[bnumair]

Originally Posted by mgproudfit

I've read COUNTLESS hours on setting up a QT and some say to cycle, and others say not to bother. At this point, I genuinely do not know what to believe or what is best practice.

Would I be ok if I throw one of my live rocks into my QT tank? Right now they're all in a big rubbermaid container with a powerhead moving the water around.

i understand ur frustration but answer of ur question in in the very first post of this thread. if you dont have time to spare and are in need to setup a QT in an emergency then u dont need to cycle a QT tank. there are 2 ways of doing that.
1. you can keep a filter in ur main tank and move it to QT and use ur DT water and setup a QT and its already cycled and ready as filter will take neccessory bacteria with it from DT to QT thus not requiring a cycle.
2. you can just put a QT tank together and keep an eye on ammonia which will increase daily as tank is no cycled thus requiring a lot more attention from a hobbyist and requiring daily water changes in order to keep ammonia 0.
thats emergency way.
in your case u have tons of time on ur hand as of now (as u are still waiting for a tank)so i recommend a cycle approach.
Qt will be cycled in short few weeks and thus u dont need to do anything to it except water changes like a normal tank.
I also strongly recommend a permanent cycled QT so if ever needed to dose copper or medications that require a specific dose level then its a nightmare for hobbyist trying to do water changes daily and keeping up with dosage at the same time (if QT is setup in emergency). In permanent QT you can go without water changes for weeks thus not having to mess up the dosage of medication.

Note: u can help the cycle by adding a few pieces of rock to you QT for week and then take then back to DT and let the cycle continue. A 20-40 gal QT should cycle with in 2-3 weeks.