I don't understand QT tanks

[Hermie]

im so confused, literally everything says not to cycle it because copper will just get absorbed by the rocks and sand and it will kill the bacteria?

"everything" is your word...

 

[davidcalgary29]

...on the other hand your QT should be drained and killed off (dried out) after each critter is deemed safe to be put in the display (at least in my opinion) to prevent the next "victim" from picking up any unwanted "nasties" or spores they left behind, if any. You want that QT tank to be as sterile as possible!!!

While I want to be clear that I'm not disagreeing with your approach, I do want to state that not every successful reefer does this. I believe that Jay keeps a hospital/QT tank cycled and running at all times so that new additions can be added without worrying about cycling.

 

[DoctaReef]

To throw another complication into this discussion, when I get a new fish, I use the Tank Transfer Method. Basically moving the fish from one tank to another every 72 hours to escape ich. It’s worked very well for me with all my additions.
For TTM, you don’t cycle at all, you just monitor the ammonia, and the fish gets moved before it gets too high. No Copper is used, but I dose PraziPro in two of the tanks for flukes etc. Do a search on that method and there’s some really great threads. I like it because I don’t have to test for copper or deal with the addition, and when done right, I think its less stressful on the fish...

When I get to the last tank however, the fish stays there for an observation period so I can be sure there’s no other parasites. In this tank, I use a lot of bio filtration: a hang on back filter with sponge and carbon, and a sponge filter. To seed the tank with bacteria, I use a bunch of MarinePure balls that have been sitting in my sump for a while and fully colonized.

 

[Imaexpat2]

While I want to be clear that I'm not disagreeing with your approach, I do want to state that not every successful reefer does this. I believe that Jay keeps a hospital/QT tank cycled and running at all times so that new additions can be added without worrying about cycling.

I go the extra step further than Jay does for the simple fact I dont add anything more often than once a month and I am a coral junkie not a fish guy and have very few fish in my systems. To avoid the cycle thing I just do a water change and with the water coming from an established frag tank its already cycled and not much of an issue according to the test on my water. Now if I added fish and corals on a weekly basis I probably would go the route Jay does as it just makes sense. By doing it the way I do its been years since I have seen apitasia, pest algae or other nasties in my tanks after dipping and QTing. By killing off my QT tank between uses I have no spores floating around the tank waiting to hitch hike in on the next coral frag. So yeah I am a bit hardcore when it comes to QTing!