Newbie Set-up questions

[Aggie1978]

Hello! This is my first reef aquarium. Red Sea Peninsula 500. Have a look at my attempt at an aquascape. A couple of questions:

1) Before I place the aquascape in the tank I need to test for leaks and make sure the equipment/plumbing is all right. Can I use simple tap water to fill the tank and run equipment tests?
2) After everything checks out, before I place the aquascape in the tank can I spray the aquascape with a garden hose to remove most of the dust and sand, clean it up with an initial cleaning with tap water?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Looks good!

 

[Ruskin]

1. Yes you can, but a protein skimmer wont really operate well with freshwater so don't be alarmed there.

2. That's fine too, i like to fill a bucket with water and swish it around pretty vigorously so get deep inside the rock/make myself feel better!