The advantage is, you can just empty it, clean it, tuck all its gear away in it and store it in your closet until you need it again.

What you need:
light is optional, but you should have one available so you can turn it on to see your fish clearly: a magnifying glass is not a bad idea.

A heater, definitely.

A pump, some pillow floss (hobby store or sewing notions store---but be SURE it doesn't have the words 'antimicrobial' anywhere on the package.)...

Why New To The Hobby at times seems to be Ich Central...
The answer is sadly simple. NTTH folk too often concentrate on precision with the cycle chemistry, and then---don't know how very, very, very, very critical the next step is, which is to be absolutely certain A) the sandbed is somewhat matured beyond mere cycle (ie, can it handle even one fish safely yet?) and B) that the water will not be (for a fish) like a run-in with sandpaper.
SOLVING A: put a CUC in and even FEED them for...

'loose rock' reef
I'm not into gluing rock unless I just want to make a bigger rock.
I build a reef that's easy to unbuild and rebuild---there are reasons that come along.

How I do it.
I lay down a layer of eggcrate lighting grid to prevent point load on the bottom glass, I place several ugly and large rocks to use as pillars to support the rest, I add my sand---which leaves the tops of the pillar rocks exposed. I then set a bowl in the sand and start adding water---the...

"In chemistry, pH (potential of hydrogen) is a numeric scale used to specify the acidity or basicity of an aqueous solution."---wiki. Ie, is your water acidic like lemon juice---or alkaline like a desert pool?
On that scale, battery acid (ph of 1) and drain cleaner (ph of 12)---both extremes can burn.
Your tank should be between 7.9 and 9 for the comfort of fishy skin and gills.

BUT--- ph in a marine tank wanders all over the map during a given day. Pretty...

The importance of water quality IN QT as an ich preventative.
I'm personally not a fan of medicating in qt in the absence of visible symptoms. The species I keep (smaller species like gobies, blennies, and damsels, basslets, etc) influences this decision: no thin-skinned critters like angels and tangs. So your mileage may vary. Take that into account. Angels, tangs and rabbits are very vulnerable.

However, I am fanatic about water quality 24/7 for new fish. Keeping alk around...