Aquarium Sand OR Gravel?

I have a 46 gallon tank and I have had gravel for at least 15 years. I want to change over to sand. Only thing is I have some water wysteria, java moss and java fern. Will my wysteria grow in the sand? What are the pro and cons of sand in a tank? i have a large canister filter with alot of biological media so removing the gravel wont do much as only 9 neon tetras are in the tank at the moment. Can I use play sand from Home Depot or is it best to use sand from petsmart.