when washing sand dump all your sand into a trashcan type vessle, turn the hose on and push the nozzle of the hose all the way to the bottom of the barrel. This is much easier than it sounds. The flowing water displaces the sand and allows you to sink the nozzle relatively easy. Once on the bottom just let the water run for a while. Then move the nozzle to the other side of the bottom of the barrel and repeat as necessary.
This could take as long as a couple of hours depending on how much sand you have. But at least you can do it all at one time instead of spreading it out over several days.